WELCOME TO OUR AUGUST 24 STAFF NEWSLETTER
As we step into the heart of summer, we want to extend our heartfelt appreciation for your unwavering dedication and compassion. Your hard work continues to make a profound difference in the lives of our residents and their families.
Let’s embrace this month with the same spirit of teamwork and care that defines our care homes. Together, we can make August a month full of warmth, joy, and exceptional care.
Save On Your Weekly Groceries With The Rewards Scheme
Here are some recommendations on how to save on your weekly groceries:
- Plan ahead your weekly shop by buying a digital or physical card that can be also reloadable at your favourite supermarket. NB – they only take debit card payments.
- Start looking for good offers and buy vouchers in June/July for uniforms: for example, some retailers will have seasonal offers such as 3 for 2 + 7.5% off = double savings.
- Buying a digital card is very simple, it takes just a few seconds and it’s 100% safe – you can even buy it when you are at checkout. You can always check your balance online on each supermarket’s website or at the till.
- DOUBLE UP – register on cashback sites like Topcashback.co.uk and buy your vouchers to double up.
To start saving money, just log into your Rewards Scheme account on the app “Be Saving” on your phone or tablet.
Team Appreciation Celebration
Quarry House has organised an Ancillary Appreciation Day to celebrate the amazing work of our ancillary teams at our home in Fishponds.
Each member of our teams – Laundry, Kitchen, Domestics, Maintenance, Admin & Reception, Gardening and Driver – have received a little keyring and chocolates.
Plus, they have listened to a poem written especially for them:
Quarry Ancillary Teams you are best!
Every day putting yourselves to the test
You feed, you clean, you wash and you fix
You iron, you polish, you type and you mix!
On behalf of our residents and all of us too
We want to thank you for all that you do!
Quarry House Ancillary Teams, thank you for all your great work and dedication.
Ann, Quarry House Operations Manager, thank you for organising such a beautiful event.
Embrace Growth With Our Training Opportunities
Investing in your professional development is crucial for both your personal growth and the exceptional care we strive to provide.
By taking on training opportunities, you can enhance your skills, stay updated with the latest best practices, and open doors to new career advancements. Let’s commit to learning and growing together, ensuring we deliver the highest quality of care to our residents. Your dedication to continuous improvement makes all the difference.
We encourage all of you to contact your home manager and take advantage of these valuable training and development opportunities.
Spread the Word: Earn £100
We are currently having multiple vacancies across our 4 homes in Bristol and South Gloucestershire, and we would really appreciate your continued support in recommending us.
Click here to see all our available vacancies.
For every successful referral, you will receive a £100 incentive (£250 for registered nurses positions) as a token of our appreciation. This will be available to you once the person you recommended has successfully passed probation.
Please note that we currently do not offer any sponsorship or sponsorship switch.
Help us grow our team with compassionate and skilled professionals like yourself. Your recommendation means a lot to us!
Review Of The Month - Field House
Latest News From Our Homes
The day began with high spirits and sunny skies, as we gathered by the riverbank. Life jackets were donned, paddles were distributed, and we were ready to conquer the mighty Wye.
The advice to try and remain dry and not swallow any of the river water lasted all of four minutes with an unprovoked attack on one of the vessels. Whilst canoes one and two practised their aquatic manoeuvres, canoe three remained a speck on the horizon trying to distinguish which end of their paddle was meant to go in the water.
As we navigated the bottled green waters, it became apparent that proficient clinical skills didn’t always translate to the waterways. Communication, famously a pivotal within healthcare, took on a new level of despair as heckles of, “paddle on the left, not you, you’re on the right” and “has anyone seen my paddle” echoed along the river.
We watched with glee as one side of the boat paddled forward and the other paddled backwards; realising this at the same time they both changed, not fixing the problem but instead just rotating the issue by 90 degrees. This healthy level of chaos was accompanied by one of the canoes managing to hit the only other boat on the 35m wide river, quite the spectacle.
