Valerie Manor News

Extension News #7

Zoe — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:51:03 +0100

I can’t believe how quickly work is now progressing; I’m extremely pleased with the progress and have now ordered the furniture for phase 1 as we are so close to completion for this phase (September). I went on site this week with site manager Dan to have a look around the first two bedrooms and make final decisions on where sockets are to go, the track hoisting and TV points etc – my word, there is just so much to think about!

As you can see from the pictures the foundations in phase 2 are coming along nicely and it is exciting to see the layout of the bedrooms from the foundations as well.

Bingo!

Zoe — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:49:27 +0100

I don’t think we have had a game of Bingo for some time now but Sarah, one of the students from Steyning Grammar asked if she could bring in her Bingo game last week and facilitate this with the residents. It was lovely to see and one of the residents was delighted when he won as you can see from the pictures!

Extension News #6

Zoe — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 09:28:39 +0100

The extension really is ploughing ahead now - I have never been so excited about a concrete floor and a brick wall! The piling is also being completed as part of phase two and I am hoping that we may be able to play a bit of catch up following the Jackdaw’s nesting. The enthusiasm spread into the lounge this week and I was on my hands and knees with several samples of carpets, curtains, furniture and material for the chairs. It raised a lot of discussion between the residents and they certainly had a few different views! We have also been discussing the birds names again as I received several individual cards with lovely pictures of birds – needless to say, none of the rooms will be called ‘JackDaw’!

Steyning Grammar School Students

Zoe — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:05:38 +0100

This past week we've had another two students from Steyning 6th form Grammar School spend time with us at Valerie Manor. Sarah Mack and Phoebe Hale have spent the week joining in with various activities and brightening up the days of our residents. They have been developing the life histories of our residents who loved chatting with the girls about their lives which was so lovely to see. We hope you enjoyed your week with us Sarah and Phoebe! We've really enjoyed having you and wish you all the best for the future.

Extension News #5

Zoe — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 13:20:38 +0100

Well, at long last the Jackdaws have gone and the chimney has been knocked down! It really is full steam ahead now I hope... we did have a little scare when the archaeologists found a ‘clay pot’ on site when the trenches were dug for them, thankfully the analysis came to nothing so work is continuing!

We are all very excited as we have recently had an artist’s impression hand painted so that everyone can see what the extension will look like in a few months time. I must say, the finished result did bring a smile to my face and the residents are really looking forward to the end product. I now hope to have good news progress reports every week! Many thanks to local artist Sam Tarratt for producing the wonderful watercolour impression. Just click on the image below to see it in detail...

Click to enlarge

Environmental Health Inspection

Zoe — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 13:32:18 +0100

My word, in the middle of everything and with a temporary kitchen in place we received an unannounced visit from an environmental officer from Horsham Council on the 30th June 2010! I am pleased to say that, even with all the changes and temporary measures that we have in place at the moment with the building works we passed with flying colours! I even used it as an opportunity to show the officer our new kitchen plans to ensure they were happy with what we have organised. Again, a huge thank you to all the staff who continue to provide high standards with our temporary arrangements in place. Thank you also to the environmental health officer who spent a lot of time with me and members of the team in such a professional manner.

June Activities Summary

Robin Bates — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 19:19:51 +0100

Robin here with an update on June’s Activities.

Wow what a month !

So much going on... I think that every lady, gentleman and staff member were buzzing like bees during June !

Music Week went down a storm. We were lucky to have two girls helping from Steyning Grammar School for their work experience. On the Monday they helped decorate the lounge. Our ladies and gentlemen in the hub of everything watching and advising where to put everything. Everyone loves being so involved with these preparations.

We Line Danced from our chairs then the girls willingly joined in to demonstrate a ‘grapevine’ residents clapping along wearing cowboy hats... we had more than one Sheriff ! On the menu for the week was Musical Hats, a visit from some pupils from The Towers School who sang beautifully, Rita and Peter got myself and the girls to do the Can Can, the Pom Poms were used to co-inside with the England Game. On the Sunday everyone had a different instrument to play from keyboard to washing board... see Zoe’s photos. On the Monday my dear Zoe dusted off her tap shoes and danced along to Fred Astaire with me dressed in tail coat and top hat. How many Care Homes have their own resident tap dancer ?... I’m going to show a video of both Zoe and Sally-Ann tapping in one of my shows (sorry girls).

