GossipISSUE 31 | MARCH 2013

DCFC Signed Football Up For Grabs!

IN THIS MONTH’S ISSUE...

Inside Gossip is your newsletter so we want your contributions! Residents, relatives and staff are all welcome to write in. Whether its an article on a trip or event that’s happened at your home, perhaps you’d like to write about something you’d like to reminisce about with others, you might want to write a letter to get your view across about something you feel passionate about. What about something you’ve made that you’d like to share with everyone at Ashmere? You could even put together a quiz or riddle for puzzle corner. Just hand it in to the Activities Co-ordinator or

Manager at your home & we’ll make sure its in the next newsletter!

WRITE FOR THE ASHMERE INSIDE GOSSIP!

Inside

Derby County Football Club have been generous enough to donate a signed football to The Firs Nursing Home. After much discussion, it was agreed that we would auction the football off on internet auction website, Ebay. The auction will begin on Tuesday 2nd April until Friday 12th April. The link to the auction will be available on the Ashmere website for anyone interested in bidding for the signed football. All money raised will go towards The Firs Residents Fund which will help towards trips out in the summer and any activity equipment the

residents would like. The winning bidder will be able to collect the item from any of our Ashmere homes. The football has been signed by all Derby County’s biggest players including Jeff Hendrick, Craig Bryson & Nathan Tyson as well as manager, Nigel Clough! Good Luck to everyone who will be bidding! We’d also like to say a huge thank you to Derby County for donating the football so we could raise some money for a very good cause. We’ll report in the next newsletter how much money we’ve raised & who was the winning bidder!

Which home have been donning their Cowboy/girl hats?......... Page 3

Which home has been treating residents to a chippy treat?....Page 4

Which home has two new feathered residents?.............Page 8

Codnor Park News Tel: 01773 74111188 Glass House Hill, Codnor, DE5 9QT

2

Happy Birthday!

INSIDE

GOSSIP

Iris FoggAlan Stuart

Lilian Anning

Upcoming Events

Our Skype sessions between residents & relatives have been very successful. It is rewarding to see the smiles on our resident’s faces when they can see and speak to family and friends that they haven’t seen in years. In one instance, one of our residents hadn’t seen her son in 10 years! Skype calls are made on the computer for free using the internet & a webcam so you can see and hear each other live! We’ve currently had calls to Mexico & Canada and we want to do more! So if you know someone who hasn’t seen a family member or friend for a while, please speak to Kayleigh, Activities Co-ordinator at Codnor Park. Skype is also available at our other homes so please speak to the home’s Activities

Co-ordinators.

A Busy Month!Our Residents have had a busy month full of fun & games. They’ve been enjoying their regular exercises to music, we had a trip out shopping to the Westfield Centre in Derby, entertainment from Frankie Fortune & they’ve also been busy making crafts to make the hairdressing salon brighter as well as lots of Easter activities!

Singing for the BrainWe enjoyed another trip to the Alzheimer’s Society, ‘Singing for the Brain.’ This is always a great day out where residents from various Ashmere homes meet up & travel through the Derbyshire countryside to Duffield. They really enjoy seeing all the beautiful scenery. When they arrive, they enjoy coffee & biscuits, meet new friends & most of all, enjoy singing lots of songs that they know. We always have a wonderful time & look forward to going to the next one in a month’s

time!

Welcome to Lilian Anning!Welcome!

Friday 29th MarchGood Friday Coffee Morning

From 10.00amTo celebrate Easter, we’ll be holding a Coffee Morning and Entertainment that everyone is invited to. Residents have been busy making Easter Bonnets for the occasion & are looking forward to showing them off to

everyone!

Thank you to our new volunteer, Hannah Smith.

We’d also like to say a huge thank you to Mill Hill School for visiting us every week. Its lovely to see everyone getting

along so well!

Thank you!

3

The Firs News Tel: 01773 74381090 Glass House Hill, Codnor, DE5 9QT

Happy Birthday!

Happy 65th Birthday to Rose Wheeler on 2nd April.

Staff Birthdays!

Gordon Orchard

Mary Burgh

Happy 60th Birthday to Ann Slaney

Wendy Heenan will be 53 years young on 24th April.

Dignity Champion of the month

Dignity Extravaganza

3

INSIDE

GOSSIP

To celebrate Dignity Action Day, The Firs held a Country & Western Day. Everyone donned their cowboy hats and boots and had a brilliant time. The Mayor of Amber Valley visited to open the event & became an honourary Ashmere Dignity Champion. One of our staff who has an outstanding voice entertained us & as the music played, everyone was up line dancing. This was then followed by a hog roast & apple sauce. Once again, the home could not believe how well the event went. The Firs would like to thank all staff, management, families, local community & residents. All the money raised will go to our resident fund.

