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Residents do their bit to tackle rural isolation 

Kindhearted residents have done their bit to support a charity that helps people in the county who face social isolation.
Here at Newstone House, we organised a charity day, raffle and pancake race to help the Friends of Stour Connect, a day centre in the town.

Residents at the home wanted to ‘give something back to the community’ as users of the centre’s dementia café and hydrotherapy pool.

A cheque presentation for £220 was held at Stour Connect on a dedicated afternoon for Newstone House visitors.

[caption id="attachment_6179" align="alignnone" width="1024"] At the Stour Connect day centre with cheque are Karlene Horswill, left, Companionship Team Leader, and Sheryn Biggs, Stour Connect manager. Seated behind them are, from left, residents Kathryn Pochin and Winnie Marriott, Companion Maz Blackhall, resident Joan Drake, café volunteer Katie Guy, and residents Joyce Ware and Don Skilling.[/caption]

Karlene Horswill, our Companionship Team Leader, said: “We wanted to raise so much more, but due to the constraints of Covid regulations last year we were restricted in what we could do. We are however proud of what we managed to raise and we aim for so much more over the coming months.”

Friends of Stour Connect is dedicated to improving facilities and access at the day centre which is in Stour View Close in Sturminster Newton.

The charity aims to target rural and social isolation affecting the elderly, the physically disabled and those with learning difficulties.
Café volunteer Katie Guy told the visitors: “It’s so wonderful what you have done. This money means so much to our cause and we appreciate every penny given to us.”
Newstone House residents have nominated Friends of Stour Connect as their main charity to support for the past two years. In that time, they have raised nearly £500 to help with its work.

Newstone House resident Don Skilling said: “This is such a worthy cause and it is lovely to have the opportunity to give something back to the community.”

American artworks take pride of place at Newstone House

Our art lovers have welcomed a donation of two paintings created by the artist cousin of a former resident
The watercolours, by the American painter Richard Atherstone Genders, have been put on display in our lounge.

Richard’s cousin Rosemary Cottrell was a resident at the home until her death in April 2022.

A year on, Rosemary’s daughter Jenny Cottrell has donated the pieces in her mother’s memory for fellow residents, staff and visitors to enjoy.

Born in London in 1919, Richard moved to the United States with his family and finished his schooling in Indiana.

He was a direct descendant on his mother’s side of William Penn, the English Quaker best known for the founding of the colony of Pennsylvania.

His father William was a ‘rough rider’ in the US volunteer cavalry serving in Cuba and later joined the famous Buffalo Bill wild west  travelling show.

[caption id="attachment_5958" align="alignnone" width="1024"] FINE ART. Holding the two paintings are Jenny Cottrell, left, and our Home Manager April King. Seated with them and toasting the arrival of the works are residents Rita Clay, left, and Pat Stear.[/caption]

Richard studied art after serving as a US naval medic in World War Two. He continued to combine a military medical and artistic career, becoming a lieutenant in the Naval Reserve and exhibiting paintings and sketches at galleries and art shows across the country. He died in 1991.

Visiting Newstone House to hand over the paintings and give a talk to residents about her family, Jenny said: “I couldn’t think of a better home for these pieces. It’s a pleasure to watch all the residents enjoy them.”

Observing the works in the home’s Milhill Lounge, resident Rita Clay said: “Its lovely to have meaningful pictures, especially when we can see them every day and have a connection to them.”

One of the pictures is a limited-edition print of a US city scene and the other is an original showing a woodland.

Newstone House opens Richmond Retreat in honour of former resident

A popular Sturminster Newton man has had a therapy room named after him at Newstone House where he lived for several years before his death
Our team members were saddened to lose long-term resident Graham Richmond, a retired BBC cameraman, in 2021.

Born and brought up in London, he became well known in his later years as a classic car enthusiast, exhibiting regularly in his adopted Dorset town.

After his passing, Graham’s family made a donation to our home, prompting discussions to start about the idea of creating a ‘Richmond Retreat’ room.

Our Companionship Team Leader Karlene Horswill said: “Graham’s family very kindly donated £5,000 with a hope that we would purchase something to benefit our residents at Newstone House.

“After a few meetings we all agreed we should use the money to not only benefit our residents but as a tribute to Graham as well.

