Caring UK Weekly - June 14 2023

Provider teams up to share the gift of hearing

COLTEN Care has become the first UK care home provider to partner with a national organisation aiming to recover, repurpose and reuse no-longer-needed hearing aids.

The operator’s 21 homes in Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire and West Sussex are collection points for people to drop off hearing aids and avoid them going to landfill. It follows a partnership agreed with newlyestablished campaign group Hearing Technology, Hear Today, Hear Tomorrow.

Based in Oxfordshire, HT upcycles pre-loved hearing aids and donates them to people in need in the UK, the developing world and Eastern Europe.

Founder Zoe Fawcett-Eustace began to lose her hearing aged 14.

“I am so thankful to have had access to hearing aids,” she said. “I know that my life would have been drastically different without them but at the same time I was disheartened to be told to keep my older aids for spares or to throw them away.

“With hundreds of millions of deaf people around the world without access to hearing technology that just seemed completely unacceptable. I knew I had to try and do something.

“We’re so grateful for Colten Care’s support. We have been working to establish a network of collection centres. There’s

no doubt that there are many, many UK hearing aids going to waste each year. We need as many collection centres as possible to make it easy for people to donate theirs or their loved ones’ hearing aids.

“Colten Care are our first partnership with care homes. For them to have embraced the initiative and to have included all 21 of their homes is truly fantastic for us. We are so incredibly grateful and humbled by how many lives we hope to improve through access to better hearing care.”

To complement the growth of collection centres, HT is building links with product and parts manufacturers and retailers so that the devices dropped off can then be refurbished and redistributed.

Elaine Farrer, Colten Care’s chief operating officer, added: “We share HT’s sustainable ambitions to recycle and repurpose hearing aids and send them to where they are most needed in the UK and around the world.

“We know from our own experience in the care sector that many old hearing aids are simply junked which is bad for the environment and a waste of resource. That’s why we are partnering with HT and offering all 21 of our homes across the south as drop-off points where people can come to and hand in hearing aids.”

Two residents at RMBI Care Co. Home Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh Court in Wokingham visited their local branch of the Women’s Institute for an inspiring evening. Gladys and Angela, accompanied by activities coordinator Sharon Fletcher, were invited to a talk called “Extraordinary Women from MERL (Museum of English Rural Life) and University of Reading”. The talk focused on both well-known and less celebrated women, including Nancy Witcher Langhorne Astor (politician), Lady Evelyn Balfour OBE (pioneer of organic farming), Jill Betts (educator and researcher), Nora Doreen Thorpe (land army woman), Lavina Smith (teacher and collector) and Elizabeth Waterhouse (artist). All six, who led fascinating lives and careers, had links to the locality.

MS week raises almost £2,000

A WEEK of fun and activities took place at Meadow House in Swaffham, Norfolk, as staff, residents, relatives and the local community raised almost £2,000 for research into Multiple Sclerosis.

Every year the Meadow House team –led by activity co-ordinator Jamie Smith – throw themselves into a week-long extravaganza which this year included sponsored cycling, a cold water dunk and an eating competition, along with fun activities for residents at the home. There was also a £500 donation from the Swaffham Lions’ Club.

Jamie took part in a cold water dunking and an eating challenge where the menu included red hot hummus, haggis served with peanut butter and orange jelly with

spaghetti hoops and curried custard. He said: “Multiple Sclerosis week is one which is very close to our hearts as a number of our residents here at Meadow House are living with the condition. Every year we try and do things bigger and better than the year before. It was an amazing week – hard work and a lot of fun. We were shown a fantastic amount of support from our relatives and the local community. We are delighted with the amount raised and grateful to the Swaffham Lions Club for their amazing donation.”

Healthcare Homes’ chief executive Gordon Cochrane attended the end of week party, spending time with the residents and accepting the cheque from Swaffham Lions Club.

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Provider invests in Huntington’s disease unit

SPECIALIST dementia care provider

Vida Healthcare has opened a new unit to support people living with Huntington’s disease.

Lindsay House, based at Vida Court, has opened its doors specifically for people living with Huntington’s disease.

The house will provide nine people with a high standard of personcentred care, including medication management, access to local community services, including a GP and community multidisciplinary teams, and a sensory room.

Vida Healthcare will support residents’ independence and ensure they have a voice to tailor the service to each individual, whilst providing a homely environment for residents and their families.

James Rycroft, managing director at Vida Healthcare, said “We are always looking into gaps within the care industry and subsequently identified a lack of support available for people living with Huntington’s disease.

