HAPPY NEW YEAR 2023
Wishing You a Happy New Year.
Welcome Everyone – We hope you had a wonderful and enjoyable new year.
There is nothing like one year ending and another year starting to remind us all At St Anthony’s that time moves so quickly.
Lets all take a moment to remember the joys the laughter, the success and the challenges the old year brought as it passes.
We take this beautiful opportunity to look around with gratitude at our beloved residents, family, and friends and remember with love and warmth the loved ones we have left behind.
The Proprietors, Managers, and all the staff at St Anthony’s residential Home would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. May this year be filled with new adventures and good fortunes for everyone.
Activities Galore
We have been very Busy at St Anthony’s this month as the residents took part in a wide variety of activities from Puzzles and games.
We introduced some new Jigsaw’s to our collection, our residents joined in a small group to complete the puzzle's. One of the best things about puzzles is how versatile they are everyone enjoyed taking part.
Scrapbooking
This month we have also been Scrap booking it has been a wonderful activity for our residents to stimulate and reminiscence as well as take them down memory lane. Residents who took part were given their own scrapbook and then encouraged to stick photos and images that remind them of their life. This activity was also a very useful tool to help our staff to get to know our residents a little more.
Exercise classes
However, it doesn’t just stop there our residents also took part in exercise classes to help boost there mood, improve strength and generally make them happier and more be more content. Everyone really enjoyed this and expressed how happy they were when taking part in such activities.
Poetry Club
The residents also joined in with the poetry club this month and the theme we focused upon was love and peace they really enjoyed this and reflected on the good times.
This newsletter is for the benefit of resident’s families and staff. We hope you enjoy reading it
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR
Wishing You a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Welcome to the Christmas edition of our monthly Newsletter. It contains many of the activities and entertainment that took place over the Christmas period.
Christmas is a wonderful time of the year, and we would like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from St Anthony’s Residential Home.
How we started December off !!
Happy 90th Birthday Veronica
We started December off by Celebrating the lovely Veronica’s 90th Birthday.
A simple celebration, a gathering of family and friends; here's to wishing you great happiness and a joy that never ends. Veronica’s family and friends really enjoyed themselves and commented on what a beautiful setup St Anthony’s created.
Veronica commented “Thank you I had a lovely time with my family, and I loved my balloons, you really have made my 90th Birthday special”
We love it when we can put a smile on our resident’s faces, thank you the manager Joanne for organising such a beautiful event and memory to last a lifetime for Veronica’s 90th Birthday Party.
Come and take a look at all of the fun activites we have been up to this Decemeber
Our Home is full of Christmas festivity, The trees are twinkling and Mr Clause reindeers are ready to pull the sleigh through the night sky to help deliver gifts to our residents. Our snowmen are also ready to greet family and friends whilst they visit their loved ones this December.
Our residents are encouraged to add decorations to their own rooms, we have also had children from the local community deliver some wonderful decorations to go on to our Christmas trees
Christmas Carols
We had Children from Edmund Campion School vist us to sing Christmas Carols and to spread joy to our residents. It was a pleasure having them visit, our residents and staff thoroughly enjoyed them, they brought laughter and happiness to the home. It was great to see all of our residents and staff join in all of the carols. They then finished the day off with a cheese and wine party which they thoroughly enjoyed.
Christmas Party at St Anthony’s Residential Home.
St Anthony’s residential home had their debut performance of carols accompanied by the local people from the Abbey Church and what a performance they gave.
Our residents and their family members were treated to an amazing buffet afternoon tea made by our wonderful staff team which included a variety of finger sandwiches, savory nibbles, and homemade sweet treats. We adopted the buffet to our resident’s and their family members’ dietary requirements to ensure nobody was left out.
One of our family members commented, “what a beautiful set up I really enjoyed the treats and nibbles”.
However, it doesn’t just stop there we also had a visit from Santa and his helping elve who helped Santa deliver chocolates to all our residents, family friends, and staff. Everybody loved there sweet treats.
Christmas Sing along.
Our residents also Listened to Christmas songs together and were encouraged to sing along. Where a selection of hot drinks were served such as a hot chocolate with marshmallows, gingerbread lattes, spiced cappuccinos, and many others served in.
Christmas Eve
On Christmas eve we had a — Cheese & Wine Party with Christmas Carols and music in the Main Lounge area what a beautiful day the residents commented.
Christmas Day
Our residents had Traditional Christmas Day Lunch with all the trimmings at 1.00 pm, and opened there Christmas presents followed by Christmas fun, games, and cocktails in the main lounge area.
Boxing day
Boxing day galore where all our residents had an extravagant Boxing Day Lunch, followed by Christmas quizzes, sing-along, and games with Christmas treats.
We would also like to say a huge thank you to all the family and friends for your thoughtful Christmas cards and gifts our staff team and residents were very grateful.
