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Golden shot for Colten Care residents raising a cuppa for Macmillan

Colten Care homes have hosted a series of Macmillan Coffee Mornings with an added Willy Wonka-style twist.
Residents, staff and visitors raising a mug at the annual charity get togethers were served freshly prepared homemade cakes and pastries in the traditional way.

But at each of Colten Care’s 21 homes, chefs baked one of the tasty treats as a ‘Golden Cup Cake’, containing a hidden layer of edible gold leaf through the middle only to be revealed when the cake was bitten into.

The lucky recipient won a bottle of bubbly, chocolates and a donation to Macmillan on their behalf.
“I couldn’t quite believe it was the golden one,” said a smiling Pamela Kately, the winner at Canford Chase in Poole.
More than 100 cup cakes were baked by Chef Izzy Turczyn-Kuzma at The Aldbury in Poole, with housekeeping colleague Michael Sheppard receiving the golden prize.

And at Brook View in West Moors, the cup cake winner was visitor Hannah Kirby who had only just arrived to visit her grandfather Harry.

Moments after making her coffee morning donation along with partner Leigh, Hannah bit into the cake and saw the gold, prompting cheers all round.

Hannah, who was then presented with her bottle of bubbly, said: “I didn’t realise what it was at first and wondered what I had found in the middle. It was a lovely surprise.”

As well as the Golden Cup Cake search, this year’s coffee mornings at Colten Care featured plenty of conversation and other fun. There were mufti days for staff, guess-the-weight-of-the-cake games, cake sales, singalongs and dances.

At The Aldbury, two musicians from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, violinist Jennifer Curiel and pianist and French horn player Kevin Pritchard, performed popular classical pieces and childhood songs such as Run Rabbit Run. Among the residents singing and dancing along were Mary Cooper, Elizabeth Kay and Win Clowerly.

Fellow resident at The Aldbury, Abdu ‘Hobi’ Sabih, did his bit to collect donations. He helped Companion Melissa Siat Caparros to push the fundraising cake trolley around the home, chatting with residents, staff and visitors.
Elaine Farrer, Colten Care’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “We always support the Macmillan Coffee Morning with all 21 of our homes taking part. It’s a fantastic community initiative. We invite families, friends and local contacts to come and join us for a coffee social and enjoy the fun. The prospect of winning a golden cupcake adds even more interest.”
The first Macmillan Coffee Morning took place in 1990 with the simple idea of encouraging people to donate the cost of their cuppa to Macmillan Cancer Support to help the charity’s work for people with cancer. Since then, more than £300 million has been raised.

According to Macmillan, one in two of us will face cancer. The charity’s aim is to help everyone with cancer to live life as fully as they can.

For more information and to donate, visit www.macmillan.org.uk.

Childrens’ visits bridge generation gap

A storytelling group is helping to turn Monday mornings into eagerly anticipated times of fun and interaction for our residents

We have begun welcoming a weekly visit from young mums and toddlers co-ordinated by the charity Truth Be Told.

Our carers at the home say it is an ideal opportunity to bridge the generation gap and improve residents’ quality of life while providing children aged four and under with meaningful play and experience of older people.

Visits, led by Truth Be Told representative Faye Davis, involve reading and telling stories, swapping and sharing props and singing songs with actions to perform.

Our Companionship Team member Ann Marie Knight said: “It is just lovely seeing this group interact so well together. Everyone is happy, smiling and laughing.
“Our residents get so much out of Truth Be Told coming into our home as do the mums and toddlers. The youngest to have come in with the group so far has been only three weeks old.”
The visits have a different theme each week to cultivate ongoing interest and residents wear a name badge to help them become familiar to the group.

Ann Marie said: “We try to keep to the same residents each week so that the children and families get to know them and form a good relationship.”

[caption id="attachment_6100" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Resident Joan Vohra is all smiles during an action song[/caption]

Resident Joan Vohra said: “The visits are great fun and we always look forward to them.”

