Deerswood Lodge
We had a very eventful walk out of the home yesterday.
As you'll see, we not only encountered three rescue dogs but also met a horse!
Last friday's second Pub Afternoon at The Deerswood Arms. We had an even bigger crowd than the first time, which included lots of residents and their families joining in. I hosted a pub quiz, as well as a Best of British music plaudits, and of course, lots of food and drink!
Our residents trip to Tilgate Park yesterday. Residents and staff enjoyed taking part in walks around the vast forests at Tilgate, which included some fun photo opportunities.
We also celebrated St. George's Day with a concert from singer John McDevit. This was John's first time singing at the home and he went down a storm!
Deerswood Lodge has joined forces with a local school to launch an intergenerational project during Global Intergenerational Week.
Global Intergenerational Week seeks to inspire individuals, groups and organisations to fully embrace intergenerational practice - connecting people of all ages, especially the younger and older generations.
Students from Atelier 21 and our residents took part in a variety of activities from artwork, music, games and gardening.
Intergenerational activity has been proven to have many benefits, including the reduction of loneliness and isolation and enhances learning and skill sharing across all age groups.
Here is a short video showing our fun day with Atelier 2 students - https://youtu.be/2pT8em7ULfA?si=hB5VwvwqPsCGhzxI
Our Good Friday Coffee Morning, held at our Happiness Café.
Residents got into the Easter spirit and many family members joined in with the fun.
Easter morning arrived at Deerswood Lodge, families and the team joined residents for an Easter Egg hunt around the gardens.
Later in the afternoon, we were treated to a Easter-themed party, which included lots of tasty food and drink, and of course lots and lots of singing and dancing.
A great day was had at Deerswood!
Our residents enjoying a visit from the Easter Bunny!
This wonderful experience was provided by the people at Spotted: Crawley, who donated Easter eggs to all of our residents.
Also this week we took some of our residents from Deerswood Lodge to meet the residents at sister home Burleys Wood. Residents enjoyed chatting with each other, as well as taking part in a quiz and game of charades!
This morning's Arts and Crafts Club, which included some flower arranging and designing beautiful Easter hats.
Here is our Home Manager Wan taking part in a knitting activity with residents Brenda and Doreen.
Here is our lovely Irish resident who celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with her 103rd birthday!
Family, friends, residents and staff all joined in with wishing Ellen the most special of birthdays!
In a recent residents meeting, residents enquired about going to the pub. We thought why not bring the pub to the home, so we came up with the idea for The Deerswood Arms.
Residents and visiting families joined us for an afternoon full of great music, drink, snacks, and naturally a good old fashioned pub quiz!
Yesterday’s Church service, provided by our local church St. Margarets. Reverend Christine Spencer visits the residents on a monthly basis, and always brings some friends from the Church. Residents take part in readings and singing hymns.
A very fun-filled Valentine's Day at Deerswood Lodge.
In the morning, residents enjoyed a concert by singer Kate Bassett.
Later in the afternoon, residents joined in with an Afternoon Tea, featuring heart-shaped biscuits made by Ian the chef.
Staff and residents then took pictures with our lovely heart display, made by Barbara in activities.
Deerswood Lodge's Chinese New Year event we had this week. As you can see we have a few models!
Unit Manager Jackie's young puppy Solly going for a visit around the home.
As you can see, he was loved by all of the residents and staff.
Our residents at Deerswood Lodge had a fantastic Christmas day full of Christmas cheer and festivities.
Last Friday, Burleys Wood came to visit us at Deerswood Lodge.
Michael put on a quiz for all the residents at our Happiness Café.
Here are some photos of our residents taking part in activities in tribute to Remembrance weekend.
Residents created poem collages which were displayed in our Happiness Café.
Friday saw residents join together in looking back at the VE Day celebrations, which included watching film reels and music from that era, as well as food and drink.
For the 4th year running, our activities champion Michael, dressed up as Michael Myers for some Halloween fun with the residents and staff.
We also threw a Halloween party, which featured lots of snacks, drink, a quiz, and karaoke!
This weekend we celebrated Oktoberfest as part of our monthly World Day events. Residents enjoyed lots of food and naturally some alcohol! There were German fun facts and quizzes, as well as fun photo opportunities!
We also took a trip to Crawley Town Centre, where many treated themselves, and naturally, stopped for coffee at Pret A Manger!
Our lovely residents enjoying the beautiful sunshine in the garden.
We had a brilliant night yesterday at the Leaders In Care Awards in Birmingham.
The awards celebrate the achievements of UK care providers and the suppliers that support them.
A great achievement for Wan, Manager at Deerswood Lodge, and all of the other finalists, and congratulations to the winner!
Bluegrass band, Raw Bones, played some great tunes for our residents.
Residents enjoyed a trip on the mini bus to Crawley Town Centre. We checked out some last minute sale bargains at Wilko before stopping for drinks and snacks at Pret A Manger.
After that, resident Ron, who is a bus enthusiast, enjoyed a little stop at the bus station.
Residents then stopped by at Poundland, where many laughs were had by trying on various masks, in early preparation for Halloween.
We have also had lots of fun at our weekly Arts and Crafts Club sessions, where last week some residents created some personalised bracelets with their names on!
Our Team Leader Chloe was thrown a surprise baby shower today on her last shift before going off on maternity leave.
