Activities in our Home

Activities from Dormy Care.

Award for end of life care

Brockington House has won a prestigious national award for end of life care. We have achieved a national Gold Standards Framework (GSF) Quality Hallmark Award in recognition of the way we care for people at the end of their lives. It follows an assessment carried out at the home in Hafod Road this s...

Gillian’s story

November 2024 | Brockington House | Brockington House Links

Had the bomb that dropped in her North London back garden during World War Two exploded, it’s very possible Gillian Sparks would not be alive today to tell the tale. Thankfully, it didn’t go off and as result 91-year-old Gillian has managed to a live a long and eventful life, and there’s no si...

Signature dish

November 2024 | Brockington House | Brockington House Links

All great chefs have their signature dish, and Ash Davies hopes his can prove three times lucky as he competes in a national competition. Ash’s mouthwatering leak and potato soup with garlic butter croquette was the first dish he ever prepared at catering college, and it also won him the Dormy Car...

Celebrate the success

November 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

We were delighted to once again come together to celebrate the success of our team members who make a difference and go above and beyond in supporting the ladies and gentlemen who live in our four homes. Staff from Dormy Care Communities came together in Bath in October for the annual Dormy Care Awa...

A trip down memory lane

November 2024 | Pine Martin Grange | News

Some of our gentlemen went on a wonderful trip down memory lane on our latest outing. That’s because we took them on the Swanage Steam train. We had a fantastic time reliving wonderful memories. We then took at stroll through Swanage town and of course a cup of coffee on the seafront! A fantas...

The most wonderful time of the year

November 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

We are allowed to talk about Christmas now it’s officially happening next month and so our festive preparations got underway with our ladies and gentlemen working on our annual Christmas card. We started by painting pine cones and preparing the Merry Christmas lettering. We always make the very mo...

Coffee morning

November 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

We held a coffee morning and invited Liphook Day Centre to come with their lovely clients. Our kitchen team baked a selection of delicious cakes and it was fantastic to see our ladies and gentlemen chatting and socialising with staff and people from the day centre. A few of our ladies used to be reg...

A Halloween to remember

November 2024 | Foxhunters | Foxhunters Links

We had a Halloween to remember with a host of fun activities, including pumpkin carving which our ladies and gentlemen were horrifyingly good at, a frightfully great performance by singer Peter and some ghoulish food and drink prepared by our incredible team. Black chocolate tombstone cakes anyone? ...

Nice places to visit

November 2024 | Foxhunters | Foxhunters Links

We are extremely fortunate to have so many nice places to visit on our doorstep and ladies and gentlemen who enjoy getting out and about. One of our recent trips took us to Morris’ of Usk Garden Centre! This a family-run centre which opened in 1990 and is very popular. Our ladies spent the mo...

Bake on

November 2024 | Brockington House | Brockington House Links

It may only be early November but we can now officially state that its Christmas next month so we got our ‘bake on’ and started preparing the always wonderful Brockington House Christmas cake. We are lucky to have so many ladies who are adept at baking, as our recent Dormy recipe book demonstrat...

Halloween fun

November 2024 | Brockington House | Brockington House Links

We had lots of Halloween fun including Halloween themed Oomph fitness session with songs such as Monster Mash and Thriller. We also had a pumpkin carving competition judged by our ladies and we ended out day with a themed musical theatre concert featuring songs from shows such as Phantom, Cats and W...

Animal therapy

October 2024 | Pine Martin Grange | News

Animal therapy has numerous proven benefits and as you can see from the pictures, there were lots of smiles and cuddles when our lovely PAT dogs Hebe and Puzzle came to visit our ladies and gentlemen. The dogs are so gentle and patient and our ladies and gents lapped it up, quite literally. It’...

Our latest trip

October 2024 | Pine Martin Grange | News

We didn’t let the weather spoil our latest trip with our travel partner Myley to Poole RNLI Museum and that’s because we spent most of the time indoors. The trips with Myley are proving very popular with our ladies and gentlemen who enjoy getting out and about and having new adventures o...

Spooky

October 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

There are some ghostly goings-on at Bramshott Grange, which is not surprising given Halloween is fast approaching. Across the home our ladies and gentlemen have been painting ghosts to create some Halloween bunting. Very spooky indeed but it’s also a nice way for our ladies and gents to remini...

