Armchair travel destinations

We had neaps, tatties and Haggis in Scotland for our Burns Night celebrations. Then to China to celebrate the Chinese New Year. We all enjoyed chatting about the Chinese zodiac signs, traits of the 12 animals, and whether they matched our personalities or not! We had a go at writing our names in Chinese, tried to pronounce words and count to ten.

Then off to Egypt – our seated exercise session was to Egyptian music, we crafted our own pyramid and learnt fun facts about the Egyptians.

Next stops in March: Ireland, France and London. Everyone agrees that the travel destinations really spark lots of conversation about residents’ holidays and it is so lovely for our team to learn more about their lives and loves.

Food glorious food!

We have started our weekly cookery classes with the delightful children of Langenhoe Primary school. It’s wonderful for residents to get to know the children over a fun, hands-on hobby. They have shared tips about baking and talked about their experiences cooking. Residents and children have baked together chocolate chip muffins and gingerbread biscuits. Peter’s birthday was made all the more special when the children sang Happy Birthday to him. Kay and Shirley also celebrated birthdays – Shirley received 90 roses for her 90 years young.

We marked National Chocolate Day (it would be rude not to!) with our chef Louise making a delicious chocolate and pear tart. There was also National Hot Chocolate Day, so we had a tasting session – the Maltesers hot chocolate came out the winner!

A time of reflection

It was a more heartfelt, poignant time when we marked the 80th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Residents wanted to take a moment to reflect and listen to the coverage of The King’s visit on the television. Some of our residents were involved in World War II and all were affected by it. We had many conversations with a cup of tea, sharing experiences, memories and real stories.

Coming up....

Coming up in March we have Marianne visiting to entertain residents – she has a piano accordion so after a main show in the lounge, she can visit those residents in their rooms.

We are also putting the fun into fundraising for Comic Relief on Friday 21st March. We are collecting donations please for our bottle raffle. Thank you to everyone who has donated already, including the team at FaNs Network Colchester.

Would you like to volunteer at Abberton? Maybe you are an avid chess player and want to challenge our reigning champion to a game? He is our unbeatable Chess Master!

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