Newsletter – Winter 2015-16

Newsletter Winter 2015/2016

We have to say that it has been a bit of a wet and dreary winter weather wise, but life at Rowan house has been nothing but cheerful. 

There has been lots of entertainment going on both inside and outside Rowan House over the last few months.  We hosted a great Bonfire party with fireworks, and a lovely home-made hot-pot which everyone enjoyed.  We had a visit from the Mayor and his wife in December; they spoke to many of the residents and were very complimentary about Rowan House.  We had a successful visit to Endsleigh Garden Centre for a look round and shopping followed by afternoon tea. All the residents who took part really enjoyed the trip out. Our popular entertainers, Pat and Dave, continue to come to Rowan House every two weeks.                   

We hosted a fabulous Christmas party, which had a great turnout from staff, residents, friends and families – thank you to everyone who came along to support us. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.  Carol and the kitchen staff worked really hard to produce an amazing buffet, which went down extremely well.  Jo put a lot of effort into organising the superb decorations, a ‘grand raffle’ and personalised gifts for all of the residents.  We had a performance from the local children’s choir, which was lovely along with our regular entertainers Pat and Dave, who got people up dancing – the atmosphere was fabulous!  All the staff made a huge effort to make the party the great success that it was.

Sharon and Jess are no longer with us but we are delighted to introduce Karen Palmer, as the new manager.  Karen has over 30 years’ experience of working within Health and Social care and has a great depth of knowledge that she can pass onto the team at Rowan House.  Karen has fitted into the team extremely well, with her bubbly personality and conscientious work ethic.  We would also like to introduce Anna, Mike and Chris’s daughter, into the team.  Anna will be spending more time at Rowan House, getting to know the staff and residents and is working towards qualifying for her Diploma level 5 in Health and Social care.

We are pleased to welcome some more new staff into the team.  We have a new handy-man, Steve, who is doing a great job of keeping the place looking smart along with Vic, and two new carers Lucy and Amy who have fitted in well.  We are all looking forward to Becky returning from maternity leave in March.  

We are delighted to welcome a few new residents Andy, Alma, Denis, Hilda, Joan, Alicia and Jay who are all settling in well.  Valerie has also joined us for a few weeks’ respite.  Unfortunately, we had to say a sad goodbye to Sylvia, Kathleen and Nora. Our thoughts and best wishes go out to their families.

Caroline is now working with Elisabeth as activities co-ordinator, which means that the residents can enjoy more regular and different activities.  Many of the residents took part in a baking session this week, which was a great success.  The residents continue to enjoy the variety of art and crafts, pamper sessions and quizzes.  They have recently made some Easter chicks which are now on display in the dining room and plans are underway for an Easter Party which will include an Easter Bonnet Competition.

Everyone is looking forward to the Spring and, hopefully, some dry and bright weather to make a change from all this rain!