Valerie Manor News

Outings

Zoe — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 09:43:00 +0000

Now that the weather has remained fair, we have resumed our outings, last week we took a leisurely trip over the Bostal then past Shoreham airport and then onto the seafront at Shoreham. This Friday, as the sun was out we decided to take a trip along the coast road from Shoreham to Worthing. Everyone had a great time as it prompted many memories, of days gone by.

Following our meeting with the residents recently we have several more suggestions about future trips so keep an eye out for the Valerie Manor Jalopy, and give us a wave!

Skittles!

Zoe — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:01:00 +0000

We enjoyed our second visit from the Skittles man, Nick this week. The residents really liked taking part and a bit of light hearted competition as well. Congratulation to all those that took part, you’ll be glad to hear we have already booked Nick up for several more visits over the coming months.

Artwork at the Manor by Marmalade

Zoe — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:43:00 +0000

Volunteer Marmalade has been at it again! She has painted a beautiful large canvas to brighten up the resident’s and visitor's day and it looks rather stunning between the dining room and conservatory. Since Marmalade has started to produce these paintings she has been approached by several people to commission new work and is now enjoying developing more artwork while at the same time donating some money to charity. What a hidden talent marmalade has and such a lovely thing to do to help charity as well.

Diploma in Health and Social Care

Zoe — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:42:00 +0000

We certainly do have some talented and enthusiastic staff here at Valerie Manor. Some staff only started working in Social Care last year when we opened the new wing, but they are now keen to enrol onto a programme to increase their knowledge and develop their skills as a care worker further.

I am sure that you will agree that this shows dedication and enthusiasm and a love for what they are doing. Collette, Linda and Paula are all undertaking their Diploma in Health and Social Care and we would like to wish them all the best from the staff and residents at Valerie Manor.

We are lucky to continue to have Grace from Chichester College (Sussex Training) facilitating the staff within their workplace and would like to thank her for her continued support.

Care Quality Commission Inspection

Zoe — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:57:00 +0000

At the end of November we received a planned unannounced visit from the Care Quality Commission for our Review of Compliance, our first since they began operating in 2009. I wanted to receive the final report prior to informing everyone and I am delighted with it. Under the standards we are compliant in all areas and have ‘no recommendations for improvement’. The inspector spent all morning with us and spoke to several members of staff and residents and said to one member of staff that he couldn’t believe how far we had come since we opened our Nursing Wing in March.

The report is now available to view on the new CQC website: click here to view the report

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates all health and adult social care services in England, including those provided by the NHS, local authorities, private companies or voluntary organisations. You can view Valerie Manor's page in the CQC directory by clicking here.

December Activities Summary

Robin Bates — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:16:00 +0000

Happy New Year everybody !

We had a lovely time over the Christmas period at Valerie Manor. It was all due to Zoe and her lovely Staff who pulled all the stops out to make sure it was a very special time for everybody. Not forgetting a very special visit from Santa on Christmas Day!

There are lots of reports of various visits and celebrations on separate pages so please do have a look. I also wanted to say a special thank you to the family of one of our residents who came in and gave us a wonderful carol concert on Christmas Eve.

Regarding the Activity side of things the Physical options available were...Giant Snakes and Ladders, Musical Santa Hats, Target Toss, Table Tennis and Exercise from the your chair.

Mind Benders included Triads, Planning a Christmas Menu and a Coronation Street Quiz to mark the anniversary of the soap that was first televised in December 1960.

The Mama Mia DVD gave us a bit of sunshine and The Snowman made us feel very Christmassy as did the classic White Christmas with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye.

Here’s to a very Happy, Healthy and Peaceful New Year for everyone.

Robin

Season's Greetings...

Zoe — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 12:19:00 +0000

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from us all at Valerie Manor. I would especially also like to thank our wonderful staff for all their dedication and hard work during 2011 and for making the resident's Christmas so special.