“Our ability to adapt and meet other specialist needs is one of our greatest assets, and we wanted to use this expertise to expand our offering and support more people living with long term conditions.

“We believe that our values and vision strongly align with that of the Huntington’s Disease Association and we are looking forward to working closely with them to ensure we’re providing the best possible care.”

In conjunction with the Huntington’s Disease Association, Vida Healthcare and its unique training platform, Vida Academy, will provide staff working in the unit with an extensive induction course to

ensure they have the appropriate skill set and knowledge to support those living with Huntington’s disease. Continuous training will also be available and supported by the Huntington’s Disease Association. Vida Healthcare has recruited 36 new nurses and carers and brought over existing staff from its other houses to support the new residents.

Staff members working in the unit will have the skills required to support people living with Huntington’s to experience wellbeing and purpose in their daily life, treat them with respect and dignity, ensure agreed plans of care are met to the highest standard, and enable residents to make their own decisions, feel valued and become part of the Vida community.

Group’s creative homes celebrate the world of art

CARE homes across Dorset have chosen creative ways to celebrate visual art and culture.

Residents at Colten Care homes in Poole, Sherborne, West Moors and Longham have all enjoyed activities, talks and presentations inspired by the annual Unesco World Art Day.

Abbey View in Sherborne showcased the work of 96-year-old artist and resident Rosemary Dodd.

Alongside an exhibition of several of her paintings, Rosemary was interviewed in front of an audience of fellow residents by her daughter Roz and friend and auctioneer Matthew Lacey.

Rosemary was especially active as an artist in the 1960s. Two of her pieces adorned the walls of the Royal Society of British Artists’ summer exhibition in London in 1966 and she recalled being invited later to a Women of the Year luncheon in Dorchester.

Rosemary said she was delighted to have the opportunity to exhibit her work at Abbey View and speak about her talent and enthusiasm for art to an audience.

She added: “I have always loved art and colour. From my earliest memories as a child, I loved to draw.

art demonstration by New Forestbased equine illustrator and author Alan Langford.

They watched and asked questions as he sketched and coloured a picture of a horse. As he worked, he explained the different techniques he was using.

At the end of the visit, Alan donated his picture to the residents.

“They were absolutely enthralled by Alan’s session, how quickly he built up the picture, and his surprise gift at the end,” said companionship team member Jo Vardy.

“Alan has kindly offered to return to hold an art masterclass, hearing that we have some keen painters among us, especially residents Patricia Upshall and Pam Roberts, who were transported back to happy memories of days when they were creating art themselves.”

At The Aldbury, residents celebrated World Art Day by decorating canvas squares in 10 different artistic styles. They added lettering so that when the squares were put in a sequence, they spelled out the name of the home.

The session was an opportunity to discuss art history and the influence of movements such as cubism, surrealism, impressionism and pop art.

Seabrooke Manor resident May O’Neil celebrated her 103rd birthday recently. May, who moved to the Ilford home in 2019, was born and grew up in Plaistow, London with her twin sister, who is now also in a care home. She attended a school in Plaistow and, at the age of 14, she worked for a paper company until she met and married her husband Barney. They had one daughter who May stayed at home looking after as a housewife. When her daughter was 12, May went to work as a sales assistant in her friend’s shop. May likes to take part in some of the home’s activities including chair exercises, gardening and bingo. May always takes pride in her appearance, always matching her clothes well and doing her hair and nails. Everyone enjoyed joining in with her birthday celebrations.

“I am so happy I have had the chance to have an exhibition in my lifetime.”

Companionship team member Bev de Bruyn said: “During question time from a full house of residents, Rosemary radiated such joy and passion. It was delightful to watch her being interviewed and to hear her insights.”

At Brook View in West Moors, residents were treated to a talk and

At Bourne View in Poole, residents made and decorated bookmarks for distribution to local libraries and community contacts.

The focus at Fernhill, Colten’s dementia care home in Longham near Bournemouth, was on creating a ‘tree of life’ artwork reflecting the four seasons of the year.

World Art Day has been celebrated internationally every year since 2012 on the birthday of Leonardo Da Vinci.

Artist Rosemary Dodd holds one of her paintings at Colten Care’s Abbey View care home in Sherborne joined by her daughter Roz.

Home manager Sharon Oldfield and Vida Healthcare managing director James Rycroft.

1966 autograph hunters invited back to home ahead of tribute

SIGNATURE at Hendon Hall, a care home in North London, is inviting young fans from the 1966 World Cup back to the famous grounds they visited in search of autographs from their footballing heroes.