We then had our Green Day for St. Barnabas Hospice. Never a dull moment at the Manor. I cannot believe that in the midst of everything going on that Zoe and her staff put on such a wonderful day and raised over £300 for the Hospice to boot ! I’d like to thank everyone who supported this event especially those lovely relatives whose mother or father are sadly no longer with us. I think this demonstrates what a lovely family feeling is provided at Valerie Manor. We are also lucky that the staff are always willing to go that extra mile for everyone giving their own time to be a part of these events.

Everyone seems to be enjoying the Tennis... we kicked off Wimbledon with a game of our own... Balloon Tennis !

We still found time for some reminiscing. We had a chat about schooldays. One resident went to the Kender Stuart School in New Cross London, another attended a school in Bacup near Rochdale. A school near Deal was also attended. Favourite lessons included Arithmetic (sounds better than maths they said)

Sports and Gymnastics. One lovely lady remembers having tea in a wigwam at her school and another remembers living in Hanover Terrace in Brighton.

My Summer Term at Let’s Dance! finishes on Saturday 3rd July with an Awards Afternoon from our last Examination Session. Unfortunately because of the building work going on I cannot bring my Maypole pupils this year to entertain but all being well Zoe is going to try and bring some residents to a display we are having at The Knowles Tooth Children’s Centre Open Day in Hurstpierpoint in September. We have been entertaining there for about 15 years. Weather permitting it’s a lovely afternoon out.

That’s all folks !

Robin

Outings

Zoe — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 14:14:15 +0100

We have had two weeks without outings while we were enjoying the music week and Go Green Day – the Jalopy also had a new cam belt fitted so was out of action for a few days... The girls were raring to go again though this week and went out bright and early before it got too hot for the residents to enjoy sitting on the sea front having a coffee. Sheri was busy entertaining everyone and made a 'Valerie Manor' sign out of stones which was lovely; a passerby thought it was so nice to see the girls and residents out together they offered to take a group photo for them. How lovely to capture them all together having fun by the sea... Is it my turn next week to enjoy an outing?! I would like to say a huge thank you to Emma and Sheri who always ensure they have a box ready of water, sunglasses, hats, sunscreen and blankets to ensure the residents are safe and happy.

Tomato Plants

Zoe — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 14:12:31 +0100

A huge thank you again to our lovely relative Mike who has been back again to ensure we are caring for the plants well. He spent the morning with us on Wednesday ‘pinching out’ again and advising us to care for the tomato plants a bit closer to the wall to ensure more heat is reflected. The residents enjoyed having Mike here and we all made the most of the sunshine while having ice lollies on the patio! It generated a lot of discussion about the plants and also the wildlife; we were even visited by a butterfly while we were outside which is good for the growth and pollination of the plants. Thanks again Mike and we look forward to your next visit.

Relaxing...

Zoe — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:34:25 +0100

After a hectic two weeks we have been busy taking it a little easy and enjoying the football and tennis. I must confess I do not watch football and was shocked at how many residents have been enjoying the game! The first game was enjoyed with the residents wearing football hats and flags, the staff had face paints on and the residents also asked for them on their hands! We all know when the tennis has started at Valerie Manor. Several of the residents take to their bedroom and meal times are empty in the dining room as they watch the matches in their rooms. I’m afraid I have no time to watch a lot of TV but at least I have all the residents to keep me up to date with what is happening!!

Come on England and Murray!

Go Green Day for St Barnabas - 17th June 2010

Zoe — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:20:57 +0100

As many of you may be aware we have been planning our Go Green Day for St Barnabas for several weeks now. We were approached by the Herald to ask if we would like to have a charity day to raise money for St Barnabas. We all agreed that it would be a lovely idea as it is such a good cause and St Barnabas staff have supported several residents, families and staff at Valerie Manor through difficult times.