Knitting therapy

October 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

Knitting therapy is a therapeutic practice that can help with mental health and physical well-being. It’s why it has become a popular activity at Bramshott and our ladies and gentlemen are both still very good knitters. We pair this with a natter too, so it’s just as much about the socia...

Another adventure

October 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

We had another adventure when we took Catherine, Margaret, Chris and Jean to the Rake Garden Centre where they loved looking at the Halloween and Christmas displays. We made sure they had time to ensure they enjoyed their lemon cake and tea in the cafe. A lovely trip out, which everyone enjoyed. ...

Getting out and about

October 2024 | Foxhunters | Foxhunters Links

We’ve always enjoyed getting out and about with our ladies and gentlemen, if they wish do so of course, and our latest trip saw us visiting a local garden centre. The wonderful Nick from our travel partner Myley Tours picked our ladies up and everyone had a wonderful time browsing and, of cour...

A real social occasion

October 2024 | Foxhunters | Foxhunters Links

Everyone knows we love to bake at Foxhunters but as well as creating delicious aromas and, of course, tasty treats, it’s a real social occasion too, giving our ladies and gentlemen a chance to spend time together in The Cwtch, having a cuppa and a good old fashioned chat. So, it provides stimu...

That’s entertainment!

October 2024 | Brockington House | Brockington House Links

We have many great entertainers who come into Brockington House but few are as well received as the fantastically named Wolfren Riverstick. We think the pictures of our ladies and gentlemen watching him perform say it all. That’s entertainment with a capital ‘E’ when Wolfren is in ...

Hats off

October 2024 | Brockington House | Brockington House Links

Hats off to Becks, she certainly knows how to make our ladies and gents Zumba! Becks is a fixture at Brockington House and comes in on a regular basis to put everyone through their paces. She uses music and props to keep people engaged and sometimes even brings in her daughters to help out as well. ...

Wear it Pink

October 2024 | Brockington House | Brockington House Links

We had a Wear it Pink day in aid of a charity very close to our hearts at Brockington House – Breast Cancer Now. It included competitions, quiz and lots of cake! We raised £101.25 in just one hour. A massive thank you to our ladies and gentlemen, families and staff for all your support on wha...

Movement play

October 2024 | Pine Martin Grange | News

We recently Jabadao as one of our activities at Pine Martin Grange and as you can see from the pictures, there were lots of laughs and engagement among our ladies and gentlemen when they were doing it. Jabadao is movement play that is good for health, happiness and general wellbeing. In our activity...

An enjoyable afternoon

October 2024 | Pine Martin Grange | News

Baking is one of our favourite activities and some of our ladies recently spent an enjoyable afternoon making cookies together. As you can see from the concentration on centenarian Alice’s face in one of the pictures, they took the making of the cookies very seriously indeed but after there wa...

A music kind of day

October 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

Sometimes you just want to have a music kind of day, which is not surprising given we have so many music lovers at Bramshott Grange. In one of our latest sessions we had Music and Movement to get our ladies and gents going then the chance to listen, relax and reflect during classical music appreciat...

Choir practice

October 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

We are fortunate to have so many ladies and gentlemen at Bramshott Grange who love to sing and many attend our regular choir practice. They are always in great voice and are well led by our music teacher Janet, who also puts on our music and movement sessions. It’s a great combination! ...

The Great Abergavenny Bake Off

October 2024 | Foxhunters | Foxhunters Links

The Great Abergavenny Bake Off saw our ladies working closely with our catering team led by Chef Kyle to make some delicious sweet and savoury treats. There are not many more activities which stimulate all the senses like baking does. Very therapeutic and tasty to boot! #gallery-24 { ma...

Prost!

October 2024 | Foxhunters | Foxhunters Links

Prost means Cheers in German and whilst we were unable to take Abergavenny to Munich, we brought Munich to Abergavenny recently when we celebrated Oktoberfest. Our ladies and gents enjoyed having a few beers and some nibbles and generally taking part in something a little different! #gallery-...

Therapeutic benefits

October 2024 | Brockington House | Brockington House Links

You would never think that something as simple as an inflatable beach ball could have such therapeutic benefits, but as these pictures show, our ladies and gentlemen on our Mortimer floor had lots of fun exercise and stimulation when our personal trainer George put them through their paces recently....

Music to the ears

October 2024 | Brockington House | Brockington House Links

One of the many entertainers who visit Brockington House Care Community on a regular basis is Banjo Brian. He never fails to please our ladies and gentlemen with his singing and instrument playing and he also encourages everyone to pick up an instrument themselves and sing-a-long to class tunes from...

