What another busy week we have had in the lead up to Christmas. On Monday a snowman came to visit us. He was very friendly and not cold at all. On Tuesday the reindeers from Pony Parties & Reindeer Hire | Angel's Animal Ark | Herefordshire, Fownhope came to visit. Tomor and baby Dasher were very soft and we all enjoyed stroking them.
What a busy week we have had! We started off with our pantomime “Aladdinia and the magic gramophone”, expertly led by our music therapist Gersom and his band. We sang lots of Abba based songs and joined in with pantomime spirit! On Wednesday evening we joined in with the advent spiral. We were given a candle and we chose where on the spiral to place it, then sang lots of beautiful carols. We have eaten lots of mince pies and cakes made by our cooks, thank you, they were yummy! We rounded the week off by making wreaths and decorating the Christmas Trees.
Don’t the gardens look pretty when it snows. Some of us wrapped up warm, went outside and made a snowman, who we called Gary. We even had a snowball fight!
Residents from both homes attended the Cathedral over all four nights to see the spectacular light show. With mesmerizing lights as well as euphonious sounds it gave a truly immersive experience for all. Photos do not do the light show justice. Please head over to our Facebook page to watch the videos - Martha Trust Hereford Ltd | Facebook
What a fun filled day we have all had! On the 19th September we participated in fun activities focusing on our different senses through the magic of Disney. We started the day off with a costume parade where we all dressed up as our favourite Disney characters. We then went around the garden going to each themed station to see what fun there was to be had!
The stations themes were:
TOUCH – Tarzen (feeling the different textures of material that represents each character)
SOUND – Lion King (listening to short phrases from the film using switches as well as playing an array of African instruments)
SMELL – Princesses (smelling different scents that represent the 12 different princesses)
TASTE – Alice in Wonderland (Tasting cakes and drinking flavoured tea/using flavoured lip balm)
SIGHT – Mickey Mouse short films
Ursula’s Cave (immersive experience walking through the tunnel and exploring the items inside)
Disney themed games including aiming boards and large card games
The dining room was set up as a Beauty and the Beast dining hall with the all the characters joining us too! We all enjoyed the French cuisine that our kitchen staff put on for us all.
A massive thank you to the Speech and Language team for putting this event on and all the other therapists for helping on the day.
On the 1st October we celebrated the anniversary of Sophie House opening. Sophie House opened on the 1st October 2012, and every year on that date we think about all the residents and their families that have been involved in Sophie House. We tied ribbons to a tree and the residents painted stones that were placed around the base of the tree. We all then enjoyed a lovely piece of birthday cake and rounded the day off with some dancing.
This morning we went to Hereford Cycle Track at Hereford Halo Leisure Centre. We met Chris who made us feel very welcome. We had a great time cycling around the track. Can’t wait to visit again.
We started off our celebrations by making flower wreaths and bracelets. We did some dancing and singing before the May Pole dance. We made a pattern with the ribbon whilst singing songs, before enjoying tea and cake. What a fun filled morning we had. Thank you Susanne and Gersom for the music, songs and dancing.
Thank you to Our Lady's Catholic Primary School and Nursery (our-ladys.hereford.sch.uk) for our lovely Easter cards.
The staff and residents celebrated World book day by dressing up as characters from books. We created our own Gruffalo trail around the garden finding the characters in the book. Once we had found them we read the passage that went with each of the characters. Awards were given out to those involved.
We have been exploring different Countries from around the world during geography week.
Monday - first stop was Africa. We listened and danced to African music and smelt and tasted watermelon and oranges. We had our faces painted in a tribal style and ate Jollof rice cooked by Victoria, which was lovely.
Tuesday - we had Around the world tac pacday. We used chopsticks for China, red fans for Spain, little clogs for the Netherlands, maple leaves for Canada, grass skirts for New Zealand and bowler hats for Slovakia. We listened to music from around the world, enjoyed massages with hot stones and warm bamboo. For lunch we had vegetable curry.
Wednesday - we went to Mexico. We made Mayan face masks and took part in a tribal dance. Lunch was Mexican pasta and Nicky made a variety of Mexican dishes for the staff to try.
Thursday - we had Around the world playdough day. We made landmarks and iconic symbolic items from different countries. We made pizza with our choice of toppings and enjoyed a delicious pasta carbonara.
Friday - we celebrated Chinese New Year, Year of the Dragon. We decorated dragons as well as taking part in Chinese tacpac. Lunch was a delicious stir fry and noodles along with a Chinese feast, which was prepared by Nicky, which included lucky fortune cookies.
