Endeavour Post Autumn 2017 Welcome to the Autumn newsletter Endeavours ethos is that our residents are central to everything that we do, and we are continually striving to look at ways of improving and offering choices to all, so that their lives are fulfilled to the maximum. All of us make decisions daily about the sort of things that affect our lives, yet for many residents when they enter a care home they suddenly stop making decisions about things that affect them. At Endeavour we look at ways to develop positive practice in how we encourage our residents to continue making decisions, and to be an integral part of the home, after all it is their home
Our objective is to implement ways that all residents, despite their ability are involved in the decision-making process of the home in a positive and interactive way. Some small initiatives are already in place, examples: resident s involvement in staff recruitment, choosing the food menu on their birthday or for extraordinary events, we hope to improve resident s autonomy and confidence that their voice will be heard and that coming into care does not stop them from being in control of issues that affect their lives
Summer seems to have come and gone like a flash this year, we have all enjoyed making use of the outdoor space / garden, along with ice-creams and some refreshing alcoholic drinks, we have played games in the garden, which have included, ball games, scrabble, skittles, and connect four. We even had ferret racing!! Endeavour has had new fencing around the front garden to make use of the front lawn with easier access, especially for those who require a wheelchair We have also had new signage for Endeavour put up outside
Activities at Endeavour. There are a range of activities for our residents to participate in, if they so wish. if the residents want to continue pursuing a lifelong interest or discover new ones, the staff are simply there to offer support and encouragement, all activities are inspired by our residents, helping them to keep up with the things they love, whether its pottering in the garden, listening to music, or just reading the daily news, all are encouraged to continue.
Spring and summer bulbs have been planted ready for next year along with some new fruit trees. The residents chose an apple tree, a pear tree and a plum tree, hopefully they will be abundant with fruit for us all to enjoy.
Endeavour held its annual summer Barbeque on September 3 rd, although the weather was not at its best, it rained most of the day, however the sun shone in Endeavour Over 70 people, had a fabulous indoor barbeque, Mr. Paul Black who was back by popular demand entertained us the whole afternoon, we brought the outside in. October the 19 th we celebrated Diwali, the festival of lights. The residents made paper lanterns, which were displayed around the home, we also tried some India cuisine in the afternoon, some of which went down extremely well, some not so good. Diwali which literally means row of lights falls on the 15 th day of Kartika which is the holiest month in the Hindu calendar, it is called the festival of lights because Diwali marks the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil
October 27 th, both Pollie the Deputy Head and Julie the Manager became Dementia friends and are on their way to becoming Dementia Champions
On the 31 st October we celebrated Halloween. Watch out for those ghouls and ghosts as we ward off these nasties with a special afternoon tea to calm our nerves Halloween activities included the carving of pumpkins into jack o lanterns, making Halloween decorations for the home,
Halloween: The word itself has origins in the Catholic church it comes from a contraction of All Hallows Eve and is celebrated in many countries, it is the last day of the Celtic calendar, it originally was a pagan holiday honoring the dead and dates back over 2000 years, All Hallows Eve is the evening before All Saints Day which was created by Christians to convert pagans, and is celebrated on the 1 st November. The Celts believed the souls of the dead roamed the streets and villages at night, since all spirits were thought to be friendly, gifts and treats were left out to pacify the evil and ensure next year s crops would be plentiful, the custom evolved to trick or treating
Monday 4 th December some of the residents attended the Christmas Carol Concert at Exeter Cathedral and enjoyed the concert
December 8 th ELF Day in support of Alzheimer s Endeavour held an afternoon of coffee and cakes, entertainment and a prize raffle in exchange for a donation to the Alzheimer s charity, which is dear to our hearts, the staff were encouraged to dress as elf s in support of this event, we raised 98.00. We would like to thank everyone who took part and donated to this worthwhile event.
Xmas Festivities Tuesday 12 th December, the residents went to the Langstone Cliff Hotel in Dawlish for their annual Christmas lunch and tea dance, they had a thoroughly enjoyable time, thank you to the staff that helped make the day enjoyable for the residents. Friday 15 th December was the residents Xmas party at Endeavour, families and friends participated and enjoyed tasty food
. and entertainment.
Birthdays Celebrated October 1 st Margaret Boddy October 18 th Freda Parkins October 24 th Iris Blanchette November 1 st Kay Telling November 2 nd Jose Ball November 22 nd Joan Large November 29 th Sandra Sinclair December 4 th Pam Libretto December 28 th Grace Clark All were celebrated with a personalized handmade birthday card, birthday cake and celebratory tea party.
Happy New Year to Everyone, thank you All for your contributions in 2017, may they continue Thank you to all Endeavours staff for all their hard work, dedication and bringing joy in to the lives of the residents and making their days meaningful Thank You, Julie Smith