The residents along with Robin and staff started to come up with ideas for how we could raise money on our Go Green Day. The residents wanted to make some fresh flower arrangements which Joyce kindly arranged for the morning bringing in lots of greenery from her garden at home. They all looked lovely around the home for the day. The lounge was decorated with St Barnabas banners, balloons and bugs along with green helium balloons, glitter curtains and serviettes. We had green tea and cake or a green punch with friends and families of Valerie Manor and were selling green cup cakes for people to take away with them. Thank you to Maria who had been up since 4am baking for everyone. We also had a green raffle which staff and local people kindly donated to. Not of course forgetting that the wonderful staff at Valerie Manor joined in with the spirit of the day by wearing green outfits with green nail varnish, face paints and glitter wigs! Of course the residents were all in green clothes and hats for the day and the majority of visitors also turned up wearing green.

I am thrilled to say that we raised over £300 for St Barnabas and they have now also reached their set goal which is fantastic.

Thank you to all the residents, staff, friends and relatives and my family for supporting the event and raising money for such a good cause. Also a big thank you to everyone who donated gifts, including Nursing Hygiene, Staff members, and Mike from Upper Beeding Pharmacy. Watch out for the picture in the newspaper (Herald) next week!

You can view more pictures from the day on our Picasa web album below...

Music in the Air Annual Challenge! - 7th to 14th June 2010

Zoe — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 12:41:09 +0100

Well, what a musical week we have had! NAPA (National Association for Providers of Activities for Older People) promotes an annual challenge to care settings to try to encourage more to be done to bring music to life in care settings beyond the traditional sing-alongs and visiting entertainers. I believe we certainly rose to the challenge thanks to Robin (mum) who organised a fun packed week for the residents and staff at Valerie Manor. We had line dancing from the chair to start off the week, singing from the Towers Convent School bringing the old and young together, a glitzy day with visiting entertainers where the residents actually joined in with musical instruments and donned glitter top hats. There were going to be exercises with pom poms but the football took over and the residents chose to wear England dress – they did however manage to exercise a little with the poms poms and football dress......Maybe the residents at Valerie Manor can be the England cheerleaders! Song scrabble and musical hats were enjoyed with the students from Steyning Grammar School participating well. Sunday was thoroughly enjoyed by all, Robin and John brought all the musical instruments from their house (we have always been a musical family) and the residents all chose an instrument to play to the music that they enjoyed. One of our residents used to play the piano so he had the keyboard, he hasn’t played for 20 years but remembered and immediately started to play God Save our Gracious Queen. It certainly brought back memories for everyone in the room. Amelia, our lovely student came in on Sunday and played the residents two songs from her violin ‘In the Dark’ and ‘Medieval Tale’ which was lovely – thank you to Amelia for giving up her Sunday to share her music with the residents. One thing that no-one was any good at was the trumpet, several of us had a little go but not a note was heard!

Well, the finale was a good old fashioned sing-along and then the residents listening to their favourite music whilst Robin and I tap danced......yes, you did read that right! The residents have known that I used to dance several years ago and I have been promising to show them some tap dancing for months now. I put my top hat and tails on and danced to their favourite songs in the lounge. I must say, I haven’t tapped for some years now but it was lovely to see the residents so thrilled with what I did and brighten up their day. Of course, mum out shone me with her dancing skills after having a dancing school for over 20 years now (Let’s Dance Hassocks) but it was an honour to dance with her once again.

Thank you Robin for organising a spectacular week for the residents and staff, fingers crossed that we may win the challenge!

Extension News #4

Zoe — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 12:08:18 +0100

Meet Dan! - Hilife Site Manager Dan is on site every day to oversee the work and ensure everything runs smoothly, as well as being responsible for the health and safety of those on site. I speak with him most morning's for an update to see how things are going.

There has been some progress this week even though the Jackdaw's are still nesting. The old rooms have been demolished up to the main entrance and preparation of the groundwork has begun... but the chimney of the old dining room is still standing! Every morning and evening Dan checks on the Jackdaw nest in the chimney - so far one chick has fledged the nest and we're advised the remaining two should follow shortly. We'll bring you another update next week!