Top marks

September 2024 | Foxhunters | Foxhunters Links

The catering and hospitality team at Foxhunters are celebrating another success after hygiene standards in the kitchens were given top marks by Inspectors. The home recently received the maximum food hygiene 5-star rating in the Government inspections that check on how food is managed, handled, stor...

Dancing shoes

September 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

It was time to get our dancing shoes back on on for a lovely session of dancing with our wonderful teacher Danielle. Joan went through the steps to the waltz too! What a lovely way to spend the day and one of the best things about these sessions is that everyone can get involved whether seated or st...

Christmas is coming

September 2024 | Foxhunters | Foxhunters Links

Christmas is coming at Foxhunters and before you all start groaning that it’s still September (well nearly October!), we need to be prepared because our lovely homemade Christmas cakes won’t make themselves. This week we began the soaking the fruit ready for our cakes. It’s all about t...

Live Music

September 2024 | Pine Martin Grange | News

We all enjoyed listening and dancing to some live music by Tyler James. Our ladies and gentlemen really look forward to entertainers coming to the home and as you can see from the photographers, everyone gets involved, whether it’s getting up to dance, singing or just tapping their feet. ...

A trip down memory lane

September 2024 | Pine Martin Grange | News

It’s always nice to take a trip down memory lane as part of our reminiscence sessions and this time we looked at pictures of famous female movie stars. Everyone loved talking about the films they had seen them in. A real therapeutic but fun activity. #gallery-31 { margin: auto; } ...

A wonderful trip

September 2024 | Pine Martin Grange | News

We had a wonderful trip courtesy of our travel partner Myley to Boscombe Pier recently. Sunshine, laughter, coffees and drawing in the sand! Pure sunshine therapy. We could have been in the Mediterranean, although if this week’s weather is anything to go by, it will be more like the Antarctic ...

Feeling more like summer

September 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

With early autumn feeling more like summer than the actual summer we made the very most of it, starting with exercises with fitness instructor Carl and then relaxing with a cup of tea and soaking up the rays and important Vitamin D! We need to make the most of it, not that it ever stops us from enjo...

Bramshott Bakers

September 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

The Bramshott Bakers were in full flow making a Dorset Apple Cake. The unmistakeable smell of baking was wafting throughout the home as our ladies and gentlemen made some a lovey cake, which we can confirm was delicious. Apple Dorset Cake is so names because of the abundance of apples in the county ...

Intergenerational care continues

September 2024 | Foxhunters | Foxhunters Links

It was lovely to welcome back a new group of children from Llanfoist Fawr School. The ladies and gentlemen enjoyed playing games and showing photos of their travels in our get to know you session. Along with learning some new Welsh words, we enjoyed getting to know our new friends. Thank you Miss ...

A talk on jewellery

September 2024 | Foxhunters | Foxhunters Links

We recently welcomed Mari from Mari Thomas Jewellery to Foxhunters to give a talk on jewellery. Mari is an award-winning contemporary designer jeweller and goldsmith and gave a very interesting talk, display and discussion on the fantastic jewellery she makes. She also showed us an Eisteddford crown...

Lovely trips

September 2024 | Brockington House | Brockington House Links

We continue to enjoy some lovely trips in Herefordshire and beyond courtesy of our travel partner Myley Tours and our fantastic driver Nick. Recent destinations have included the Wellington Garden Centre where we had a good look around and enjoyed a cuppa and a cake. It’s great for everyone to...

Fun and games

September 2024 | Brockington House | Brockington House Links

There are always lots of fun and games going on at Brockington House. Traditional games like Scrabble and Game of Knowledge and then newer, non-traditional games like Jabadao which is movement play that is good for health, happiness and general wellbeing. The latter has proved so popular our ladies ...

Recipe book

September 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

Dormy Care Communities has ensured the memories of the ladies and gentlemen in our homes will live forever through the publication of a new recipe book. From the Heart of Home is the name of the book, which is a compilation of classic recipes handed down through generations and recalled by the ladie...

Memory lane

September 2024 | Pine Martin Grange | News

Stepping down memory lane always brings lots of stories and laughter with our ladies and gentlemen in our reminiscence sessions. Another great brain training exercise. Studies have shown that older people who reminisce have lower blood pressure and heart rates, along with a host of other benefits. ...