“Many people, including our residents, have described him as a sociable, knowledgeable and very witty man who is sorely missed.

“The Richmond Retreat is a sensory based room that promotes well-being and relaxation for our residents living with dementia

[caption id="attachment_5718" align="alignnone" width="768"] Newstone House resident Donald Skilling in the new Richmond Retreat at the Dorset care home.[/caption]

“The family were very supportive with the decision, and we added little touches of some of Graham’s favourite things such as being outdoors, bird song and his love of living in Sturminster Newton.”

The room includes mood lighting, pictures of waterfalls and plants, comfortable seating, bird music, a picture donated by local artist Charlotte England and a large-scale, wallpaper photo of Sturminster Newton Mill.
Karlene added: “We are hoping the room will be enjoyed by our residents and we welcome their families to come and experience the space with their loved ones too.”
Our residents and team members came together for an official opening of the Richmond Retreat with a toast of wine and a ribbon cutting.
Resident Gillian Glennie said: “What a lovely space. I feel very relaxed, and the picture of the Mill is very impressive.”
Opened in 2011, Newstone House is rated Outstanding by care sector regulator the Care Quality Commission.

 

Cool fun as Newstone House residents get their skates on  

Our residents had fun on the ice thanks to an invite from the organisers of a community skating rink in Sturminster Newton
Joan Drake, Winnie Marriott and Roni Cattell enjoyed a half-hour private session on the opening weekend of the Christmas season in the Dorset market town.

They were guests of community co-ordinator Jacqui Wragg and joined by our Companionship Team members Karlene Horswill and Sam Hurst, Care Co-ordinator Lucy England and Kitchen Assistant Maggie Crosbie.

Karlene said: “A lot of planning was involved to ensure our residents could have this lovely experience. The rink is often fully booked so we were very appreciative to be offered the session.”

There was even some live musical accompaniment featuring songs from the film Frozen sung by ‘Elsa’, aka Kylie Large.
Afterwards, Joan said: “I have never skated before in my life. This was so much fun.”
And Winnie added: “I haven’t smiled like that for such a long time. It was so enjoyable, thank you everyone.”

Newstone House showcases talents of artistic residents  

Following the success of a residents’ ‘Art Gallery’ last year a Dorset we decided to go bold and stage an entire Arts Week
We re-opened our gallery and hosted a music day, a ballet and poetry day and exhibitions of a large selection of residents’ work.

Our Companion Team Leader Karlene Horswill said: “Our Gallery was open all week so residents and their family and friends could pop in and visit, relax, enjoy the art and spend time with their loved ones.

“The specialist music and ballet days were also a great success as we listened to popular tunes from across the decades from the 30s to the 60s and also music from some of the world’s most famous ballet productions, such as Swan Lake.”
Karlene continued: “Art of all kinds is encouraged and celebrated here at Newstone House and we have many talented residents who have enjoyed dancing, music and painting throughout their lives, as well as residents who have discovered new talents during their time with us.

“Enabling them to continue to pursue and discover a love of the arts and seeing the wonderful things they produce brings us all much enjoyment.”

Resident Pat Steer visited the Newstone House Gallery. She said: “I could sit in here all day, it’s beautiful and I was so surprised to see some of my creations in here.” 

Rita Clay agreed: “Thank you for creating this. I have been coming in with different people to show them all this amazing work. It has really put a smile on my face.”

Care home resident paid surprise visit by alpacas

We sprung a unique surprise on one of our animal-loving residents when they arranged for alpacas Liquorice and Almond to pay her a visit
Rosemary Wray was captivated by the amazing creatures when they first visited the home last year.

Our Companionship team organised for an ‘Animal Garden Party’ with food, drinks and live music for Rosemary and the residents to enjoy, as well as the chance to meet their amazing alpaca guests.

Our Companion Team Leader Karlene Duffy said: “Rosemary has always loved animals and said she would love some more to come to the home.
“We decided to surprise her and Wendy of Alpaca Adventure was more than happy to help and brought along her one-year-old alpacas Liquorice and Almond, who were absolutely gorgeous.
“It was a fantastic afternoon with great food, entertainment and of course our special guests.

Rosemary Wray surprise visit from Alpaca adventure.“Rosemary was bowled over and along with all the residents made a real fuss of these wonderful animals.”

