Feb 2021
Lake House spreads positivity
Lake House Care Home in Adderbury is usually able to welcome through its doors many people of all ages from the local community who join the home for coffee mornings, singalongs, fetes, and tea dances. However, in the past year things have changed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, so Lake House decided to find new ways to connect with the local community and spread positivity.
Activities Coordinator Teresa Fisk decided to ask on Facebook for contributions to a ‘Positivity Challenge’. Anyone could enter by sending poems, stories, video clips or letters to residents at Lake House. She felt it would give people the opportunity to share their creativity as well as bringing a smile to residents at the home.
Teresa said: “We all need a bit of cheering up during the winter, and we would normally do that by hosting lots of uplifting events with local people here in the home. We had to think outside the box this year, and we were delighted with the response to our Positivity Challenge.”
As well as many poems, artwork and stories, residents received a wonderful video, filmed and created by children in the village. Featuring acrobatics, favourite pets, musical performances and poetry readings, the video raised residents’ spirits when they watched it on the home’s iPads.
Other contributions included a ‘hug’ from children at Christopher Rawlins CE Primary School in Adderbury who had joined paper handprints into a chain, forming a big hug for the residents.
Home Manager, Alexandra Grindle, said: “We are all looking forward to the day when we can hug our loved ones again, so this was a lovely surprise from the schoolchildren.”
Residents were keen to return the hug and set about making their own one to send back to the school.
Local radio stations Jack FM and BBC Radio Oxford picked up the story and helped promote the challenge for the home.
Alexandra explained: “Intergenerational interaction plays a big part of life here at Lake House. Like everyone during lockdown, we have been finding new ways of keeping in touch with people, and this is another way we have been able to do that.”
She added: “We are so pleased with how well-received the challenge has been. We’ve had some amazing entries and residents have loved looking through them.”
By way of thanks from the residents, the entry that gave them the biggest smile is going to be awarded a prize of chocolate brownies, baked by a local business.