We have had a lovely day celebrating Valentines Day. We started off with Valentines Tac pac before decorating heart shaped red velvet cakes. Looking forward to having a slice of cake later on. Happy Valentines Day everyone 💖💖💖
Today I opened a Pancake Bar. I made the batter mixture (whoops I got in a bit of a mess lol) and then helped to cook them. I had a cheeky taster before opening the bar. I charged people for their pancakes and then they got to choose what toppings they would like on their pancake. Everybody said the pancakes were lovely.
The reindeers from Angels animal ark came to visit today. The residents from Martha House and Sophie House came together to meet up with Jasper and Tomor, the two reindeers. Everyone loved seeing the reindeers and they really put us in a Christmassy mood. Thank you Pony Parties & Reindeer Hire | Angel's Animal Ark | Herefordshire, Fownhope (angelsanimalark.co.uk)
Lisa Purslow (Trust Director) Laura Morris (Care Manager Sophie House) and Pete Griffiths (Health, Safety & Quality Lead) recently attended the Annual Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service Medals and Awards Ceremony. The evening was a wonderful celebration of many very brave and dedicated fire fighters and we were delighted to be awarded the Chief Fire Officer’s Employer Award. Pete is a retained fire fighter released from his work at Martha Trust and we are very proud to support his contribution to our community.
During the week commencing 13th November 2023, we embraced National Geography Week at Martha House! We had a number of sensory activities throughout the week to promote understanding of different cultures, which was not only beneficial for the residents, but the staff too.
The activities for the week were:
Monday: Making Mayan Masks
Tuesday: Around the World TACPAC (taking a concept and experiencing it through music and a tactile experience)
Wednesday: African Sensology (Sensology is experiencing something through all 5 senses; taste, touch, smell, sound and sight)
Thursday: Around the World Playdough activity (different coloured and scented playdough to represent a country, and building things associated with that country with the playdough)
Friday: Around the World OMI Activities (OMI is an interactive projector which reacts to residents voluntary and involuntary movements)
The residents were given different cuisines to experience each day at lunch, and our staff members from different countries really helped pull it together by cooking and bringing in traditional food from their country. We had Indian, African, Asian (Filipino and Cambodian) and Eastern European.
We’ve had lots of lovely comments from staff members and residents family saying how lovely it was to bring everyone together and learn about different cultures, and I think the week was a total success!
We look forward to repeating it again at Sophie House early next year
Summer has arrived at Martha Trust. The gardens are looking beautiful
Clearview cleaning ran a competition to name their Christmas Elf. Laura, the Deputy manager at Sophie House, was the winner. She named the Elf Dustin Timberlake. Jane and Leanne from Clearview Cleaning visited Sophie House today to hand over her prize. Pictured is Jane handing Laura her voucher and Hannah, a resident at Sophie House, holding the small box of treats put together by Clearview Cleaning Head Office for the residents and staff to enjoy over Christmas.
On the 10th October we held our annual Sophie House Remembrance Day and our Harvest Celebration. This is something we do annually, usually on the 1st October, to celebrate the opening of Sophie House, and to remember everyone that has been part of the journey. We remember residents who are no longer with us – because they have moved away, can no longer attend Sophie House for care, or because they have sadly passed away.
This year also marked Sophie House’s 10th Birthday. There have been many changes and many faces that have been part of the last 10 years, and have made Sophie House what it is today.
To remember residents we painted pebbles, wrote down memories and tied them to our trees, as well as remembrance ribbons. Each resident participated and placed their pebble under the trees, as well as a pebble to remember a friend who recently passed away. It was a time to think, reflect, laugh and smile about the last 10 years.
We then planted a tree that we have received as part of the ‘Queens Green Canopy’, to celebrate the jubilee. The tree is planted on the grass area by the swing, and it will be marked with a plaque. The tree will also be marked on a map of all the trees planted for the Queens Green Canopy.
Residents made soup, bread and apple crumble which was a delicious lunch!
The afternoon was finished off with some music, dancing, tea and cake. A lovely time was had by all.”
We are pleased to announce that Sophie House has been nominated as a finalist in the Health and Social Care Awards, for the ‘Best Place to Work’ Award.
As you can imagine the management and staff at Sophie House are thrilled to have been nominated for this award, and it has given a well deserved boost following the difficult few years we have had with Covid. It’s so lovely to know that staff feel this way about working at Sophie House.
The awards ceremony will take place on the 19th October, so Nicky, Laura and 8 other members of staff will be getting their glad rags on and attending with their fingers crossed for an award!
Wish us luck!!
