The Valerie Manor quilt is coming along splendidly under the guidance of our very own care team member and project manager Joyce! We now have five completed squares and the ladies have agreed that they will have a knee blanket ready for Christmas, aiming to complete one square a week each.
They were even trying to tell me about knitting today..... They are using a plain stitch so that it looks the same on the front and back – They make the squares by putting one corner to another to see when they can cast off, leaving some wool to ensure they can sew them all together..... And even the gentlemen have been taking part by assisting the ladies by rolling the wool in preparation for the next squares!
We’ll keep you up to date with progress…
Following an unannounced inspection from CSCI (Commission for Social Care Inspection) at the end of July, our detailed inspection report is now available to view and download online. We’re very happy to have achieved a ‘Good’ (2 star) rating which is the maximum rating we can achieve in our first year. 
The Agility Activity was Target Bean Bag - some residents even surprised themselves at how far they could throw those colourful bags on the Twister mat! We did our warm-up to Offenbach as one of the ladies really enjoys classical music.
One Activity this week was ‘Sensory Identification’ we concentrated on smell and touch this time; sight and sound are yet to come. We had several different pots of ‘smells’ e.g. mint sauce, vanilla essence, mixed spices and many more. Each person took a turn at sniffing the pots and at the end gave their opinion on what they thought it was. Everyone got at least one right. We then took it in turns to feel objects that were placed in a bag and at the end one by one they had to say which object they felt. I call these type of activities ‘Mind Benders’ as it helps us to us think and remember. 
Hello, my name is Maireadh Knight (Marmalade) and I am so lucky to spend time at Valerie Manor and am thoroughly enjoying my afternoon each week with the residents. I currently work as a Police Community Support Officer for Sussex Police and patrol Shoreham Beach. Before Sussex Police I worked as a Road Runner for Southern FM. 
Hi, my name is Lydia, I am 18 and currently at college doing my A levels. I hope to go to medical school after college and eventually qualify as a doctor. Valerie Manor has been a great opportunity to meet new people and build up a rapport with the residents living there. I am thoroughly enjoying my work as a volunteer! 