Pets as Therapy

September 2024 | Pine Martin Grange | News

There are always lots of smiles and cuddles when our beautiful Pets As Therapy (PAT) dogs come. They provide lovely memories of pets our ladies and gents used to have. Animal therapy, especially dogs, like this touches people psychologically, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. ...

BBQ lunch

September 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

We had a lovely BBQ lunch for our ladies and gentlemen and their families. The sun shone and whilst it was a little cooler (autumn is here after all), an extra jumper or a coat was all that was needed for those who opted to eat outside. It was a really nice social afternoon for everyone concerned. ...

Dog show

September 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

What an absolutely amazing day we had at our Bramshott Grange Fun Dog Show. Our Home Director Pam was joined by two of our lovely ladies, Barbara and Janet; as judges and Gill and Emily ran a tombola and we had a wonderful cake stall. It was lovely to see so many friends, family and of course the am...

New location

September 2024 | Foxhunters | Foxhunters Links

Our ladies had a trip out to a new location courtesy of the wonderful Nick from our tour operator Myley. He took us to Goytre Wharf where we had lovely stroll along the canal and then a tasty scone and cup of tea. Nothing beats some early autumn fresh air! #gallery-43 { margin: auto; }...

Singing and dancing

September 2024 | Foxhunters | Foxhunters Links

We had a lovely morning courtesy of a local group called The Family Music Haven. There was lots of singing and dancing to our favourite music along with melodies played on the flute and piano. Thank you to Debbie and Heather for such a lovely morning. Our ladies and gentlemen had a fantastic time....

Exercising our bodies and minds

September 2024 | Brockington House | Brockington House Links

We have been exercising our bodies and minds all week at Brockington House and this activity very much required a creative mind as we did some fantastic watercolour painting. Our ladies and gentlemen requested to paint fruit and they did a terrific job as you can see from the photographs. So realist...

Afternoon of baking

September 2024 | Brockington House | Brockington House Links

We had a lovely afternoon of baking. There are few things better in life than the smell of freshly cooked biscuits that you have made yourselves and they get certainly got the thumbs up from the Brockington Bakers and Tasters. Baking is a great activity for boosting general wellbeing and it’s a lo...

Mindful relaxation

September 2024 | Pine Martin Grange | News

We are some mindful relaxation with Tai Chi and then a bit more energy with indoor basketball on the Forget Me Not Floor. The basketball was a very different activity but our ladies and gentlemen really enjoyed channeling their inner Lebron James. #gallery-48 { margin: auto; } #gall...

Arts and crafts

September 2024 | Pine Martin Grange | News

We had a busy day of arts and crafts across the home. Lots of concentration and attention to detail. Superb work from our ladies and gentlemen. We have very creative minds in our home and everyone looks forward to these sessions as these are great social occasions too. #gallery-49 { margi...

Word game

September 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

We have a word game which we will play each week at Bramshott Grange and it requires our ladies and gents to come up with as many words as possible using one very large word. The latest word was Micropaleontologists and we managed to find an amazing 300 words. It’s a great group activity which...

Art group

September 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

We have an art group at Bramshott Grange and our ladies and gentlemen like nothing better than getting their creative juices flowing. It’s a therapeutic activity in so many ways as it requires concentration, dexterity and is generally a great social occasion too. #gallery-50 { margi...

Lovely trip out

September 2024 | Foxhunters | Brockington House Links

We had another lovely trip out courtesy of our travel partner Myley with our latest adventure taking us to Morris’ of Usk, which is a family run garden centre, food hall and restaurant in Llanbadoc. After a good mooch around the centre, we treated ourselves to a little spot of tea and a cake, ...

Move it or lose it

September 2024 | Foxhunters | Foxhunters Links

Our ladies and gentlemen were very motivated in our Move it or Lose it session with Marian. These exercise classes have been developed by experts to help improve flexibility, aerobic health, balance and strength for greater strength. All the keep fit exercises are done seated so they are perfect f...

The greatest therapies

September 2024 | Brockington House | Brockington House Links

Music is one of the greatest therapies and this week we welcomed the Timeless choir who sang old favourites from the like of Andy Williams and Bill Withers. Our ladies and gentlemen thoroughly enjoyed the performance, as they always do when we welcome entertainers to Brockington House Care Community...

