Friends of Oaklands

This is an area that had been overlooked during the work by the Fords volunteers and the NCS students’ visits but which is the first part that visitors to the home see.

The paths were jet washed, making it look like a completely new pathway and tubs of plants redone with a more appropriate winter theme. One of the residents came out to inspect the work and announced that she was very pleased with it. Several passing visitors also commented that it looked lovely.

The key aim was to give residents who can’t go outside the chance to choose items for their friends and family. It was a lovely event which managed to raise £96.00.

Catherine Wood, Chairman said “It’s a lovely way to start the Christmas season. It is lovely to see the residents picking out things for family members”.

This project will be a trolley service, with the aim to improve each of the lives of the 80 residents of the home. By setting up a trolley service it means that Friends can visit the residents in their room on a daily basis, to offer the option of buying items or just having a chat. Following from this, other activities will develop.

What happens on the trolley will vary: it may be sweets one day, toiletries, or books on another or even a theme for the holidays, for example Christmas.  It will be an opportunity for the residents to treat themselves or a loved one, even if they are unable to get out to the shops. Even if the residents don’t wish to buy anything, the trolley service will encourage friendly chats on a daily basis and help to ease the loneliness and isolation that can occur.

Volunteers will be trained and will run the trolley service, to give the residents a chance to see new faces and make some new friends.

The residents will be encouraged to request items such as socks or toiletries, and the trolley will have some small freebies to give away.

She left the care home with the intention of taking care of her husband and spending more time with their 3 young grandchildren.

After only a few weeks out of work however, Marie realised she missed the home too much and returned as a volunteer to see the people she once cared for full time.

Each Wednesday afternoon Marie feels as though she is returning to her work place. The difference is now she gets to spend her time enjoying tea and conversation with the residents that she now considers friends.

While Oaklands is a larger care home with upwards of 55 residents at a time, Marie takes her time to form a relationship with each person. While she does not know if the residents always recognise her due to the amount of people with dementia, she still continues to look forward to her afternoon conversations with each of them.

She spends a great deal of time with one couple in particular, Jack and Anne. While Jack suffers from dementia and does not always remember Marie, Anne always enjoys seeing her. The two women knew each other when they were young and often spend hours reminiscing about “when they worked together” and laugh about “what they got into.”

Marie feels it is her ability to relate to each resident that has helped her form long lasting relationships inside the home.

Many of the people Marie has met inside the home have made an impact not only on her volunteer or work life but on her personal life as well. Marie is extremely happy to have the opportunity to continue volunteering and plans to continue doing so for as long as possible.

What was it all about?

The Friends of Oaklands Care Home set themselves a challenge to see how much of a difference they could make for the residents over a 2 day period on 25^th and 26^th May.

Due to the recent development in community care, by the time residents come into a home they tend to be physically frail or suffer with memory issues. Many residents tend not leave home as their confidence levels aren’t high, and they just can’t face it. The home then becomes an “island of the old”.

The aim of the challenge days was to add value to the residents’ lives by creating different “destinations” within the home, and providing them with the chance, wherever possible, to lead independent lives.

Across the two days, four projects were proposed:

• Decorating the Dining Room

This was chosen as residents and relatives had previously commented that the dining room space needed to be freshened up. People wanted it to feel more like a restaurant.

• Overhauling the Courtyard Garden

Since the courtyard had first been created it had never had a spring clean and it was decided that a Zen garden as an addition would be a relaxing place for residents.

• The Rear Garden

To improve the use of the rear garden it was proposed to build a huge pagoda to provide shade for the residents. Additionally, painting the fences and putting in yards and yards of planting were on the agenda.

• The Trolley Service

To launch a trolley service that carries things like sweets, toiletries and books for the residents to purchase. This service is to encourage more choice for the residents, and a greater feeling of independence around how they live their lives.

How we did it?

The Friends could not have achieved all these projects on their own and so set about reaching people locally in the Laindon area. The Friends group were delighted to be supported by 20 members of staff from Fords, who split into groups to support the different projects.

In addition to a generous donation by St John’s Church, the Friends managed to raise around £3000 towards materials. The local Tesco’s store also supported this project, and very kindly donated flowers to be planted in gardens.

At this point, the Friends had all that they needed to start the job…

The time that would be required to complete the project was a bit of an unknown. The volunteers had set aside two days for this, and ended up being on site for the entire project. For the first day, volunteers were on site from 8am to 8pm, and on the second day from 6:30am to 8pm. The first day identified a need for some extra pairs of hands so the Friends made persuasive calls to get them!

Project One – The Dining Room

For the residents, the dining room is typically a very popular place to be. It’s used as a destination to catch up with each other over dinner, or simply to go to for a change of scenery.