If you have any suggestions on what you would like to see or hear about in the future issues, then please get in touch by emailing info@st-anthonys.co we always love to hear from you.
Thank you.
November Newsletter 2022
Happy November
Lets start this months News letter off with a BANG
The care team at St Anthony's have been working extremely hard to make this Halloween and Bonfire night/ Remembrance day transition as easy as possible with a month full of joy and entertainment. come and have a look what we have been up to in November.
On the 5th of November we celebrated Guy Fawkes by arranging a small fire display to take place within St Anthony's Garden, where our residents and staff had a lovely evening whilst they watched our live display and sipped on a warm terry's hot chocolate which went down a treat.
One of residents commented " I have really enjoyed this evenings display it really has brought back some lovely memories from when i was a child".
However, the fun didnt just stop there, the staff at St Anthonys also organised a bonfire workshop where the residents were able to get crafty using items they found in the garden along with plenty of Glitter, plaint, fabrics and all things crafty to create there own pieces of art. It was a very enjoyable day with plenty of reminiscing. Please see below examples of some of the amazing work the residents completed within the workshop.
REMEMBRANCE DAY
At the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month – we will remember them.
Here at St Anthonys we made a great start to remembrance day where we decorated the whole home in memory off all those lives that was affected by conflict in World War 1.
Our residents really wanted to do something special and unique to pay respect to our fallen heroes, and with a number of our elderly residents having fought through or lived through the wars, we know it is a day close to their hearts.
Our residents began gearing up for Remembrance Day early by creating poppies to decorate the lounge. They spent the morning creating the display, before turning the home into a proper service to our fallen heroes.
A period of silence was held at 11am at St Anthony's to mark the day world war one ended, at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month, in 1918.
Joanne our Registerd Manager said;
"It was a special day. Marking an occasion that means something to them brings back memories. It is a meaningful occasion and it was lovley to see that all the residents joined in various activies that was set out for them throughout the day.
A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE
We recieved such a great response from families and friends in our last trip down memory lane edit that we have decided to carry on bringing joy and happiness to our readers by making it a monthly occurrence.
BRIDGET KIERNAN
This month Bridget spend time with our Care Manager Jessica Morris on a one to one activity where she shared her life experiences and reminisced about all the good times.
About me
I was born in 1934 my place of birth was Porthall hilford Dongal Ireland i lived with my mum and dad my Mothers name was Bridget Gallagher and my Fathers name was Joseph Gallagher who was a land manager.
I was the second oldest out of six children. My mum sadly passed away when i was eight years old, i left school when i was fourteen to look after my younger siblings.
I always liked to look my best, i loved nice clothes, bags and shoes , i always had my hair done weekly and liked to keep my nails short and painted.
When i was 20 i left Ireland to work in the singer sewing machine factory in Glasgow i sprayed the machines it was hard work !
I even had to work on Christmas day we had fish and chips for Christmas lunch.
I was a theatre nurse until sadly i watched a child pass away on the operating table.
I married my husband Joe on the 3rd of August in 1963 i was given away by my father Joe and Married a Joe.
We then had three children Theresa, Joseph and Siobhan.
Social Activities and interests
I went to mass at the Abbey Catholic Church in England in Erdington every Sunday and i regularly say my prayers.
I also enjoyed a girls night out and the chance to dress up whenever possible.
People who are important to me now.
Meet my beautiful children and their beautiful families, my family mean everything to me. A little message to my family :
"You all don't just mean the world to me, you are my world and i love you with all my heart"
If you have any suggestions on what you would like to see or hear about in the future issues, then please get in touch by emailing info@st-anthonys.co we always love to hear from you.
Thank you.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM ST ANTHONYS RESIDENTIAL HOME!
Welcome to the October edition of the St Anthony’s newsletter!
These monthly newsletters are created for families, residents, and staff to give
updates on the activities and general events that are taking part at St Anthony’s.
We hope that it is an entertaining and informative read.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM ST ANTHONYS RESIDENTIAL HOME!
We hope everyone had a spooktastic halloween!
It’s been a busy time at STA we have been working gruesomely hard to creep up with the spooky spirit this month.
Everyone has been so excited for Halloween to arrive.
Halloween marks the start of shorter days so in order to keep up with the spooky feeling the home prepared for all manner decorations.
Our residents took part in a number of activities such as spooky arts and crafts, chocolate apple making and of course Halloween reminiscing.
They also carved real pumpkins 🎃.
ARTS IN CAREHOME DAY
We also celebrated Art in care-home day.
The benefit of arts in care home day was to help our residents focus on a topic where they chose to help improve their cognitive functioning, creative thinking and memory.
The task was to create wooden framed canvas wall art by using autumnal leaves.