Fernhill, has chosen Truth Be Told as its charity of the year for 2023.

[caption id="attachment_6101" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Resident Dorothy Banks reads aloud to a mum and her son[/caption]

Residents and staff will be raising funds to support the group through activities such as craft sales and other events at the home.

Truth Be Told is an innovative community-led social action project founded by professional storyteller Gemma Gillard.

Its stated aim is to ‘restore intergenerational community which will improve the mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing of everyone involved’.
 

Colten Care totaliser tops hundreds for Children in Need 

Residents and team members across our homes have done their bit for Children in Need by raising more than £400
The total was totted up from various events held during and since the BBC’s annual fundraising appeal.

At Kingfishers in New Milton, Hampshire, residents had fun at a singalong with visiting pianist Mark Busell who played tunes from the 40s, 50s and 60s.
Resident Terry Darrell said: “Everyone had a great time. We had many people really engaged with it. There was a lot of foot tapping and dancing. It felt like New Year’s Eve.”
As well as the live music, we held a cake sale at reception while staff wore Pudsey-style T-shirts and onesies.

Court Lodge in Lymington celebrated Children in Need with an afternoon tea and raffle featuring prizes such as hairdos, freshly baked cakes and chocolates.

The fun at Avon Cliff in Bournemouth included a duvet and pamper morning while at Bourne View in Poole there was bingo and a cheese and wine party.

Our dedicated dementia care homes also took part in activities for the appeal.

Here at Fernhill in Longham, Dorset, staff and residents held a pyjama day and an afternoon of baking cupcakes to sell.

At St Catherines View in Winchester, residents decorated cupcakes for children at the nearby school and enjoyed a visit by balloon artist Chris Kimber who made some very clever balloon creations in front of their eyes.

The home’s Customer Advisor Vanessa Hall did her bit for Children in Need by walking ten miles to work specially in aid of the appeal.
“We greeted her with a banner we had made the day before,” said Companionship Team Leader Laura Sheldrake. “Welcoming Vanessa, getting involved with the cupcakes and watching the balloon artistry of Chris gave everyone a great opportunity to come together and have fun while supporting such a worthy cause.”

John boards boat full of happy memories

Our team arranged for one of our residents to relive his love of the sea with a trip on a special boat from his past
John Duffield, enjoyed a sail around Poole harbour aboard The Friends of Dolphin boat Dolphin III.

The specially-designed Dolphin III offers free and fully accessible trips around Poole Harbour to people with disabilities.

The boat is crewed entirely by volunteers, with an experienced skipper in charge of every trip.

Keen sailor John was a volunteer crew member with the Friends of Dolphin charity for 10 years and was accompanied on his return by some of his fellow residents and staff from our home, as well as his wife Jocelyn.
Jocelyn said: “John adored the water from his early years and during the school holidays he used to sail boats from Wick to Mudeford for £1 a day. But he said he would have done it for free.”
She continued: “John went on to sail throughout his life. Once, during our sailing years together we had a Search and Rescue helicopter actually hovering overhead us offering evacuation in stormy weather. But John refused and told me to: “Keep on bailing!” as we would: “Wash up on shore if needs be!”

[caption id="attachment_5813" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Resident John Duffield with John Buckby (right) from the Friends of Dolphins. [/caption]

John and his party were taken around the harbour entrance and spotted wildlife including seals and cormorants.

They also passed Brownsea Island where John once volunteered by helping at the quay.

Our Companion Anne-Marie Knight said: “The skipper John Buckby and crew of the Dolphin III couldn’t have been more attentive and kind to John.
“John talked to our John about their shared love of the water and explained how the Dolphin III will take around 200 trips this season between May and September. We are so grateful to them all for making this wonderful trip possible.”
Jocelyn agreed: “It was a brilliant day out with a scrumptious picnic in the beautiful English summer and seeing how much of a smile it put on John’s face was very touching for us all.”

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