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!
from everyone at Valerie Manor

Reverend Challis and his Wonderful Choir

Zoe — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 18:16:00 +0000

A huge thank you to Reverend Challis, his choir and pianist for giving a very special Christmas Service for our residents today at Valerie Manor. The service was very special and we all enjoyed singing along to the carols that the choir performed. Everyone then enjoyed a sherry and mince pie and were able to admire the fantastic homemade Christmas cake made by Chris which we will be enjoying on Christmas Eve with afternoon tea. Thank you once again to Reverend Challis for making today so very special for the residents.

Celebrating Christmas with Friends & Family of Valerie Manor...

Zoe — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:08:00 +0000

What a lovely afternoon we all had this week with the wonderful friends and families of Valerie Manor. We enjoyed mulled wine and mince pies with around 100 guests, it really was a special afternoon for the residents and staff and I was so delighted to see so many families come back to see us who have had their relatives with us in the past.

Thank you once again to Chris for making the most delicious mulled wine that I have ever tasted; several comments were made so compliments to the Chef!

Christmas Party

Zoe — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 18:12:00 +0000

32 members of staff attended our Christmas party last week at a hotel in Brighton with everyone looking stunning in their evening attire. The evening was a great success, with a wonderful meal followed by plenty of dancing on the dance floor! It was a great way to end an eventful year at Valerie Manor and to say thank you to all the staff for their support, dedication and hard work throughout the year.

Christmas Carols

Zoe — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 20:16:00 +0000

Our good friends at the Towers Convent School performed a Carol concert for us on Tuesday, which made us all feel very Festive, especially with our decorations up as well. The girls sang all our favourites with a little help from everyone at Valerie Manor! The residents thoroughly enjoyed themselves and we cannot thank everyone at the Towers enough for their frequent visits.

Let’s Dance! (Hassocks) Christmas entertainment

Zoe — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:40:00 +0000

What a lovely way to start our Christmas Festivities! Let’s Dance! (Hassocks) very kindly gave up their time to come and entertain the residents at Valerie Manor on Wednesday, this was our first Christmas activity and the residents thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We had children and adults entertaining us with ballet, tap, modern and even some singing – everyone got into the festive spirit and we had our first mulled wine and mince pies of the year!

Thank you to all the kind dancers and my mum (Robin) and sister (Sally–Ann) for giving up their time to start the Christmas proceedings in style and help make the residents December a very special one.

Jalopy Christmas Lights Tour

Zoe — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:41:00 +0000

We went out a bit later in the day this week to drive around the surrounding villages to look at their Christmas lights through the high streets and to see if any private homes had put their decorations up outside. People are certainly getting into the Christmas spirit already! We were particularly impressed by one house on the Hassocks road between Hurstpierpoint and the Stone Pound crossroads – If you are in the area take a look! WOW

We'll be getting in the spirit ourselves this weekend when a team of volunteers will be coming to decorate the Manor. It'll be our first Christmas in the new extension and we're all looking forward to making it wonderfully Christmassy.

November Activities Summary

Robin Bates — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 20:07:00 +0000

November seems to have flown by.

Busy again at the Manor, our third Poem, put together by some of our ladies and gentlemen is finally finished. We enjoyed a ‘reading’ of it together to check the details that were included and to make sure that everyone was happy for it to go to print. You'll see a copy soon at the Manor.

Amongst our physical Activities we have had Throwing Rings, Target Toss, The Parachute Game and Giant Dice. Our usual exercise from our chairs had a couple of twists...one week including Musical Instruments and on Curry Week Movement to authentic Indian Music and a demonstration of Indian Dance. We enjoyed Poppadoms with our coffee and dear Chris cooked up a wonderful Indian Meal for those who wanted it.

We celebrated St. Andrews Day with a decorated Dining Room, themed food, Quiz and a DVD of ‘Scotland from the Air’.

Singing along to The Batchelors brought back many memories as did watching D-Day ...The Atlantic Invasion.