National Care Home Awards 2010

Zoe — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 15:27:18 +0100

We had such a fantastic time at the National Care Home Awards Gala Event at the Guildhall, London on Saturday 5th June – it really was such a night to remember and cherish. I am very proud of everyone getting to the National Finals and although we did not win on this occasion we are all determined to keep trying for future awards. The residents enjoyed seeing the staff leave in their limousine and also going through the programme afterwards, looking at the photos and admiring our finalists trophy when we all returned. I have also ordered them a DVD so they can watch the actual event as they were thrilled we were finalists.

A big thank you also to Mike Padgham, Director of the Great British Care Awards and journalist and broadcaster Fiona Phillips who presented on the night, for making those of us who work in the care industry feel so proud and appreciated for what we do.

Pictured top with the team trophy (from left: Joyce, Emma, Gill, Ellie & Sheri) and right with her trophy, Zoe.

You can view more pictures from the event on our Picasa web album below...

Steyning Grammar School Students

Zoe — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:29:53 +0100

We have thoroughly enjoyed having Amelia and Lucy with us from Steyning Grammar School this week on work experience. It has been music week (which you will find out more about next week!) and they have been fantastic at joining in and spending time with the residents. It is so lovely to see them interacting with the residents and we will all be very sad to see them go, we do however hope that they will keep in contact and visit us from time to time. We would like to wish the girls all the best for the future.

We would also like to thank Alex, the Flexible Learning Administrator for organising their placement at Valerie Manor.

Amelia and Lucy are pictured above joining in with mum (Robin) during the Country and Western activities at the beginning of the week.

Extension News #3

Zoe — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 15:38:22 +0100

The planned demolition of part of the old extension has been progressing well... but one thing that I didn’t expect to cause a delay was Jackdaws! Unfortunately they have nested in the chimney that is being demolished so things are rather quiet here at the moment until they ‘fledge their nest’. You can imagine how disappointed I am and what a huge impact it has on the project but there is nothing we can do about it I’m sorry to say.

The residents have continued to spend time outside and enjoy the weather and plants – as its looking like a bit of a ‘building site’ now we asked if they would prefer solid gates so that the grounds could not been seen... the answer was a definite ‘no’ as they are enjoying watching the workers and progress that is being made! Anyway, please all keep your fingers crossed that the birds fledge their nest soon so the project can continue!

Tomato Plant Know How...

Zoe — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:50:25 +0100

People are just so very kind... As you may be aware, we were donated some tomato plants by a kind relative, Mike a little while ago. I am certainly no gardener so Mike offered to come back and provide us with a teaching session for the staff and residents. I wasn't familiar with ‘pinching’ before but it all made sense and I was thrilled to be part of it with the residents and have a go myself. It was so lovely to see the residents enjoying themselves outside while learning a thing or two... let’s hope the tomatoes will be ready for eating in a couple of months, we have no excuse now we have had our lesson and will nurture them each day.

Thanks again Mike for your time and support.

May Activities Summary

Robin Bates — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:44:33 +0100

Goodbye May...Hello ‘Flaming’ June...we wish !

Such a busy month of May was enjoyed by our ladies and gentlemen.

Lots of physical activities this month including a Parachute Game (picture, below left), exercising with musical instruments (right), Giant Dice, 10 Pin Bowling and Strike a Goal to name but a few. Mind Benders included Occupations, Opposites and Requests and Matched Sets and Affinities. The Pub Quiz with a tipple always goes down well!

After our exercising and sing-a-long on a Monday we now have a regular Reminiscence discussion. The marvellous memories that come about are fantastic. We had a discussion on Travel...where did you holiday as a child / where have you been abroad/ what was your first holiday without your parents ? Among the memories were...Margate, long summer breaks with family in Hove, Rye, one lady visited Deal when she was a member of a choir, another remembered she used to ride pillion on a motor bike ! another lady used to live in Sweden teaching English, another lived in Hong Kong where her husband worked. Two gentlemen were trained pilots, one having trained in Canada. One gentleman told us he cycled from Catford to Blackpool then onto Scotland with his brother at a very young age....his ‘digs’ cost 4/6d a night !!!