The Friends looked at the dining room and wondered what they could do to freshen it up. They noticed that food has lost its interest for many of the residents so by making the dining room look more inviting, residents would be encouraged to spend even more time there.

The aim was to create a warm, comfortable and welcoming environment for residents. The Friends agreed to:

• Clear the room
• Repaint the walls  so that the room is more bright
• Repaint all the woodwork
• Clean the natural woodwork and floor
• Replace all furniture and pictures

The stunning re-decorated dining room had a “restaurant” feel to it. It had cream coloured walls and tables laid out for residents to eat alone or with their friends and family.

Project Two – The courtyard

The Friends noticed that the front courtyard felt a little unloved and lacked vibrancy. They looked at the space however, and felt that it had heaps of potential to be brightened up.

They planned to have an overhaul at the courtyard and to create a ‘Zen Garden’ for the residents to enjoy. The group of volunteers who supported this project came up with a plan to make this ‘summer ready’, and for it to be a place where residents could frequently visit. This meant:

• Painting the fence panels, planters and benches green
• Having the floor jet sprayed with a pressure washer to take off dirt
• Having the ‘Zen Garden’ installed
• Buying a water feature and setting it up
• Having planters cleared and planted up
• Buying hanging baskets
• Placing cotswold chippings all around the garden

Some of the residents’ windows overlooked the garden, so the Friends thought it would be a fantastic idea to add flowers that were donated from Tesco’s to areas that were visible from the rooms. One of them had a bird table, and that was given a coat of paint too.

Having new flowers in a vibrant, well looked after courtyard means that the residents will engage in more outdoor activities. It will mean that they can really make the care home their home.

Project Three – The Rear Garden

The rear garden was the biggest of the four projects as it was about creating an exciting new experience for both the residents, staff members and volunteers. There was quite a lot of space in the rear garden, and had a lot of potential to provide facilities for all to enjoy.

The plan for the rear garden was to:

• Install the pagoda
• Remove raised bed in the centre of the garden
• Paint the fences, benches and plinths
• Plant flowers around the edge of the garden
• Put together kick boards at the edges of the flower beds

When installing the pagoda, the Friends were very fortunate to have a team of engineers volunteer to help them, who also happened to be very competent builders. They are used to working together on similar “challenge” projects. On day one around ten worked in the rear garden starting off by digging out the base for the pagoda and after two full days of hard work, the residents were presented with a very beautifully built pagoda.

Project Four – The Trolley Service

With help from volunteers, a trolley is now available for residents to purchase items; everything from sweets to toiletries, cards and gifts. The aim is to help residents feel supported, embracing independence by making a choice when purchasing an item off the trolley. This also allows them to have a chat and be in the company of a volunteer as they come to the room. Having a trolley shop will have a positive impact not only on the life of a resident but also the volunteers.

A bid has been submitted for funds to purchase mobile multi sensory equipment to help residents with dementia

The Friends met on Friday 9th December at Oaklands Care Home to plan for Christmas and the January volunteers lunch. Bids have been submitted for multi-sensory equipment and an electric piano and we discussed  also future bids that can be submitted to support the end of life befriending project. The Friends have purchased a present for every resident from the money raised at our recent table sale.

On 24th November, Wendy and Catherine got together to price everything. With over 500 donated items given mainly by Attend connections.

The aim of the project has been to enable residents who can’t get out to choose something to give their loved ones.

The Friends were delighted to have the leader of a local church come on board as a new committee member. They  are currently planning their Christmas table sale.

Following the recent successful bid to Awards 4 All we are now looking at other funders who may be able to help with purchasing mobile multi sensory equipment for the residents and also support a volunteer led end of life befriending project

The volunteer get together was well attended and there will be  another event in January.

As part of his role, he is patron of each of the friends groups in care homes.

Pictured here, he is talking to Nichole, project manager, and Kahlil who is newly appointed to the team. He was delighted to hear of the progress to date.

It will take a little while to get set up, but hopefully will be fully operational by Christmas.

Goods were donated, and prices kept low so that everyone could participate. Nothing cost more than £4.

Wendy and June supported some of the residents as ‘personal shoppers’ as residents were able to choose from a huge cross-section of gifts. Joyce said “It was lovely to be able to choose some little surprises for the family myself. My daughter has always done it for me in the past.”

Raising nearly £200, Catherine Wood, Chairman said “The first priority is to buy gifts for the residents, not least because some have no family or friends and get very little.”

Particular thanks goes to the staff of the home, especially Denise and Marion for helping make it all possible.

Additionally the friends gave mulled wine, Prosecco, mince pies and chocolate for everyone: residents, relatives, visitors, staff and friends