We were very lucky to receive visits from the Steyning Girl Guides who gave a Remembrance Day Service, a beautiful singer called Sophie and the Table Tennis team.

Alan was in his element running around the grounds wearing his head light and setting off the firework display which was really great. Thank you Alan.

Pudsey Bear had his annual airing and monies were raised once again. The cakes were fantastic and the staff were delighted to dress up in their Pudsey Spots !

Our ‘Mind benders’ included Triads, Famous Couples and Closure Phrases. As Christmas is drawing closer we enjoyed a Reminiscence Session talking about Gifts and Christmas food from years gone by. One gentleman remembered receiving a lead toy horse and a wooden aeroplane in the RAF colours, one of our ladies remembered receiving a China Doll and that her two brothers squabbled and broke off the doll’s head ! Another cherished memory was of a doll called Suzie and wax crayons. Another doll was called Elizabeth after our Queen who was at that time a Princess.

Moving onto the festive food everyone seemed to remember having silver three penny piece coins in the Christmas Pudding always served with homemade custard (I can hear Zoe now reading about the coins and shaking thinking ‘Health and Safety...Health and Safety !) Individual Yorkshire Puddings and homemade horseradish sauce with sprouts, cauliflower and roast potatoes were on the menu with the turkey and pork.

One gentleman even remembered attending a Christmas Midnight Service, taken by the Reverend Tarrant, at Southwick.

A big Congratulation to Zoe on reaching the final of the Regional Care Home Manager Award. You will see the photos on a seperate link. A lovely time was had by all ! Sally-Ann joined us on this occasion which was great.

Finally I’d like to report on our BBC Children in Need Sponsored Tap Sessions at Let’s Dance ! (Hassocks). We had a one hour Children’s Fancy Dress Session in the afternoon and a two hour Adult one in the evening. Our pupils and their families pledged in excess of £1,400 for the cause...lots of sore feet but happy faces ! Please see photos below.

Here is the count down to Christmas I hope to see you on the Families Day on 22nd.

John and I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year.

Robin

The Great South East Care Awards 2011

Zoe — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 20:00:00 +0000

We had a lovely time on Friday night at the Brighton Dome for the The Great South East Care Awards 2011 – although I didn’t win my category I was absolutely delighted to be one of 6 finalists in the South East Region for the Registered Care Manager Award. It meant so much to be nominated by the team and to be representing Valerie Manor at these fantastic awards that celebrate excellence in care.

BBC Children in Need 2011

Zoe — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 18:39:00 +0000

What a lovely afternoon! We enjoyed a tea party in aid of Children in Need on Friday 18th November with the residents, staff and friends & family of Valerie Manor and I am delighted to say that we raised over £250.00. The residents enjoyed getting the Manor ready with Pudsey decorations and thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon tea party which again brought the old and young together – all of course enjoying the fantastic cakes, chocolates and cookies baked by Chris our wonderful chef. Thank you to everyone for their support and to staff for their hard work in helping raise money again this year for this worthy charity.

Congratulations Emma!

Zoe — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:37:00 +0000

I would like to say a huge congratulations to Emma Wood – our Head of Residential Care. After a lot of hard work and dedication Emma has completed her NVQ Level III in Health and Social Care. I am very proud of Emma who has achieved so much during the past 4 years at Valerie Manor – well done from all the staff and residents here at the Manor!

Remembrance Day Service – Henfield Girl Guides

Zoe — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 12:36:00 +0000

We felt very privileged to have been joined once again by the Henfield Girl Guides when they came along to Valerie Manor to perform for us a Remembrance Day Service last Wednesday. Traditional hymns and poems were beautifully performed for the residents who thoroughly enjoyed the touching ceremony and showed their appreciation with applause all round.

After the service tea and cakes were enjoyed together with residents and staff. A big thank you to all the guides who attended!

Welcome Daniel...

Zoe — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 18:36:00 +0000

Please join me in welcoming another new member of staff to Valerie Manor...