Most of you may know that I visit on Monday mornings. On Monday 24th May I came with a special little visitor and his mum ! Sally-Ann brought Reuben John Paul to meet everyone. He was only 4 weeks old and the ladies and gentlemen were thrilled to meet him ! Everyone had been following his little life since being a bump until entering the world so it meant a lot to see the little chap...’leave him with me’ was requested more than once during the morning ! Thank you Sally-Ann for our little treat ! (that's me with Reuben below).

June is a very special month as we have 2 challenges. One is the NAPA Living Life Annual Challenge 2010. This involves a week of Music from Monday 7th June until Monday 14th June...the second challenge is for ‘Going Green’ for St Barnabas Hospice. Please look out for the Posters and support our challenges.

We’re off to London soon for the National Care Home Awards. I’ll give you a report next month......Look out for the Pink Limousine that some Carers are travelling in to the event.......GOOD LUCK EVERYONE !

Robin

Go Green Day – Charity Event for St Barnabas

Zoe — Fri, 28 May 2010 10:22:19 +0100

The residents and staff are at it again! As you may know, we like to keep busy at Valerie Manor and if we can combine it with raising money for a good cause then even better!

We would like to invite you to a Go Green for St Barnabas tea party on Thursday 17th June 2010 at 16:00. We will be asking visitors to make a donation for their tea and ‘green’ cake and of course the pleasure of seeing the residents and staff all dressed up for the afternoon! All donations will go directly to St Barnabas, whose staff have supported several residents, families and staff at Valerie Manor through difficult times. (Please see detailed information regarding the fund raising event below)

Robin (mum) is also busy organising the lounge / diner to be decorated in green, creating a green quiz for the residents and flower arranging during the morning which the residents suggested themselves.

If you are not able to attend then please do visit our just giving website to make a donation online for this worthy cause:

Information about the fundraising project:

The Herald and Gazette have been asking people to Go Green for St Barnabas for the past two months. St. Barnabas House is a local independent charitable hospice, first opened in 1973 by a local GP Dr. Francis Gusterson. It is a non-religious organisation that offers palliative care for patients with advanced cancer and other advanced life-limiting diseases. They are hoping the appeal will raise £5,000 which St Barnabas will put towards the cost of their new hospice, currently being built in Titnore Lane, so far they have raised just under £3,000.

We have taken on the challenge and the residents, staff and Robin, our activities coordinator, have been coming up with ideas to help raise money towards this worthy cause.

>Find out more on the St Barnabas website

Press Articles

Zoe — Thu, 27 May 2010 13:08:51 +0100

We've been busy updating our press articles page on the website this week. Even I was shocked to see how much we have been in the press for several good reasons! Please do visit the news and links page on our website to view the many articles that Valerie Manor has featured in!

http://www.valeriemanor.co.uk/in_the_press.asp

More Planting!... and strange weather...

Zoe — Fri, 21 May 2010 19:34:02 +0100

Joyce has been keeping the residents busy again! More residents have enjoyed planting the lettuce and flowers that are now growing within our patio area, how long until we can start to enjoy eating them?

The weather has been strange this week – on Thursday morning it was bright sunshine and so I sent Sheri and Emma out in the Jalopy along with three residents armed with summer hats, drinks, spray for their faces and sun tan lotion! By the time they made it to their destination the sun had gone in and the mist had set in! It didn’t stop them from enjoying a coffee in the warm sea breeze though. The weather has been glorious today and we hope for a lovely weekend for the residents to enjoy.

Outdoor Sunshine

Zoe — Fri, 14 May 2010 19:02:26 +0100

It has been lovely over the past few weeks to get outside and enjoy the weather, it’s a shame it has been a bit cold this week but it hasn’t stopped the residents planting the tomato plants that a relative kindly donated to us and also the lovely flowers that some of our residents chose while visiting a garden centre last week. Not only did they choose the plants they managed to feed the horses at the same time – it was a trip that was thoroughly enjoyed as always with Sheri and Emma.