Our residents really enjoyed themselves.
We were very proud of the end result and our wall art created by our residents was displayed around the home.
Our residents really enjoyed this session, Anthony commented “I have really enjoyed this activity and loved having a knitter Knitter with everyone”
Another resident commented I really enjoyed pottering around the garden with Monica to pick leaves for our arts in care home project "
What an achievement well done to all our residents for creating such beautiful master pieces.
New Activities Room
Always moving and improving we would like to introduce to you our new activities room.
After our monthly residents meeting and a discussion with all our residents we have updated our activity room.
Thank you to our lovely Manager Jo and the Maintenace team who have brought our vision together.
Our residents love spending time in there.
Sensory Stimulation
This month our residents also took part in a beautifully therapeutic morning where they all relaxed and got papered at Jenny’s Hand heaven. The aim of this session was to prompt and encourage to express themselves other than using words.
It’s all about activating one or more of the senses (touch, hearing, smell, taste and sight) to trigger positive emotions and memories.
One of our residents commented I really enjoyed my pamper session this afternoon and look forward to having these often.
If you have any suggestions on what you would like to see or hear about in the future issues, then please get in touch by emailing info@st-anthonys.co we always love to hear from you.
Thank you.
Newsletter September 2022
Newsletter September 2022
The latest news, views, and announcements at St Anthony’s Residential Home
Welcome to the monthly Newsletter for St Anthony’s Residential Home.
This newsletter is for the benefit of residents’ families and staff. We hope you enjoy reading it.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
At St Anthony’s we are all very sorry to hear of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II she was a truly amazing and remarkable woman and an inspiration to so many of us. We would all like to thank her for her decades of service to our country and our thoughts and condolences are with her Majesty’s family during this difficult time.
Everyone showed respect towards the passing of Queen Elizabeth and got together to celebrate her life. We had an afternoon remembrance buffet where everyone got together to say their final farewell.
A Trip Down Memory Lane for St Anthony’s Residents:
Our Residents at St Anthony’s Residential Home took a trip down memory lane organised by the Activities Team.
However, life at St Anthony’s Residential Home is still barrelling forward as following on from last month’s memory Lane success activity we organised another activity where memory Boxes Filled with posters, old photographs souvenirs, old-fashioned toy trains, and toy cars were brought into St Anthony’s to take them back to the sounds of people and places from their youth.
This was a fantastic opportunity for our residents to be stimulated in a way that evoked memories of Childhood, schooldays, work experiences, life experiences and past experiences not only this but reminiscing activities where people recall the past using activities from different eras can have a positive effect on the wellbeing of people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Take a trip down memory Lane with us:
We were grateful to everyone who shared their experiences, and we also had some residents who volunteered and wanted to come forward and share their life experiences with you.
Elsie Patterson:
All about Me:
I was born in 1930 my Place of Birth was Gravesend Kent I lived with my mum and dad and was the only child. My mum’s name was also Elsie and dads name was Alfred.
I worked in the WARAF: The women’s royal air force.
I also worked in the Dog Shop which later then became part if Twycross Zoo I looked after the P.G. chimps I took them to store opening and studios.
I also worked for the west midland exam board
My best memories:
I liked visiting Gravesend as my grandparents and parents lived there.
Another place that brings many memories in my life is Birmingham as this is where me and my husband Bob met.
Social Activities and Interests:
I was captain at the Girls Brigade at Chester Road Church.
I trained to be a dance teacher before going in to the WRAF
I have always taken an active part in the Church
Jenny the activities Co-Ordinator commented our residents loved it and sat for hours chatting and laughing about the good old days it is always a pleasure to see everyone smiling and happy.
Upcoming events at St Anthony's Residential Home
August 2022 Newsletter
Newsletter August 2022
The latest news, views, and announcements at St Anthony’s Residential Home
Welcome to the monthly Newsletter for St Anthony’s Residential Home.
This newsletter is for the benefit of residents’ families and staff. We hope you enjoy reading it.
News this month
Activities Galore
We have been very Busy at St Anthony’s this month as the residents took part in a wide variety of activities from quoits, and knitter knatter to our all-time favorite bingo and board games (Snakes and ladders being an absolute favorite)
We also put together a memory theme box activity where the residents were assisted with writing about their best life experiences and shared this with other fellow residents by picking a topic to talk about.
It doesn’t stop there as the Sun was shining down on us this month, we organized an amazing Holiday Themed activity The residents had a lovely time and spoke about their funny and amazing Holiday experiences, and our residents also shared their life stories and experiences by presenting pictures which we projected on to a large screen where everyone was able to see.
Poetry and Gardening Club
The residents also joined in with the poetry club this month and the theme we focused upon was gardening and flowers. We also had more residents join in with the Gardening Club where they joined to help and plant more flowers.