Congratulations to Jayne Heaton, Home Manager who has been chosen as Dignity Champion of the month by the National Dignity Council. Rose Wheeler, Senior Carer & staff at The Firs felt that Jayne deserved to be nominated as she is committed to ensuring everyone tackles rather than tolerates poor practice in the care home. Her passion & commitment to improve outcomes for residents, staff, relatives & friends is outstanding. Well Done Jayne from everyone

at Ashmere!

Upcoming Events

Fri 19th April, 2.00pm - 8.00pmSat 20th April, 10.00am-

2.00pmCream Tea Open Days

The Firs will be opening their doors to the community to find out more about the home. Members of the public are invited to drop in to meet the dedicated team and see the fantastic range of services they provide. There will also be the chance for all visitors to enjoy a tea or coffee and some homemade cakes whilst asking any questions on the care that the

home delivers.

The Staff are sad to announce the sad death of Mr. Melvin Birks, well esteemed nurse who was very much loved by all the staff and residents at The Firs. The staff will be holding a ceremony on Thursday 4th April, the day Melvin will be buried at 1.00pm with a service held by our local vicar. Staff and residents will let balloons off in memory of Melvin followed by a buffet to reflect Melvin’s life.

Sunday 31st MarchEaster Celebrations

All DayEveryone is welcome to join us for our Easter Celebrations. We’ll have an Easter Bonnet parade followed by a buffet tea! We’ll also be announcing the winner of our Easter Raffle as well as giving a prize out to the best bonnets.

4

\ ssss Kidsley Grange News Tel: 01773 769807160 Heanor Road, Smalley, DE7 6DX

4

Happy Birthday!

INSIDE

GOSSIP

Sue Pulford

Happy 40th Birthday toVicky Abbott

Staff Birthdays!

Mertyl Herbert

Happy 70th Birthday toKath Martin

Upcoming EventsSaturday 30th March

Easter Party10.30am - 1.00pm

Our Easter Party will include a visit from a Mini Zoo! We’ll also have stalls such as Hook a Duck, Face Painting & much more. We also have a lovely chocolate hamper full of Easter Eggs. To win the hamper, please see Ruth for a

raffle ticket. Its £1.00 for a strip!

Tuesday 26th MarchChurch Service

5.00pmCelebrate Easter with a Singalong!

Friday 12th AprilIndian Theme Bistro Night

5.00pmAll are welcome to join us! To book, please see Ruth!

Easter Trip Out

To celebrate Easter, we had a trip out to Highfield Happy Hens. We had a lovely time seeing the baby lambs and holding newborn chicks. We also stroked the baby piglets and pigmy goats. The miserable weather didn’t dampen our spirits as we also had a picnic lunch and had a look at the farm shop where we bought homemade bread, bacon & chutney.

Around the World!Residents enjoyed ‘Foods from around the World’ week with a different theme each day ranging from Indian, Chinese and Italian. On Italian Day, residents made their own Pizza. But their favourite day was ofcourse, English day as they were all treated to fish & chips

from the local chippy!

Activities this monthAs usual, we’ve been up to lots again this month. We’ve been busy planting flowers to brighten up our entrance. We’ve had lots of compliments about how nice it looks. We’ve also been Canvas Painting, Potato Printing

& Making Easter Cards & Cakes.

We also had another brilliant visit from the Owl Experience which everyone enjoyed & our regular trip to Singing for the Brain was

very much enjoyed!

Doris Purnell We hope you’ll be very

happy at Kidsley Grange!

Welcome

Thank you to John Hilton who has agreed to hold a weekly

dominoes group with the residents.

Thank you to Peter Cotton who has agreed to drive the

minibus for us.

Thank you!

53

dddddddddddddddddddddddddd dddddddddddddddddddddddddd dddddddddddddddddddddddddd

\ ssss King William News Tel: 01773 748841Lowes Hill, Ripley, DE5 3DW

Happy 90th Birthday to Avis Marsh!

Birthdays

Upcoming EventsSaturday 6th April

Easter Eggstravaganza3.00 - 8.00pm

We’ll have lots going on with stalls, games & competitions including an Easter Bonnet Competition, Easter Egg Hunt & lots more. We’ll have a buffet from 5pm & entertainment beginning at 6pm. We hope you can come along & raise some money for the Resident’s Fund!

Everyone is welcome!

Friday 19th AprilEntertainment from Annie

2.00pmEveryone is welcome to come and join us for entertainment from Annie, guitarist & vocalist.

Refreshments available.

Celebrations forMother’s Day

Wet Felting Craft!

5

INSIDE

GOSSIP

For Mother’s Day this year, we bought some lovely daffodils & put them in our two lounges. Most residents said it reminded them of when they bought them around this time of year. They also said how it was a symbol of Spring & Easter and they were looking forward to the weather changing. We had also entertainment from Kevin & Marie on 6th March to celebrate Mother’s Day with a lovely buffet & refreshments. Thank you to all staff who helped, the residents & relatives thoroughly enjoyed it.

