While the past few months have brought unprecedented restrictions for all of us, life at Brooklands has by no means slowed down. Our much-loved residents have been as active as ever while we’ve been coming up with creative new home-based activities and alternative ways to stay in touch with loved ones.
We’ve all got involved in embracing new technology in order for our residents to connect with friends and family via virtual meet ups, while in-person visits had temporarily been put on hold. By now, the world has become very familiar with the various apps, from Zoom to Whatsapp, which have allowed multiple family members to dial in and video chat together with our residents.
In fact, we’ve found that friends and relatives have been able to stay in touch more than ever before thanks to this new technology. What a treat it has been to see our residents faces lighting up at the sight of their children and grandchildren from around the country. A truly touching experience.
With the absence of our regular visiting entertainers, we’ve had to create our own amusement at Brooklands, and as the weather heated up our residents have loved taking some of our activities outdoors, from Book Club to giant crosswords, our brains have been challenged!
James our handyman surprised us with a giant version of KerPlunk, which proved hours of fun. Jamie soon followed suit, with the creation of an indoor Donkey Derby, which had everyone in stitches and brought out our competitive natures.
Residents have enjoyed getting crafty, from painting pretty curio boxes to making friendship bracelets. All of which has provided endless creative inspiration and brought everyone together in these challenging times. In fact, it has only helped to grow the community spirit within our home and I’m sure we will be keeping some of our new found entertainment going for months to come.
And we were all overjoyed when our very own central office sent over treats for our carers and resident to enjoy; one day it was an ice cream van, the next it was a surprise batch of lollipops and snow cones. Such simple gestures to let us know we are, as ever, in their hearts and minds – they were greatly appreciated and went down a treat!