"Hi my name is Daniel and I have recently joined the housekeeping team at Valerie Manor. I enjoy watching football and have a season ticket at Falmer for Brighton & Hove Albion - I try to see every home game. I haven’t played football for a while, but have for the last two years volunteered at a local school as a Football coach which I very much enjoy.

When I am not watching or coaching football, I enjoy going out with my friends."

Skittles!

Zoe — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:25:00 +0000

Another first at Valerie Manor was the visit of Nick Peniston-Bird and his Skittles Alley. We had a very good group of participants who very much enjoyed taking part. Nick presented the resident with the highest score with a prize (a box of Maltesers!) which the winner decided to share amongst the residents at afternoon coffee.

We are very pleased to be able to add a regular Skittles session to our activities program going forward. A big thank you to Nick for all his help.

Valerie Manor Fireworks

Zoe — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 17:25:00 +0000

One thing that I hadn’t done since I have been at Valerie Manor is to have a fireworks display. Since we now have a lovely Conservatory I thought it would be an ideal opportunity to arrange one this year so that the residents could watch the fireworks from the warmth and comfort of their chairs inside. What a lovely evening it was too!

Thank you to Alan who arranged the display for us and was the only one who got wet! He came well prepared though as you can see!

The display was lovely and enjoyed by everyone followed by a wonderful supper prepared by our dedicated chef Chris. We had homemade pumpkin soup with several savoury choices afterwards which went down a treat!

Welcome Holly...

Zoe — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 19:54:00 +0000

Please join me in welcoming Holly, a new member of the care team...

"My name is Holly Waite. My family and I have recently moved to Steyning and we are all really enjoying village life, though it’s nothing like Agatha Christie led me to believe it would be!

We have two pets, a cat and a dog, and we are still enjoying finding new country walks on which to take the dog. I’m hoping the novelty doesn’t wear off too soon! I love to swim and go horse riding, something I don’t manage to do half as much as I would like (too expensive if you don’t own a horse!)

I love to go to the theatre and to the cinema. I’m a “confirmed ghost story and horror movie nut” and spending the day curled up with a good book is a guilty pleasure.

Through my daughter, I have become involved in Girl Guiding and have recently become a qualified Guiding Leader for a local Brownie unit. I am now working towards a leadership qualification which will allow me to take charge of the younger guiding group of Rainbows – I must be crazy!

Before I had my two lovely children I worked as a care assistant and, as my babies have grown and found their own feet, I have felt the need to return to work. I love my job, it enables me to meet interesting people and to do what I love most – being helpful and caring!"

October Activities Summary

Robin Bates — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:06:00 +0000

Hello again,

What a beautiful October we have enjoyed.

Looking out over the fields and grounds have been a delight with the leaves turning colour, the plants thriving and our lovely big field looking very smart having been mown for the first time since the seeds were sown. Two new trees have been planted just beyond the car park. The Rowan was kindly donated by a resident and family and the Cherry Tree is being looked after for Sally-Ann, Mike and Reuben.

Although the evenings are getting darker earlier the October sunshine has given everyone a boost during the day.

As ever lots going on. The Table Tennis and visit from ‘Tickled Pink Production’ and the children bearing Harvest Festival Gifts proved to be highly popular.

Our ‘Mind Benders’ included...Happy, Grouchy Stuff, Occupations, Pub Quiz with a Tipple and Expletives Deleted.

Physically we still exercise from our chairs every Monday morning. Tin Can Alley, Target Bean Bag and Balls in the Box were on offer for those who wanted to participate, with special help this month from our volunteers Natasha & Shayne.

We celebrated John Lennon’s Birthday with a Beatles Quiz and DVD. The Polperro Fishermen’s Male Choir of 80 years of song was enjoyed as well as The Magic of Sinatra DVD.

