Kernow Kewsel

Inside this issue

Hello and welcome from Careen

Baby news Clinical Lead Clinic Joke winner Employee of the

Month Memory Lane

Champion winner Happy birthday

Norma Bonfire night Famous Mary Halloween Celebrating

Barchester’s 25th anniversary

Barchester care Awards & Barchester in Bloom

Ann’s cycling challenge

World Alzheimer’s Day

Your Care Rating

Hello and Welcome Apparently we’ve had summer, although I didn’t notice it. Did you? As we move into autumn I am excited to bring news of a new adventure: to improve the services we offer I am pleased to tell you that the Upper Floor and reception area at Kernow House is undergoing structural alterations and re-decoration. This is a massive step towards further development of our two distinct areas of specialism: Huntington’s Disease & Neuro Services and Dementia Services. Work is scheduled to start in early October. We have already been fortunate to appoint two clinical leads to these specialisms. Welcome to Steph Stewart, Clinical Lead for Huntington’s and Neuro Services and congratulations to Leigh Stanley for his promotion to Clinical Lead for Dementia Services. Special thanks to Jeremy Preedy and Jan Varney for their invaluable help in selecting our successful candidates. On the subject of “thank yous”, Kernow House would like to say a huge thank you and well done to David, our volunteer, who has worked so hard to spruce up our garden benches and patio areas. Further thank you to the Rotary Club of Penryn for their kind donation to the residents of Petherwin. It’s truly heart-warming to know so many people are willing to help in so many different ways to make life at Kernow the best it can be. Take care, enjoy autumn and I hope to see you soon.

Kernow House

Landlake Road, Launceston, PL15 9HP

Tel: 01566 777841 • www.barchester.com

General Manager

Careen Harris

News in and around Kernow House

Employee of the Month Every month we celebrate an employee. September’s Employee of the Month was Gerry Toledo, who is a kitchen assistant. He appears to be happy every day and can often be heard singing away, while he’s busy working, washing up or preparing food. Gerry was nominated by Dan, our head chef, whose reasons for nominating Gerry was, that “Gerry will always help out and nothing is ever too much for him. A fantastic member of staff.” Gerry was presented with a box of chocolates and a voucher by Careen.

Joke winner

Victor Body took part in International Joke Day with this joke:” Which sea creatures have the most fun? The ones who have a whale of a time!” Victor won a joke book, so he can tell us more jokes now. He is pictured here on a sunny day out.

Baby news Congratulations to Reby Ganitano on the birth of her baby daughter, Zia, who was born on 15th July 2017 weighing 6 pounds and 6 ounces. We hope she brings you lots of happy moments.

Clinical Lead Clinic

Steph and Leigh invite residents and relatives to pop in to the new clinic held on St.Pirans every Wednesday 9.30-10.30am to discuss any thoughts, ideas or concerns.

Memory Lane Champion Congratulations to Sandy Hart, who is the divisional winner for the Memory Lane Champion category in the 2017 Barchester Care Awards. Sandy says, she finds her role very rewarding. She says, it is important to recognize that each person is unique with their own experience of life and dementia. The care people receive should reflect this. “We try to encourage strengths and support needs, always promoting independence and autonomy to maintain confidence and self-esteem”. Sandy is pictured here with Peggy Brown.

News in and around Kernow House

Famous Mary

Mary Zorichak was interviewed by telephone for an article for the Guardian Newspaper about living to 100 years. Her advice was “to keep busy both physically and with your mind.” Mary is 101.

Happy Birthday Norma Congratulations to Norma Wakeham, who celebrates her 80th birthday on 23rd of October. Norma is a housekeeping assistant who works in the laundry. She says she will carry on working because it is company for her and she can earn money for holidays. For her birthday she is going on a cruise to the Canaries with her identical twin sister, Barbara. We hope you both have a wonderful time. Happy birthday to you!

We like to have a little fun at Halloween, so we invite everyone to dress up in fancy dress. It usually brings a smile to most people and is always greatly enjoyed by those of us with a playful mind. We will also have our traditional pumpkin carving competition. The entries will be taken around the home so everyone gets a chance to see the pumpkins and vote for the one, they think is the most spooky. The prize will be lots of sweets, of course.

Bonfire Night We enjoy cakes at Kernow House, so we will be making sponge cakes and decorating them to look like bonfires. Our chef is planning a traditional Bonfire Night tea with baked potatoes, hot-dogs and spicy beans. Some people may like to go out to see a firework display while others think it is far too noisy and cold to be outside. Fortunately, there is a firework display close to Kernow House and it may be possible to see fireworks from the comfort of an armchair.

Halloween

A few words from Barchester

Barchester Healthcare was founded in 1992 by Mike Parsons, after he discovered from his own personal experience just how difficult it was to find a good quality care home for two relatives in need of nursing care. With aims to create a better alternative, he bought Moreton Hill, a 17th century farm that he converted into a unique care home. 25 years on, Barchester is one of the top care providers in the UK, caring for over 10,000 residents across the country. To celebrate our 25th year, we will be hosting a birthday party at Kernow House on Saturday October 25th from 2-4 p.m. on the concourse. We will go back in time and listen to music, dress and eat party food as it was 25 years ago.

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The Barchester Care Awards & Barchester in Bloom

The Barchester Care Awards and Barchester in Bloom are annual events that are held to showcase the very best talent that Barchester has to offer. The care awards celebrates the fantastic individuals who work and volunteer in Barchester care homes across the UK; and Barchester in Bloom aims to promote and recognise the beautiful outdoor spaces tended by residents and staff members. Both award ceremonies will be held in October, when finalists will find out whether they’ve won. Good luck to all our divisional winners and thank you to everyone who nominated someone!

Celebrating Barchester’s 25th Anniversary

World Alzheimer’s Day Your Care Rating

Held annually on 21st September, World Alzheimer’s Day is a chance of organisations around the world to concentrate their efforts on raising awareness of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Barchester care homes across the country will be hosting a variety of events to mark this occasion, such as reminiscence sessions, which will give everyone a chance to remember their most precious memories over a cup of tea and biscuits. We will have our usual Thursday pop-up café when we will make cupcakes using well known recipes and no doubt we will listen to music and have a sing along.

Ann takes on the ultimate cycling challenge Carer, Ann Soden, who works at Sutton Grange, cycled a thousand miles, from Land’s End to John O’Groats, to raise money for Barchester’s Charitable Foundation. Cycling is a bit of a hobby for Ann, but she had never done anything like this before – the entire trek took her around 2 weeks, starting on 4th July and finishing on 17th, with an average of around 8 hours per day on a her saddle. She chose to raise money for the Foundation because, “The work Barchester does goes above and beyond. They give back to so many people and communities, and they really do make a huge difference to people’s lives." In total, Ann managed to raise over £350 – well done!

Your Care Rating is the largest annual independent survey conducted on behalf of care home providers in the UK. It gives residents, their relatives and friends the opportunity to express their views about a range of issues, in confidence. At Barchester, we are committed to delivering the highest standard of care, and feedback from the survey helps us to continually improve our services. This year’s survey packs will be given to all residents in early September 2017. We would be sincerely grateful if you would provide your loved ones with any support required to complete the survey. Please note that this first survey is for residents only and should represent the resident’s own views. A separate ‘Family and Friends’ survey, where you can give your own views will be posted in mid-October 2017.