Hendon Hall, in its former days as a hotel, holds a unique and special space in English sporting folklore.

It played host to England’s winning World Cup squad, who were guests throughout their successful 1966 campaign.

The tournament saw football fans from across the world flock to the hotel to catch glimpses of English football’s shining stars.

Now a luxury care home, Signature at Hendon Hall is hoping to welcome supporters back to the grounds they

visited to share memories of the triumph, and to honour team captain Bobby Moore’s legacy at a tribute the home will be paying to mark 30 years since he passed away.

Having unearthed photos of young autograph hunters, Signature at Hendon Hall is embarking on a search for the youngsters snapped in two photos. They were taken on July 25, 1966 – a day before England’s semi-final win against Portugal.

The photos show Bobby Moore, Sir Bobby Charlton and Jimmy Greaves being tailed by the fans ahead of the match, which turned out to be a pivotal game for the team.

Charlton netted both goals to send England to the final, where they overcame West Germany at Wembley

Stadium – five miles away from Hendon Hall.

The autograph hunters in the image are invited to return to Hendon Hall on July 22 for a lunch to trade treasured footballing memories, and to celebrate Hendon Hall’s place in sporting folklore. Guests will be treated to a luxury lunch, alongside fundraising fun on behalf of Bobby Moore Fund – a charity set up in his memory by his widow Stephanie.

Rakhee Popat, client liaison manager at Signature at Hendon Hall, said: “The memories that those young autograph hunters were able to make with their sporting heroes back in 1966 are ones we would love to share with them.

“The celebration we are holding

will reflect on the triumph of Bobby Moore and the rest of the ’66 boys.

“It is also one that will look to the future, as we aim to raise funds in honour of Bobby and to see the Lionesses kick off their quest for glory.

“Any help in finding the young autograph hunters will be greatly appreciated.”

The date of the care home’s event also marks the Lionesses seeking to follow in the footsteps of England’s 1966 side, as they face Haiti in their World Cup 2023 opener being held in Australia and New Zealand.

If you recognise yourself or anyone else in this image, please contact Signature at Hendon Hall on 0203 1306725 or email events.hendon@ signaturesl.co.uk

Free dementia awareness training for care staff

DEMENTIA Carers Count, the national charity that supports the emotional and practical needs of carers looking after someone with dementia, is offering free dementia awareness training for all care staff. The prevalence of dementia in care homes is increasing, with 70 per cent of residents believed to be living with the condition.

However, public confidence in care staff’s understanding of dementia is low.

A survey carried out for ‘Workforce Matters’, a Parliamentary Inquiry

into how to support people with dementia and their families, revealed that less than half of all respondents (44 per cent) rated care staff’s understanding of dementia positively.

Claire Reading, head of business development at Dementia Carers Count, said: “We believe that everyone caring for someone with dementia should have access to training.

“We also appreciate that there can be challenges when juggling staff training needs with budget restraints.

So, we are delighted to offer a free to access ‘Introduction to Dementia’ course, designed for professional carers.

“Created and delivered by our specialist practitioners, the course should take less than an hour and a half to complete, but it doesn’t need to be finished in one go. You can dip in and out of it.

“The course is CPD accredited and offers carers the opportunity to understand more about dementia and supportive care.

“Benefitting from expert support

from Dementia Carers Count is a great way for staff and care homes to show their commitment to high quality dementia care.

“We work alongside care homes and home care agencies as a trusted partner to deliver programmes that develop a deeper understanding of dementia and enhance carers’ confidence.”

For more information or to request a link to the training course, contact Claire Reading on 0203 5400 730 or email expertsupport@ dementiacarers.org.uk

School presents £400 cheque for home’s garden project

CHILDREN from St Katharine’s Primary School in Savenake Forest, Marlborough are helping to make everything in a care home’s garden look lovely.

Four schoolchildren with headteacher Niki Jones visited Brendoncare Froxfield care home to hand over a cheque for £400, which they raised from a bake sale. Manager Maria Wegner said: “We are all very grateful to St Katharine’s School for raising this fantastic amount of money to help us with our garden project.

“All our residents really enjoyed meeting and talking to the children.

“We always love to see children in our care home and we hope this will be the first of many visits from the school.”

The money will be used to install new features such as raised flowerbeds and replace the existing benches where residents and staff enjoy the glories of their garden.

After the presentation the children met the care home’s resident rabbit Rolo and played boules with some of the residents.

Fans ask Jimmy Greaves and Bobby Moore for their autographs during the World Cup.

Fans greet Sir Bobby Charlton ahead of England’s game with Portugal in 1966.

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