We’ve recently made felt purses by using a wet felting technique with wool & carbolic soap. Its interesting to see how the fibres bind together (with a bit of elbow grease too!) and the residents were very pleased with what we made and were really interested in the method of making it. They was also surprised to see the carbolic soap again and said even the smell of it brought back many memories so it was also a

great reminiscence tool.

Reminiscing!This month, we had a new entertainer perform for us. He played the guitar and also sang, he had a lovely voice and sang songs that every resident knew and could sing along to. He told jokes in between songs which had everybody laughing. All residents clapped and sang along, staff were also singing along! He also did some reminiscing with them which included talking about how they bathed in tin baths in front of the fire, probably once a week and how there was no toilet paper so they had newspaper pinned to the back of the door. One resident said how it was their job to cut up the newspaper into squares! Relatives commented on how well he interacted with the residents and how good his

‘wartime medleys’ were.

Gemma BeardsleyLesley Neal

Kelly Bestwick

Staff Birthdays

Win our Hamper!For your chance to win our luxury Easter hamper, please see a member of staff for a ticket. At £1 a strip and its contents worth more than that, its worth a go! The lucky winner will be announced at our Easter

Fete on the 6th April.

4

Smalley Hall News Main Road, Smalley, DE7 6DS

6

Happy Birthday!

INSIDE

GOSSIP

Maria Hibbert

Easter Preparations!As it comes up to Easter, Smalley Hall’s residents have been busy decorating their bonnets for Sunday’s Easter Parade. Lillian, Joan, Doris F, Gwen and Doris S have been decorating the bonnets for the Resident’s Tea. All residents also had a go at making an Easter cookie

which they enjoyed with their tea.

We are also selling raffle tickets for the Easter Raffle which will be drawn on Sunday 31st March.

Finally, we will be having an Easter Eggstravaganza on Wednesday 10th April and will have entertainment from Kevin & Marie from 2pm. All are

welcome to join us for all the fun!

Tel: 01332 882848

Staff Announcements

Our new ActivitiesCo-ordinator, Sally has started at Smalley Hall. If you haven’t already said hello, she’d love to meet you! If you’re a relative or resident at Smalley Hall, why not tell her about any activity ideas or trips out that you’d like to see

happening!

Upcoming Events!Wednesday 10th AprilEaster Eggstravaganza

2.00pmEveryone is welcome to join us for our Easter Eggstravaganza with entertainment from Kevin & Marie. We look forward to seeing

you there!

Happy Birthday!Happy Birthday to Maria Hibbert who celebrated her 91st birthday with a big cake. Maria comes from Greece & was a

model for Christian Dior!

53

dddddddddddddddddddddddddd dddddddddddddddddddddddddd dddddddddddddddddddddddddd

\ ssss Valley Lodge News Tel: 01629 583447Bakewell Road, Matlock, DE4 3BN

Joan Watson

Happy 100th Birthday to Rita Conway!

Birthdays

Upcoming EventsEvery Friday

Cafe AfternoonEvery Friday afternoon, residents, relatives, staff and our other Ashmere homes are invited to join us for our Cafe Afternoon. It’s a chance for everyone to meet & have a chat over homemade cakes, biscuits & a variety of hot

& cold drinks.

Wednesday 27th MarchEaster Party

2.00pmEveryone is welcome to join us for our Easter Party. We’ll have an Easter Bonnet & Easter Basket Competition as well as entertainment from resident’s

favourites, Kevin & Marie.

Easter Crafts!

Mothers Day Fun!

7

INSIDE

GOSSIP

We have been really busy making Mothers Day Badges & Mothers Day Cards. Lilian made a lovely Mothers Day Card. Jill also had a laugh making her Mothers Day Card which was from everyone at Valley Lodge. We also had some Mothers Day entertainment from Sue & Phil who sang 50s, 60s & 70s music. Rita, who will be 100 next month, had

a lovely time dancing with Sue.

We’ve been making our Easter Bonnets and Easter Baskets ready for the Easter Party on the 27th March. Our residents are very proud of their bonnets & can’t wait to show them off to their

friends & family!Our Easter Raffle full of lots of goodies will also be drawn at the party. If you would like to buy a ticket for £1 a strip, please see Jan, our Activities Co-ordinator.

New Displays!A huge thank you to Donna for doing our wonderful ‘Welcome to our Home’ signs. We have one in our Dining Room and the other in our Extra Care Unit. Everyone has been very impressed with them & they brighten the home up really

well!

A Fond FarewellWe had a great leaving party for Di Ludlam, our housekeeper. Staff, residents and relatives attended the party to say a fond farewell.

Thank you!Thank you to Jamillia for painting the furniture in our

reception area!