As we have limited access to the gardens I asked the residents what flowers they would like to see around their patio area and Joyce has now planted them all with each and every resident getting involved, one of the residents suggested we had some lettuce, the next day Joyce brought some in and was busy planting it with the residents.

It’s been great to see everyone enjoying the outdoors and making the most of the area that we have during the build period.

Extension News #2

Zoe — Thu, 13 May 2010 19:04:02 +0100

Things are happening slowly but surely! The site set up is gradually developing and there is a lot of ‘behind the scenes’ disconnecting and enabling works going on.

I am pleased to say that the lounge / diner arrangements appear to be working out well and I think the residents will not want to have a separate dining room again! The first two days were quite difficult while we all adapted but the residents soon became happy with the environment. Staff are with the residents practically 99% of the time with the current arrangements which is nice to see. We have also managed to go outside on several occasions and continue to enjoy trips out.

I have been extremely impressed with the contractors so far, there has been a lot of internal work taking place over the past two weeks and their staff have been very mindful of the environment. I have been on hand 24/7 during this time where they have been in the existing building. I am pleased to say that most of the work now will be behind the fencing and closed doors causing minimal disruption to everyone here.

The residents have been enjoying looking out of the window as things arrive and we all chat about the extension on a daily basis at the moment.

We are going to continue to take pictures and update the blog on a regular basis so please do keep up to date with progress here!

A Baby Boy!...

Robin Bates — Mon, 10 May 2010 14:32:55 +0100

On Tuesday 27th April at 2.14 am the lovely new addition to the Bates and Hayes families made his entrance into the world!

Zoe now has a beautiful nephew - Reuben John Paul Hayes weighed in at 8lbs 14 oz... a bit of a whopper for a first baby. He is adorable (yes I am I biased!) us grandparents are all the same especially over the first grandchild.

Reuben is called John after his grandad Bates and Paul after grandad Hayes... thank goodness there was not a Ringo!

Sally-Ann and Michael are completely besotted by their baby Hayes. Sally-Ann saying ‘muma, I’ve completely fallen in love with Reuben!’

The little fella will be introduced to our lovely ladies and gentlemen soon who thoroughly enjoyed updates of the event as it happened. Most having been sharing the past nine months with our family!

Robin

April Activities Summary

Robin Bates — Wed, 05 May 2010 19:14:21 +0100

Hello again.

When writing my previous ‘blog’ I said that the next time you hear from me John and I should be Grandparents... and we are! Please see the separate write up on our Grandson.

Goodness me April was a busy Month. We enjoyed three Themed Days. The first was the Queen’s Birthday with decorated dining room, a marvellous DVD of the life of our Queen all topped off with a lovely cream tea to celebrate! Two days later was St. George’s Day... decorations again and a themed quiz our third celebration was Cook reaching Australia... another themed quiz with typical Australian lunch and supper.

We must not forget Easter at the beginning of the month. Over the holiday we decorated Easter cakes, watched Fred and Judy in Easter Parade, Decorated Easter Bonnets and rounded off with wine and Cheese tasting, everyone, as mentioned in last months Activity Report, having chosen their favourite cheeses.

We enjoyed lots of physical activities including warming up our bodies with a gentle exercise before learning the Lambeth Walk from our chairs ending up with a riotous Rhyming Slang session. Giant Snakes and Ladders, Target Toss, Throwing Rings and Musical Hats were also great fun.

As well as our Themed Quizzes we enjoyed Matched Sets, The Alphabet Game and Animal Words. These ‘mind benders’ really encourage our lovely Ladies and Gentlemen to chat about times gone by which we encourage as memories are very important albeit sometimes sad.

All the rooms have their bird names now chosen by each individual. We also chose names for the new rooms together which was good.

I must share this with you... one gentleman was asked what his favourite bird was and he said... his wife... there was not a dry eye in the room!

