Here at the vicarage nursing home, Set in the beautiful countryside of Shrewsbury, Residents enjoy a variety of activities that are run everyday. The vicarage has an acre of surrounding land, With a purpose built dementia garden that has rope trellises and plenty of seating. The garden is always open to relatives and residents. The quiet surroundings make it perfect to sit and have a cup of tea or even a gin and tonic. We also have a gardener that maintains this beautiful land and so offers gardening activities such as taking the residents to see our very own chickens, and building high herb boxes so the residents can take part in the up keep of their home.

We make good use of the surrounding village of Bayston hill with trips to the local café and trips to the pantomime that is put on by the local memorial hall. We also take regular trips into town, as it is only a twenty-minute journey from the home and to the quarry, which is what our town is famous for being the town of flowers. Residents have enjoyed many events here such as our annual trip to the flower show, which is held every year in the quarry and supporting local charities such as the trip to the circus, which raises money for leukaemia. Also residents who want to help usually aid us in making a beautiful float for the Shrewsbury carnival that happens every year in June.

We also stretch our legs a bit further with annual trips to Cosford the RAF museum, Blists Hill the working Victorian town and Chester zoo. We also have an avid fisherman in our staff and will take gentlemen who are still keen to go on fishing trips.

Our reminiscence programme has come on leaps and bounds as we are now collaborating with Shropshire reminiscence who offer training and memory boxes that are used in the home a doll or a piece of music can open the mind to some powerful memories and we encourage our residents to do just that. . It also helps us to use a person-centred approach to our activities focusing on their interests.

We offer PAT pet therapy where residents can sit with and stroke the dogs and Music therapy sessions that involve movement to music, quizzes and above all lots of fun. We also encourage exercise with yoga balls and armchair exercises. We offer a range of pampering activities, which is usually done on a one to one basis such as hairdressing, hand and foot massages. Among these activities we also cover the more traditional activities such as bingo, skittles a dominoes. We have regular visits from the local churches and residents can listen to the sermon or take part in the singing, we also have visits from the local choir, which is very entertaining.

We have a wide range of entertainers bringing different eras and genres into the home from popular old music hall songs to Elvis Presley. All our entertainment is chosen to fit the person’s interests. We also cater for all the big events such as our Easter party, summer fare, which is held in the second week of July and our Christmas party we celebrate all the major events and our always for new ideas and challenges.

It is always a pleasure to be part of the vicarage’s entertainment programme.