4

\ ssss West Hallam News Tel: 0115 944 03298 Newdigate Street, West Hallam DE7 6GZ

8

Happy Birthday!

INSIDE

GOSSIP

Paula HuntKate Leivers

Tracey Gibbons

Rita GribbyAudrey Jeffries

Dot HillierNancy KilpinLeila Evans

Tweet Tweet to our new Budgies!

We would like to introduce you to Snowy & Joey, our new baby budgies. They have taken pride of place in our Extra Care Unit. They are only two months old and were kindly donated to the home by Sue & Dave Brown. Two of our residents, Hetty & Joan have become very

attached to them and enjoy talking to them. Tweet Tweet!

Comic ReliefWe enjoyed watching all the staff dress up on Friday 15th March for Comic Relief in our Pyjamas! It made the residents smile to see all the staff in our bed wear. Raising money for Comic Relief was lovely and we

all had a lovely sing song!

Film AfternoonWe have all enjoyed watching our new films. One of the films we bought was Pearl Harbour which went down a treat! Residents got very emotionally involved in the film with Doreen Shaw shouting, ‘Go Get ‘Em’ during the film. Many residents reflected on their memories when we discussed the film afterwards.

Staff Birthdays!

Upcoming Events

Rebecca & Ashley Robinson who got married on the 8th March! We wish you all the

best for your future together!

Congratulations!

Saturday 30th MarchEaster Eggstravaganza

2.00pmOur Easter event is fast approaching! All are welcome! Come and join the fun, there is something available for all ages!

Hope to see you there!

Recipes Wanted!Knitting has taken off leaps and bounds with residents at West Hallam with most wanting to do it most days. A lovely knitting group has formed and we enjoy a good chat. Laura has agreed to knit a blanket for Battersea Cats Home. She has just started it so let’s give

her lots of support!

Knitting Group

We would appreciate any favourite recipies from our residents families. We are trying to make a home cookbook. Any recipies would

be great! Thank you!

\ ssss

53

dddddddddddddddddddddddddd dddddddddddddddddddddddddd dddddddddddddddddddddddddd

\ ssss http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/puzzles/31166xszkb.png http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/puzzles/31166xszkb.png http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/puzzles/31166xszkb.png http://puzzlemaker.discoveryPuzzle Corner

9

INSIDE

GOSSIP

THEASHMERE

RIDDLELast month’s Riddle: A Father’s Child, A Mother’s Child, Yet No one’s Son. Who am I? Answer: Their Daughter

Easter Crossword

Congratulations to Audrey Jefferies from West Hallam who won last month’s Puzzle Corner.

Across3. The Sunday before Easter which recalls Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem.5. The 40 Days of fasting before Easter are known as.6. Easter Eggs are usually made out of this treat.7. The season which Easter is celebrated.8. The Easter ________ leaves eggs for the children.11. Easter is always celebrated on a ________.12. You may wear one on an Easter Parade.13. The day that Lent begins ____ Wednesday.14. What is the symbol of Christ’s crucifixion?

Down1. Easter may fall in March or ...?2. What is the meal Jesus shared with the Disciples before his death known as?4. What is traditionally served with Roast Lamb?6. These hatch out of real eggs.9. Who betrayed Jesus with a kiss?10. Jesus wore a crown of...?

Can you answer our Easter related riddle?

What do you call a funny book about Eggs?

10

INSIDE

GOSSIP

Ashmere Derbyshire

90 Glass House HillCodnorRipleyDE5 9QT

Phone: 0845 602 2059Fax: 01773 749 259E-mail: rebecca.jones@ashmere.co.uk

care homes for loved ones.

Ashmere have been caring in Derbyshire for over 25 years. The business has been family owned and run across three generations.

We aim to provide the very best care for residents, providing a range of care from residential, nursing and to Dementia care in our extra care units.

In addition to long term care, we also provide respite care and day care to assist those who are still able to live at home.

If you would like any additional information about the company or services on offer, please contact Rebecca Jones using the details provided on the left or visit our website - www.ashmere.co.uk

Poetry Corner

I was wondering late last night, When I was supposed to be in bed,

If the Easter Bunny has a name,And is it Sue or Fred?

And I was thinking in the bathtub, When I was supposed to scrub and clean,

Is the Easter Bunny a girl or boy?Does he dress up for Halloween?

I was thinking after supper, When I was supposed to be doing my maths,

Does the Easter Bunny have a Mum?Does she make him take a bath?

I’d like to find the Easter Bunny, Maybe if I tried…

I’d get all my questions answered, And I would be satisfied!

Easter Bunny Thought

Have you got a poem you’d like featured in Poetry Corner or have you got a favourite poem that you’d like to share with everyone at Ashmere? Please speak to your Activity Co-ordinator or Home Manager to

ensure it makes it into next month’s newsletter!