The natural beauty of the meandering Wye was truly breathtaking. So as not to miss anything, some of the canoes took more of an ‘expressive’ zigzag approach covering as much ground as possible. As the birds chirped and the salmon performed acrobatics by the side of our boats, we all took a deep breath and reflected on how grateful we were to be out on the water with our colleagues – our friends.
A pub lunch provided an opportunity for a rapid drying-out session and discussions around the most effective way each canoe could best sink the other. Feeling refreshed and with morale high, we paddled back onto the battlefield. In no time at all, the surface of the water was being struck by numerous paddles projecting spray high into the air.
As the day drew to a close and we pulled our boats ashore and we all thought we’d got away with not falling in, one of the canoes decided it now identified as a submarine plummeting its occupants into the water. We were a soggy, exhausted, but an incredibly happy bunch.
Thank you Bristol Care Homes for allowing us this wonderful opportunity.
A busy month at Quarry House and supervisions has been an area we have been focussing on.
Sarah Johannes and Mihaela Ignat attended the Leadership and Conflict Management Course provided by Bristol Care Homes.
The feedback they provided was how beneficial they found the training and would recommend others to attend if the opportunity arises.
Penny Wood – Reminder that she is completing a sponsored walk on behalf of the Alzheimer’s Society on 21st July and any sponsors are greatly welcomed.
Singing for the Brain – Marcia Ellington and Shelley Hart have completed all the modules for the Singing for the Brain and are now affiliated partners with the Alzheimer’s Society and will be implementing the singing for the Brian sessions from September.
Research suggests that the singing for the brain sessions can improve social inclusiveness and relationships, memory and mood were found to be especially important to participants. As well as enjoying the sessions, participants find that attending Singing for the Brain helped in accepting and coping with dementia. (Dementia London 2016)
We held a successful garden party on 6th July 2024 – thank you to everyone who made this possible.
We welcome to our team:
- Tracy Short, our activities staff member who will support Jermery in providing quality social engagement for our residents.
Finbar Cowan who joins our catering staff.
Junae Grizzle who joined our catering staff.
Aisha Ayinde who joined our care team.
Fartun Mohamed who joined our care team.
Joy Rowland who joined our care team.
Congratulations to:
- Marjorie Ogutu who has given birth to a beautiful baby boy; both mum and baby are doing well.
Sophie Carey who has given birth to a beautiful baby girl; both mum and baby doing well.
Brenda Asaba who completed her care certificate.
Jeethu Vijayan who completed her care certificate.
Beech House had another busy month filled with great events.
Residents at Beech House were treated to an afternoon of uplifting music as our very own DJ Gerald played his favourite vinyl records. We were invited to sing, clap and dance along to songs from Elvis, Cliff Richard and Jim Reeves to name a few.
Gerald was happy to meet Bristol Care Homes Marketing Manager, Alexandra, and thrilled that Deputy Manager Kerry popped in to thank him for hosting the afternoon.
We sang happy birthday to Gill and presented her with a birthday cake. Everyone agreed that music brings people together, evokes memories and it makes you smile.
Gerald wanted to dedicate the afternoon to his dear friend Sharon and honoured her memory by playing one of her vinyl records ‘The Streets of London’. Gerald, you are the best DJ ever, thank you.
On another day, Beech House staff made waffles with a small group of residents, and they chose the toppings they wanted.
The majority chose chocolate and strawberries. After everyone had their waffles, each resident took a spoon covered in chocolate and licked it.
They all laughed and chuckled together as Brenda managed to get chocolate up by her eye. It was such a lovely afternoon.
We brought as many residents as we could to the conservatory this week when Justin came in with his guitar. He played rock and roll, Abba, and other songs, to which the residents sang along and applauded.
Sheila got up and started dancing, and she even went over to dance with Marion, who was in her wheelchair and held her hands.
The residents commented on how wonderful it was.
Hottest Offer Of The Month - Rewards Scheme
Up to 40% off at Cineworld
Log into the Be Saving app and search for Cineworld. Follow the steps to claim tickets that are up to 40% discounted.
