Dec 2019
Getting into the festive spirit at The Orders of St John Care Trust
From festive fetes to seasonal singalongs, homes across The Orders of St John Care Trust (OSJCT) are organising a whole host of special events to help ensure Christmas is a wonderful time for residents.
In the last couple of weeks four regional parties have been held to enable residents in homes across Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire and Lincolnshire to get together for some festive fun.
Many homes have held Christmas fetes and fairs, and several hosted a Christmas Singalong, welcoming all into their homes to sing carols and enjoy seasonal refreshments.
Residents have been busy designing Christmas cards for a competition which saw the winning entries turned into cards for their home.
Many homes also helped spread some festive cheer by taking part in the Trust’s Christmas wreath swap, creating a Christmas wreath decoration for a neighbouring home to hang on their front door.
Earlier this month teams in homes, schemes and offices across the Trust took part in Elf Day to raise funds for and awareness of dementia for The Alzheimer’s Society, and last week employees, residents and volunteers all wore their best seasonal sweaters in support of Save The Children’s Christmas Jumper Day.
Other special events have included:
- Residents at Goodson Lodge enjoyed an annual visit from Charlie the donkey, and the Goodson Lodge Choir gave a Christmas concert at Paxcroft Community Hall
- Madley Park House hosted a Christmas lunch for personnel from RAF Brize Norton
- Grace Care Centre held a Christmas fun day, open to all, with carols, mince pies and mulled wine aplenty! The home also enjoyed a performance of carols from youngsters at Little Acorns Nursery
- A team of volunteers from The Companions of The Order of Malta helped decorate nearly 30 Christmas trees in less than five hours at Meadowcroft
- A pair of penguins visited Coombe End Court as a Christmas treat for residents
- Wallingford School invited residents of Westgate House for a Christmas lunch at the school
- A team from Dalton Barracks visited The Meadows to deliver Christmas gifts to all residents
- A Christmas tree was donated by the Duke of Norfolk to St Wilfrid’s Priory and the home hosted Father Christmas in a Christmas grotto for local children last weekend
- Spencer Court held a Carols by Candlelight festive evening and Lake House hosted a Christmas Singalong
- Edwardstow hosted a community mulled wine and carols evening with Mindsong and a Christmas coffee morning. The home also entered a Christmas tree decorating competition in Stow as part of the town's annual Christmas tree festival
- Athelstan House had a lovely time with 'Messy Miniatures' play group at their residents’ Christmas party
- Beech Green Primary School joined the residents at Chestnut Court for a Christmas themed Boogie Beat Music and Movement
- Avonbourne held an Advent of Activity programme running a different festive activity every day in December
To find out what’s on at local home this Christmas please contact them – you can find out phone numbers for all our homes here.
All OSJCT homes also run regular events that members of the community are welcome to join in with, including coffee mornings, knit and knatter sessions and fish n chips lunches. Again, please contact your local home to find out what’s going on.