Many of you may already know but over the last few years that Zoe has owned Valerie Manor two Poems have been written by the Residents... they are displayed in the entrance hall. I thought it was about time to put a third together. For two weeks after our exercise sessions we have been putting together a couple of lines about individuals who attend. We have chatted about jobs and hobbies and between us amidst much laughter have written the third Valerie Manor Poem... watch this space !

One lovely lady who did not attend the first session but heard about it wrote her own poem and read it out to us at our second session. It made me cry ! you’ll see it soon.

We enjoyed two theme days.. .Oktoberfeist and Spanish National Day... again with a decorated dining room, traditional music, Quiz and Food.

I have made a mistake... I have the Indian Curry Week down for November which was the month last year....on further investigation it changes every year like the Chinese New Year... and our Easter ! Hence we are celebrating it a month later. Residents have been offered the choice of Indian Food if they wish to try. On the Monday of the week chosen I am going to bring along some Indian Music, Costumes and Bindis so that we can celebrate with some ‘moves’ !

See you in November

Robin

South East Regional Care Home Manager Finalist

Zoe — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 18:50:00 +0100

I am absolutely honoured to say that the team has nominated me for the Care Home Registered Manager Award in this year's South East Regional Care Awards. I must admit that when I read through the nomination I cried as it really choked me. You can see the nomination here. I was further delighted to hear this week that I have been selected as a finalist and have been invited for an interview next week.

The award ceremony will be taking place on the 25th November in Brighton.

> The Great British Care Awards Website

Steyning Grammar School – Work Experience

Zoe — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 19:50:00 +0100

We have for a few years now welcomed students from Steyning Grammar School who wish to undertake a week’s work experience here at Valerie Manor. This week Natasha & Shayne joined us and have been not only a great help – preparing the dining room, offering residents drinks and conducting the Music Box quiz, but also a bit hit with residents and staff alike. Thank you Natasha & Shayne for all your help, and we wish you every success in the future.

Tickled Pink Productions

Zoe — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:49:00 +0100

On Tuesday we were visited by Tickled Pink Productions who put on a wonderful song and dance show which the residents thoroughly enjoyed. Songs from Singing in the Rain, Easter Parade and High Society were favourites and staff and residents sang along.

Table Tennis

Zoe — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:23:00 +0100

We are always looking for new entertainment ideas, and when we were contacted by Ian Ford - Sports Development Officer at Horsham District Council, to see if we would like his team to come along to get the residents playing table tennis, we jumped at the chance.

Not only did it prove to be very popular, but also great talking points, as some residents were active club members in days gone by, and brought back many memories.

A huge thank-you to Ian and his team for coming along and we are hoping to make this a regular event in the entertainment program.

Upper Beeding Primary School – Visit

Zoe — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 20:23:00 +0100

We were very pleased to accept a kind invitation to attend a Harvest Festival at Upper Beeding Primary School on Tuesday. It certainly was very well attended and our residents who went along had a fantastic time. One commented that the children all had smiles on their faces throughout the performance, clearly enjoying being part of the event, and the singing was some of the best they had heard.

A small group of children from the school also kindly visited us at Valerie Manor after the event bringing with them some harvest festival produce for the residents.

Another huge thank-you to Viv and all at the School for their kind invitation.

Welcome Sue...

Zoe — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 20:19:00 +0100

This week we'd like to welcome another new member of staff to the care team...

Hi, my name is Sue. I got married last year to my wonderful husband Gary we live in upper beeding with our cat Tigger & our dog Trix. I have three grown up children who I love spending time with. I am also part of a big family which keeps me busy, I love walking, swimming, playing golf (badly) and catching up with my friends. I worked at Southlands Hospital as a HCA for 13 years. I am realy looking forward to working at Valerie Manor and being part of the team.

Florist

Zoe — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 20:17:00 +0100

We have recently asked the Clock House Florists in Steyning to provide several displays around Valerie Manor, and Melvin and his team have certainly done us proud. We have already had lots of positive comments about them.

Many thanks to the Clock House! We hope you enjoy the displays next time you visit.