Ukrainian Independence Day

September 2024 | Brockington House | Brockington House Links

We had a fantastic afternoon marking Ukrainian Independence Day. The celebrations included a lovely performance from Galina who showed our ladies and gentlemen how to play the traditional Ukrainian instruments before they listened to a lovely performance from Galina and her friends. Always nice to c...

Summer fair

August 2024 | Pine Martin Grange | News

Well, what a wonderful Summer Fair we had! The sun shone, we had a BBQ, Louisa sang all afternoon, we had lots of games, stalls and a raffle. We were also visited by Top Hat bikers and their absolutely amazing motorbikes. Our ladies and gents thoroughly enjoyed themselves and it was great to see so ...

A fantastic trip

August 2024 | Pine Martin Grange | News

We had a fantastic trip to Upton Country Park courtesy of our travel partner Myley and our lovely driver Sarah. It was great to get out in the fresh air and be amongst nature. Excellent for our mental wellbeing and why activities like these are important to our ladies and gentlemen. #gallery-...

Wonderful wooden coasters

August 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

Our ladies and gentlemen made some wonderful wooden coasters in one of our arts and crafts sessions. The attention to detail was fantastic and the concentration levels were very high. Arts and crafts play an important part of the activity programme at Bramshott Grange because they help to exercise t...

Favourite ice creams

August 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

We had a visit from De Luca’s Ice Cream. Our ladies, gentlemen and staff enjoyed picking their own favourite ice cream and lollies and eating them outside in the sun. There’s something about a visit from an ice cream van which brings back lots of fond memories, something which is really ...

Magic table

August 2024 | Foxhunters | Foxhunters Links

We spent a little time on the tovertafel magic table talking about the music it played and the pictures as we recognised some of the tunes, we then reminisced about our childhood memories. A lovely afternoon. We are so lucky to have such an interactive and stimulating activity like this. #gal...

A lovely trip

August 2024 | Foxhunters | Foxhunters Links

We enjoyed a lovely trip to Llanfaes Dairy in Brecon courtesy of Nick from our tour partner Myley. We had a very enjoyable ride as we took in the sights of the beautiful mountains and valleys we are privileged to have on our doorstep, and not forgetting the amazing ice cream! #gallery-60 { ...

Always very popular

August 2024 | Brockington House | Brockington House Links

Our fitness/dance instructor Becks is always very popular with our ladies and gentlemen and she always gets them moving with her motivational style. Recently she had some youthful support, aka her two daughters, with her at dance exercises which included the use of a giant ‘parachute’ wh...

Lovely watercolour work

August 2024 | Brockington House | Brockington House Links

Our ladies and gentlemen did some lovely watercolour work in one of our arts and crafts activities. A steady hand and lots of attention to detail were needed but as you can see from the work they produced, they are a very talented bunch. It was also a fine social occasion too as they chatted about t...

The sound of music

August 2024 | Pine Martin Grange | News

We love listening to the sound of music at Pine Martin Grange and were recently treated to lovely outdoor performance from a bagpipe player. It was a beautiful day listening to some lovely music and our ladies and gentlemen thoroughly enjoyed the performance. Music plays an important part of the act...

Golden moments

August 2024 | Pine Martin Grange | News

There were lots of golden moments to enjoy at the Paris Olympics and even more golden moments when did our own version of the games at Pine Martin Grange. Activities included making doughnuts in the colours of the Olympic colours, making Olympic torches and lots of games that kept everyone moving. W...

A wonderful trip

August 2024 | Pine Martin Grange | News

We had our first trip out as part of a new and exciting partnership with our tour operator Myley. Our lovely driver Sarah took us in a minibus on a wonderful trip to Moreton Church, Tearooms and Gardens. We all had a fantastic time and are already looking forward to our next trip. Myley tours provid...

By the seaside

August 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

Given our location, we do like to be beside the seaside and recently some of our ladies and gentlemen enjoyed a lovely trip out to Southsea. It was a very warm day as you can see from how quickly the ice creams melted but there’s nothing better for the soul than being near the sea. Hazel and J...

Sweet music

August 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

We have been making sweet sweet music at Bramshott Grange thanks to the wonderful singing voices of our ladies and gentlemen. Our tuneful choir are always in very good voice and they receive wonderful support from Janet, who comes in regularly to take our very popular music and movement activity. ...

The Olympics

August 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

We celebrated the staging of the Olympics in Paris with a host of fun and stimulating activities for our ladies and gentlemen to enjoy, including ball games, and making Olympic doughnuts and wreaths. Our fitness instructor Carl presented our ladies and gentlemen who have been attending gym and exerc...