Alpacas originate from South America and are a species of camelid mammal. Their fiber is incredibly insulating and soft and is used to make knitted and woven clothing.

Liquorice and Almond are uncle and nephew and live at the award-winning Alpaca Adventure in Shaftesbury with owner Wendy Williams.

Alpaca Adventure pays regular visits to care homes and BBC Countryfile filmed alpacas from the smallholding visiting residents at outstanding rated Newstone House in 2017.
Rosemary said: ” It was a wonderful afternoon. The animals were so beautiful and gentle natured.
“I’d like to say a big Thank You to the Companions and Wendy for the surprise and for allowing me to share this experience.”

Our talented companion Sam makes his BBC Radio 1 debut

Residents have been tuning in to BBC Radio 1 to hear one of our talented carers hit the airwaves
Sam Hurst is a companion here at Newstone House, where he regularly shares his love of music with residents.

The 23-year-old Sturminster Newton local is also one half of the musical duo BLVCK VIØLET and he and his band partner Harrison Walker have just been named finalists in Radio 1’s prestigious ‘Live Lounge Introducing’ competition, an annual, nationwide search to showcase the nation’s best, undiscovered bands.

Sam and Harrison’s original song Lost Love was chosen from 10,000 entries as one of the top five songs in the competition, and while it wasn’t ultimately picked as the winner, it was played on the station’s breakfast show, to the delight of Newstone House residents.

Rita Clay is one of Sam’s biggest fans and tuned into BBC Radio 1 to hear his track.
She said: “I thought it was very good and it was very impressive to hear Sam’s original work as he usually plays cover versions to us residents.
“It’s a massive achievement to be played on BBC Radio 1, especially during the day! And I am now very much looking forward to seeing what the future holds for him.”

Sam said: “Hearing it played on the radio was unreal, immense. And we have since had lots of calls and messages about it from people all over, including the staff and residents here at Newstone House. It’s been incredible.”

Sam was of 18 new recruits to the group-wide Companionship Team at Colten Care recruited under an initiative to offer more support to residents during lockdown.
He added: “I try to sing and play my guitar as much as I can at the home. Music is a big part of our residents’ lives and I alternate with sessions on our dementia floor one week, and another session on our residential floor the next.”
During lockdown Sam also wrote and recorded a light-hearted music video with some residents called ‘Hands, Face and Space’ demonstrating how to adhere to the covid restrictions.

[caption id="attachment_5712" align="alignnone" width="768"] Rita and Sam[/caption]

Linda Porter, who appeared in the video, said: “We really enjoyed taking part, singing along to the song and doing all the hand movements. It was great to be involved.”

Fiona Pritchard, Colten Care’s Music and Arts Partner, said: “We are thrilled to have a such a charismatic and talented musician in our team. It is so important for residents to be able to access music and arts and having a professional performing regularly for them is wonderful.”

Aside from their success on Radio 1, BLVCK VIØLET are currently through to the semi-finals of the Isle of Wight New Blood competition. If they win, they will be invited to perform at the Isle of Wight Festival.

Flipping good fun as we mark Pancake Day

We had a flipping good time by celebrating Shrove Tuesday with a pancake race
Residents and team members indulged in some gentle rivalry as they competed to see who could toss their pancakes the most.

Karlene Duffy, our Companionship Team Leader, said the competition had been great fun, adding: “We were invited to the local Sturminster Newton pancake race and had decided to use it to raise some money for our chosen charity this year, Friends of Stour Connect, but unfortunately due to the weather the race was postponed.
“Not to let our charity or residents down, we decided to take matters into our own hands and recreate the race in the home. Everyone did very well and we’re proud to have raised £85 for our charity.”
Resident Rosemary Cottrell said: “I haven’t laughed like that in a long time. What a lovely afternoon and it’s amazing that we did this to raise money for such a lovely local charity.”

The Friends of Stour Connect is a charitable organisation dedicated to improving facilities and access at the Stour Connect Day Centre in Sturminster Newton.

The charity aims to address issues of social isolation affecting older people, people who are disabled and those with learning difficulties.

[caption id="attachment_5728" align="alignnone" width="768"] EASY PEASY, LEMON SQUEEZY. Having fun on Pancake Day [/caption]

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