A very exciting time at The Manor with lots going on regarding the extension. If you see a flash of lightening go past it’s more than likely to be Zoe as she is working at twice the speed she normally does. The staff are very supportive and trying their hardest to make life for everyone as normal as possible.

I’d like to Congratulate Zoe and her team for reaching the Final of the National Care Awards 2010. Zoe has been selected for ‘Care Innovator’ and her staff for the ‘Care Team 2010’. It’s off to London for interviews and then for a Gala Dinner and Presentation Evening. GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL X

See you next month

Robin (Nanna !)

National Care Home Awards - Finalists!

Zoe — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 12:48:54 +0100

I am delighted to be able to tell you that the Care Team at Valerie Manor have been selected as finalists for the National Care Home Awards 2010. Needless to say they are thrilled with the news and I am extremely proud of them and so pleased that their hard work, dedication and high standards of care are being recognised.

Several relatives and friends of Valerie Manor sent testimonials to support the application, even this in itself meant a lot to the staff and I’m sure was a deciding point for the judges to select the team as finalists.

We have been invited to attend an interview (3 members of staff) on the 6th May and then several members of the team will attend a celebrity Gala evening at the Guildhall in London on the 5th June to receive the results... fingers crossed!

I am also extremely chuffed myself. My mum and dad (Robin and John) along with my financial advisors nominated me for the Care Innovator Award and I have also received a letter to inform me that they have chosen me as a finalist for the awards as well.

I am so proud of the team at Valerie Manor and it is apt that the awards should come at such a challenging time with the extension plans where everyone is working even harder to ensure the residents have as little disruption as possible.

You can find out more about the awards on the Great British Care Awards website; www.care-awards.co.uk

Extension News #1

Zoe — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 20:37:55 +0100

Here we go!..... Well, after nearly two years of planning the work is commencing! As you can see from the pictures we have had the temporary kitchen delivered today and enabling work is commencing over the next week. I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all the staff for their assistance in all the preparation works and the high standards of care that they continue to provide to the residents along with involvement and re-assurance for the project.

Robin (mum) has been busy working with the residents and they now have 23 birds names, one for each of the bedrooms. One of our residents, June, is now going through the list and checking in her bird book for picture ideas and if there are any other names that we could use. The residents have even called the lounge ‘Robins nest’ which is so nice and made my mum smile!

Dad of course is helping me each day with the details of the project and enabling works to ensure everything runs smoothly.

Keep your fingers crossed for good weather for the month of May as the extension really gets underway!

Jalopy Outings...

Zoe — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 21:05:00 +0100

It is a joy to see the residents faces each week when we have our regular outings. This week they wanted to go to see the piers at Brighton, although one of the piers is disappearing slowly they still enjoyed a coffee while looking out at the views!

Each time the residents have enjoyed a coffee or tea and cake – my mum (Robin, pictured right with hot cross buns!) even enjoyed an outing with the girls and two of our residents. Mum used to take Nan out at least once a week in the jalopy from her nursing home so this brought back lots of memories and she was so pleased that the jalopy could still bring so much joy to others.

Extension Contractors

Zoe — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 19:03:31 +0100

It is a really exciting time for everyone at Valerie Manor with the extension plans progressing well. We are due to commence enabling works and detailed plans during this month with the actual contract commencing on the 3rd May 2010. I am pleased to say that the contractor that we have chosen is one that has been recommended to us by other care home owners and John (dad) and I went to visit them on site a few months ago. We decided to include them in the tender process and are pleased that we were able to choose them to undertake the work. The company is called Hilife and their details can be viewed by visiting the link below:

http://www.hilifeconstruction.biz

I will be back next week with detailed summary of the scheduled work that will be taking place...

Marmalade and the Residents have done it again!

Zoe — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 19:04:29 +0100

The residents have now completed their 3rd masterpiece, it is very colourful this time and the residents thoroughly enjoyed completing it and spending time with our lovely volunteer Marmalade. We have planned for picture lights to be placed in the corridors in the new extension so that the resident’s works of art can be displayed for everyone to enjoy and view.

Many thanks again Marmalade.