Around the world

August 2024 | Foxhunters | Foxhunters Links

We went around the world with a host of fun and stimulating activities for our ladies and gentlemen to enjoy as part of our eagerly-awaited flight week. Our destinations for the week were New York, Texas, Malta, India and Australia, and as you can see from the photographs, everyone had a great time!...

Summer fayre

August 2024 | Foxhunters | Foxhunters Links

What an absolutely amazing afternoon we had at Foxhunters at our annual summer fete, with a very noticeable Olympic theme. We were very well supported by lots of our residents families and friends and of course all the stallholders. A big thank you to all who attended, including the well behaved alp...

Retail therapy

August 2024 | Foxhunters | Foxhunters Links

We are fortunate to have a great partnership with our tour operator Myley, who take our ladies and gentlemen on some lovely trips out. This week they took us for some retail therapy at the Labels outlet shopping in Ross on Wye. It was so much fun doing a little shopping, going for coffee then having...

Foxhunters Olympics

August 2024 | Foxhunters | Foxhunters Links

Whilst we enjoyed watching the professional sportsmen and women do their stuff in Paris, the Foxhunters Olympics was where the real action was at. Our ‘Olympic’ sports included catch the goldfish, make a tower with playing cards and, not forgetting, the fancy dress dash around the garden...

Happy birthday to us

August 2024 | Brockington House | Brockington House Links

Happy birthday to us, happy birthday to us, happy birthday dear Brockington, happy birthday to us! We had a great day celebrating the 5th birthday of Brockington House with our ladies, gentlemen, families, friends and staff. We had a performance from The King himself. Yes Elvis Presley entertained u...

The Olympics

August 2024 | Brockington House | Brockington House Links

We had our own version of The Olympics at Brockington House, including indoor volleyball, basketball and a game of Olympic charades. These activities were great for getting everyone moving and we exercised the mind too with some creative activities like making our own Olympic torches. #galler...

A lovely trip out

August 2024 | Brockington House | Brockington House Links

Our ladies and gentlemen had a lovely trip out to Hereford Cathedral as part of our partnership with our tour partner Myley. From assessing each destination, ensuring it is suitable for our ladies and gentlemen, to providing transportation in their fully accessible minibuses, Myley tours are a fanta...

Scrabble Club

August 2024 | Brockington House | Brockington House Links

Our weekly Scrabble Club at Brockington has become a very popular activity with our ladies and gentlemen. It’s great for exercising the mind and a generally nice social occasion. Some weeks we have so many people taking part that we need to play doubles. Two heads are better than one after all...

Portrait artist of the year

August 2024 | Brockington House | Brockington House Links

Ladies and gentlemen at Brockington House posed as the models for aspiring young artists taking part in a unique portrait artist of the year competition. Brockington was once again the venue for the competition involving students from the Hereford College of Arts. It follows the success of the first...

Taking flight

July 2024 | Pine Martin Grange | News

We enjoyed taking flight as part of our Flight Week activity programme. It took us to far flung places such as Japan, Canada and India. Activities included learning and listening to Japanese Haiku poetry, enjoying some Indian head massages and designing our Greek pots using a selection of materials....

Hands-on experience

July 2024 | Brockington House | Brockington House Links

Students from The Royal National College for the Blind have been getting hands-on experience in their chosen subject by working with residents at Brockington House. Young people from the Venns Lane-based college have been visiting Brockington as part of the course they are taking in Massage and Comp...

Young author

July 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

A young author says that working in Bramshott Grange provides him with the perfect inspiration for his books. When he’s not part of the housekeeping team at Bramshott, George Thorn is an avid writer and at the age of 28 he has already published four books. His first three books were all self-publi...

The Inspiration to write

July 2024 | Foxhunters | Foxhunters Links

The successful re-launch of a book by a Foxhunters Care Assistant has given him the inspiration to write again – seven years after he finished writing. From 2015 to 2017, Matt Purkiss wrote three connected books telling the story of residents living in a fictional town whose lives are upended by a...

Flight week

June 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

During our Flight Week, we visited New Zealand, Sudan, Venezuela, Canada and Massachusetts, places many of our ladies and gentlemen have visited during their lives. Activities included doing a Sudanese peacock dance, making maple leaves and baking Anzac biscuits. It was a truly stimulating and enjoy...