News within the home
Newsletter July 2022
The latest news, views, and announcements at St Anthony’s Residential Home
Welcome to the monthly Newsletter for St Anthony’s Residential Home.
This newsletter is for the benefit of resident’s families and staff. We hope you enjoy reading it.
News this month
We would like to share with you all the exciting things we have been up to this week from Hand Hygiene awareness day, Trip to the Pub and Coffee Shop, Musical Afternoon, and quiz night.
Gardening Club
Every Tuesday we have our amazing gardener attend the home to carry out gardening duties and thought it would be a great idea to get our residents involved with planting. We like to make sure our garden is always blooming so residents can enjoy some zen time from dining Al fresco to simple siting out enjoying a morning brew listening to the bird’s chirp. We have found that the benefits of a gardening project for people with dementia raises physical activity levels and provides opportunities for meaningful interaction.
We would like to give a big shoutout to Michael for taking time out of his busy schedule to volunteer at St Anthony’s Residential Home. Michael has brightened the home up by providing the Most beautiful Hanging Baskets and flower arrangements that the residents get pure joy from.
Thankyou Michael!
Hand hygiene awareness day
Recently we had the pleasure of taking part in world hygiene Day!
Birmingham’s Infection Control team contacted us and asked if we would help highlight the day with them visiting us to promote Hand Hygiene. Staff and residents helped raise awareness and we passed the Glow box challenge with flying colours.
Free chocolate was also involved!
Trip to the pub and Coffee Shop
Social interaction and feeling a sense of community can be a great way to encourage residents’ sense of belonging and well-being. As we have lovely, nice weather recently we have enjoyed accessing the garden and the community, we are also looking into a day trip to the Black country Museum shortly and will provide families with information shortly.
Musical Afternoon
We also hosted a musical afternoon theme activity where we reminisced about the musical theatres and what the dance industry was like in the 1950’s. It brought back so many memories for our residents.
We gave our residents quizzes and puzzles to complete and finished the afternoon off with a sing-along.
St Anthony’s Celebrate the Queens Platinum Jubilee in Style.
As the nation came together to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee, St Anthony’s Residential Home Held a Platinum Jubilee Garden Party on Friday the 3rd of June 2022 . The team and residents at St Anthony’s were very excited to welcome everyone to the celebration.
The team planned and prepared amazing decorations and entertainment to make sure their residents enjoyed a weekend of red, white and blue including bunting, fantastic music, dancing, games and even a visit from the Queen herself who went around each person at the party to take a memorable selfie.
Our residents and their family members were treated to an amazing buffet lunch made by our wonderful staff team which included a variety of finger sandwiches, savory nibbles, and home-made sweet treats. We adapted the buffet to our resident’s and their family members’ dietary requirements to ensure nobody was left out. We were extremely lucky that the weather stayed lovely and warm so that our live singer Emma could perform and entertain us with a mix of songs from the decades. Some residents held hands with their fellow family members whilst tapping there feet to the music, some of our more energetic residents had a dance with their loved ones.
One resident recalled. It was such a memorable day it reminded me of when my husband and I arranged a street party, I would like to thank everyone who made it into a special day.
We wanted to thank the St Anthony’s team for putting in great effort and making this a special occasion and making our vision come true not only for our residents but for their beloved family members. We would also like to thank the family members for buying tickets and for making it a truly joyous afternoon.
We hope to have many more Garden parties here at St Anthony’s.
Fundraising for Dementia UK At St- Anthony’s Residential Home
DEMENTIA COFFEE MORNING
What a great week our residents had at St Anthony's Residential Home. On Wednesday the 11th of May we hosted a fundraising event for Dementia UK.
We raised a whooping £212.70 which has been donated to Dementia UK.
We spent our afternoon with our residents and their family members, who enjoyed hot drinks and sweet treats.
We also had a raffle and tombola where plenty of prizes were won.
Joanne Fernandez the registered manager commented: All residents enjoyed our coffee afternoon, we are so thankful to everyone who donated raffle prizes especially West Bromwich Albion football club who donated a signed crest which we actioned off. Myself and the staff enjoyed spending time with the residents and families, and we also enjoyed the Cakes! We are all looking forward to our next get together which will be the Jubilee party on Friday 3rd June
St Patricks Day at ST Anthony’s Residential Home
Happy St Patricks Day
At St Anthony’s we always enjoy celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, and this year has been no exception.
Our ladies and gentlemen had the opportunity to participate in a variety of craft activities, ranging from making four-leaf clovers, card making, and leprechauns to decorating and wearing funny hats.
They decorated the home with Irish bunting and dressed in Green.
Our professional trained catering team made Irish-themed cakes to be served with Irish coffees.
Our residents later relaxed and enjoyed listening to Irish music. Everyone ended their day with a smile