Chloe enjoyed the celebrations with fellow employees and family, including her Great Nan Joan, who is a resident at the home.
During today's Garden and Nature Club residents took part in artwork for the gardens and picked some blackberries.
Resident Geoff picked flowers and then gifted them to some of the care staff from his unit.
Join us at Deerswood Lodge for our Summer fete! We have a great afternoon lined up for everyone to enjoy!
We started the day with a Coffee Morning which included a game of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.
In the afternoon, residents enjoyed an exercise session from regular instructor Vince.
Deerswood Lodge Residents took part in a photo shoot session.
At Deerswood Lodge, we are holding a World Day project, where once a month we hold a day with activities dedicated to a different country. This month's country was France. Residents took part in a baking session where they made croissants. Residents later enjoyed an afternoon of cheese and wine, as well as a Can Can routine from the staff. A big thanks to everyone who helped make it a fun day, including our very own admin from France, Monique!
Last week, residents enjoyed a busy Gardening Club session where they painted bird boxes and filled up bird feeders.
Residents also tried some of their own home-grown potatoes from the raised planters.
At Deerswood Lodge we always strive to help residents achieve their wishes.
Yesterday's picnic trip to Ifield Cricket Field. Residents made friends with a dog called Padlock!
Last week, residents from Deerswood Lodge enjoyed not one but two trips out!
Yesterday at Deerswood Lodge, we started our new World Day project. Each month we will have a day where he have activities based on a particular country. Our first country of choice was Italy. In the morning, residents enjoyed making fresh pizzas and then enjoyed an Italian-themed quiz in the afternoon.
Residents enjoying a recent baking session. We made cupcakes and it is safe to say that they didn't last long! We also enjoyed a good laugh later on with our new chair tower building game.
Activities staff taking residents out in the gardens for walks, making the most of the sunshine!
Yesterday's Coronation Celebrations at Deerswood Lodge, where residents, staff and visiting families enjoyed an afternoon tea!
Yesterday's very successful Nature and Garden Club! We've also recently enjoyed singer Kate Bassett who put on a special British song selection in honour of King Charles III Coronation.
Residents enjoyed looking around a few of the stalls before finding a spot to watch the choir. It started to rain and one of the residents said she came prepared. She surprised us by pulling out a shopping bag to use as a makeshift rain deterrent.
This week we enjoyed a visit from Benny the dog and a recent trip to the local shops, including a stop at the bakery for some goodies!
Good Friday's visit from the Easter Bunny!
We would like to thank the amazing guys at Spotted: Crawley for providing this experience for the residents.
We enjoyed a visit from Shetland ponies Daisy and Blossom, from Kingswood Shetlands. Residents enjoyed a relaxing afternoon in the sunshine with the visiting ponies. In line with our Rewilding Project at Deerswood Lodge, one of our aims is to provide residents the opportunity to enjoy fresh air, nature and social interaction to support their health and well-being. Today was one such example of what we are striving for with the project. It's clear to see from all the smiles just how important the wonder of nature has on mental health.
Today our resident Ellen celebrated her 102nd birthday, with celebrations with the staff and a party including four generations of her family.
The snowy grounds at Deerswood Lodge today! We also had a visit from our support worker's dog Benny, all the residents at Deerswood loved him.
To celebrate World Book Day, 20 famous book quotes were hidden around Deerswood Lodge care home in Crawley. The residents looked in every nook and cranny and found all 20 quotes in less than an hour!
Residents enjoying a bingo session. Safe to say that the chocolate prizes went down very well with the winners!
Here are some photos from our 3rd Gardening Club session, where residents painted some flowers.
Today's Ash Wednesday church service by St. Margaret's Church. Afterwards, residents paid a visit to Jimmy the parrot, who was quite the ladies man!
To celebrate Valentine's Day tomorrow, residents and staff have been sharing their dating advice!
Yesterday we held the inaugural Gardening club meeting at Deerswood Lodge. It was a great success with many attendees.
What a good night! family and friends joined residents at our first quiz night. Thank you to everyone who came to support us. Our residents team was the winning team 
Well done! Thank you Michael, Jackie and Gemma for organising and the kitchen team for the delicious cakes.
On Monday we held a ‘Big Garden Birdwatch’ morning with residents that was very successful and enjoyed by everyone who attended. The activity encouraged lots of conversations about residents past experiences with nature and travel. We had comments like ‘It’s amazing to be able to watch nature from above’ (we were upstairs in the new Nature room) and ‘It’s great to be able to watch the birds again, I used to love it as a child’.
Residents had a visit to Tilgate Park, Squire's Garden Centre, and ended the day with a very welcome coffee and doughnut from McDonald's!
Deerswood Lodge residents had a very fun filled karaoke session last week.
Residents on Christmas Day at Deerswood Lodge. Everyone had so much fun!
Deerswood Lodge care home in Crawley has hosted a tree-planting day during National Tree Week [26 November – 4 December] as part of its ‘rewilding project’.
Employees and residents at Deerswood Lodge feeling festive and decorating Christmas trees!
Celebrating Halloween at Deerswood Lodge. For the 3rd year running our activities coordinator made a guest appearance as Michael Myers!
Deerswood Lodge in West Sussex has launched a brand new ‘Happiness Café’ to provide residents with a unique social space in hopes of improving mental and physical wellbeing.
Staff and Residents are looking forward to the grand opening of the new 'Happiness' Cafe in February!