The age of air travel

June 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

With our around the world flight taking place across all of our homes this week we take a look at the history of air travel and how it has enabled us to visit destinations people could only used to dream about. It took only 12 seconds and covered a distance of just 40 yards but in North Carolina jus...

D-Day landings

June 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

Doreen Binks was aged 14 and living with her parents in a village near Nottingham when the D-Day landings took place on 6th June 1944. She recalls the big headlines in the newspapers in the following days which confirmed the invasion of western Europe was underway and the sense of optimism that gave...

Allied invasion

June 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

Most people who were alive at the time will remember where they were on D-Day and how they first heard the news that the Allied invasion of Europe was underway. June 6 1944 saw 160,000 Allied troops land on the beaches of Normandy. Nearly a million more would follow that summer and gradually sweep n...

The highlight

June 2024 | Brockington House | Brockington House Links

Given the range of activities at Brockington House, it’s impossible to choose a favourite but few would argue that the highlight in May was a visits from students from The Royal National College for the Blind. Our ladies and gents have gratefully benefited from their lovely massages and genera...

Keeping fit and active

June 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

Keeping fit and active is an important part of the activity programme and we did a lot of that during May, whether it was exercising in the sun, learning some new dance moves or enjoying trips out. We took our first bus trip with new tour partner Myley to The Punch Bowl in Hindhead, which is a local...

Benefiting old and young

June 2024 | Foxhunters | Foxhunters Links

The partnerships we have built up with local schools are important to us as we are big advocates of intergenerational care, a concept which brings different generations together to benefit both young and old. In May, we welcomed back pupils Llanfoist Fawr School. It was a beautiful Welsh day, so the...

A dog’s life

June 2024 | Pine Martin Grange | News

It’s a dog’s life at Pine Martin Grange, but that’s a good thing as it means our dog show Scrufts was a major success, just one of many interesting and exciting activities which took place in the home during May. It was great to welcome so many amazing dogs and people into the home...

Dementia Action Week

May 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

May is the month when the UK gets into full bloom – and it’s not just in the garden or countryside you’ll be seeing flowers emerging. The Forget Me Not appeal is an annual initiative that encourages people to wear a blue flower badge for the month of May to raise awareness and vital funds for ...

International Nurses Day

May 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

International Nurses Day is a day to celebrate and recognise the vital role that nurses play in all forms of health and social care in the UK and further afield. The value of nurses is well recognised at Dormy Care. We have qualified nurses working in all our homes and our founder and CEO, Helen Dav...

Amazing mountains

May 2024 | Foxhunters | Foxhunters Links

From her bedroom at Foxhunters, Vera Connolly can look out at the amazing mountains she used to enjoy walking on when she was younger. And she also likes to see all the comings and goings at the nearby household waste recycling centre, so there’s always an ever-changing landscape. And then there�...

Rubbed shoulders with legendary celebrities

May 2024 | Foxhunters | Foxhunters Links

Not many people can claim to have rubbed shoulders with legendary celebrities such as Liberace, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Johnny Mathis, and Frankie Vaughan. Or Royalty such as Princess Anne and the Duke of Edinburgh. But not many people are like Pam Savva! During her working life, Pam formed an a...

First impressions count

May 2024 | Foxhunters | Foxhunters Links

Gemma Carter is the first person most people see when they enter Foxhunters, and she very much understands that first impressions count. And with her background, we couldn’t have picked anyone better to be our Receptionist. In addition to her lovely bubbly personality, she comes from a customer se...

Sailing through her life

May 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

No-one could accuse Gill Wicker of sailing through her life – whether that’s at work or play! Gill worked in insurance from the age of 16 until just a few years ago when the company she was employed by refused to give her extended leave so she could fulfil a lifetime ambition. That ambition ...

Our very own author

May 2024 | Bramshott Grange | Bramshott Grange Links

To have one book published is an amazing achievement but our very own author George Thorn has more stories in him than that. George already has four published books to his name, the latest one being a work of historical fiction titled ‘Black Hearts Be Damned,’ which imagines an alternative histo...

Part of the furniture

May 2024 | Foxhunters | Foxhunters Links

Debbie Powell is quite literally a part of the furniture at Foxhunters, having been here since the home opened. In fact, she joined whilst the home was still being built! Debbie, who is our Assistant Administrator, was part of the team who helped get Foxhunters open, including interviewing and induc...