Autumn 2018

Saffron Gardens Newsletter

Inside this issue:

Managers update Long Service Awards 2018

Meet our Receptionist Upcoming events and trips

Nursing recruitment campaign Plus much more!

Welcome to Saffron Gardens

Autumn/Winter newsletter. We would

like to share with you some of the great

things that are going on at Saffron and

also update you on things planned to

happen in the home.

In this edition, you will see some lovely

photos of people living in the home

enjoying activities and interactions and

also some photos of the staff working

in the home to help you to get to know

them.

We would like to take this opportunity

to let you know that the Home

Manager, Michaela Coombs, has

decided to move on to a new

opportunity outside of Brunelcare. We

all wish her every success in her new

role and thank her for the time she has

spent with us at Saffron Gardens.

Francis DeVilla has joined us from one

of our other Brunelcare homes and we

are pleased to announce that he was

appointed as Home Manager in

November. Francis is really looking

forward to meeting everyone and

making a positive difference.

We have a fantastic team working here

at Saffron Gardens and sincerely thank

everyone for making it such a great

place to live and work in.

Best wishes, Sandra (Head of Clinical

Excellence)

CQC visited Saffron Gardens on the 8th

and 12th November. We are awaiting

the draft report with our official rating

but all feedback was entirely positive

and we will share the report when it

arrives. Many thanks to everyone for

working to make Saffron Gardens the

amazing place that it is!

In the summer we had a special

seaside week. To celebrate the

occasion we hosted a Butlins day, had

a visiting Punch and Judy show and

had a day trip to Weston-super-Mare.

We also hosted a pirates day where

we dressed-up as pirates and provided

activities based around a pirate theme,

including a treasure hunt and walking

the plank!

Manager update…

Dreaming of summer

days….

CQC visit Saffron

Gardens

On Butlins day we dressed-up as camp

hosts from the eighties BBC sitcom Hi-

de-Hi!

We had a glamourous granny and a

knobbly knees competition, with a new

category; Miss Lovely Legs! We all had

such a great time.

We celebrated

the harvest

festival with a

service lead by

the local

clergy;

Reverend

Richard

Sharples.

The residents enjoyed harvest hymns

and poems. The service was followed

by afternoon tea with bread and

cheese.

We raffled off the harvest hamper and

raised a fantastic £61.00 for our

resident’s amenity fund.

Earlier on this year we grew some

plants. We sold Debbie; one of our

Carers, what we thought was a

courgette plant. Imagine her surprise

when instead of long green vegetables,

the plant produced large round orange

fruits – it was in fact a pumpkin plant!

Harvest festival

Pumpkin patch

On the 31st October we celebrated

Halloween with a fabulous party here

at Saffron Gardens. We had drinks and

nibbles as well as some entertainment

provided by the very popular Mike

Nash!

Remembrance Day events took place

across the country to mark the 100th

anniversary of the Armistice in 1918

that signaled the end of WWI.

We made

some

special

felt poppy

broaches

as an

activity

here at Saffron Gardens, which were

worn during our Remembrance Service

which we held on Monday 12th

November.

On Thursday

29th

November

we will be

kicking off

the Christmas season with a trip to the

German Market in Bristol city centre.

We are looking forward to an array of

markets stalls selling seasonal

delights, crafts and unique items,

which will be perfect as a special

Christmas gift.

On Friday 30th November we will be

celebrating St Andrews Day. The

festivities will include haggis, neeps

and tatties on the lunch menu, which

was very popular with our residents

last year.

Remembrance Day

Halloween

St Andrews Day

Bristol Christmas Market

The Brunelcare Long Service and

Learning & Development Awards took

place on Wednesday 20th June at the

Clifton Pavilion (Bristol Zoo Gardens)

to celebrate all Brunelcare employees

who are celebrating a milestone year

or have achieved a Learning &

Development Award.

We would like to extend huge

congratulations to all members of the

Saffron Gardens team who were

invited to celebrate their fantastic

achievements:

25 years’ service

Teresa Causer

20 years’ service

Anita Knibbs

10 years’ service

Maxine Forbes

Fatou Jamneh

Teresa Cole

Vanessa Torrno

Our very own Nurse Oona is part of a

current nursing recruitment campaign!

The Marketing and Business

Development team have been

developing a dedicated nursing

recruitment campaign which will be

launched in September. Promoting the

theme of ‘developing your nursing

career with Brunelcare’, the campaign

aims to challenge preconceptions

about nursing in a care home.

The campaign will feature a radio

advert on Heart and Smooth, across

Bristol and Somerset.

Great job Oona!

Staff wellbeing workshops will be

starting at the end of

November/beginning of December on

a weekly basis. Group sessions will be

available as well as one to one

sessions with our external professional

Gwen.

Long Service and Learning

Development Awards 2018

Nursing recruitment

campaign

Wellbeing workshops

Date

Morning

Time/Location

Afternoon

Time/location

Tuesday 20th

Poetry Morning

11.00 am (Birch)

Art with Steve

2.15pm (Palm)

Wednesday 21st

Sing-a-long

10.30am (Training Room)

Music & Movement

3.00pm (Aster)

Thursday 22nd

Film Club: Comedy Classics

10.30am (Training Room)

Boccia Bingo

2.45pm (Orchard) 2.30pm (Training Room)

Friday 23rd

Craft Morning

10.30am (Training Room)

Art Club: Acrylics

Monday 26th

Knit & Natter

10.30am (Training Room)

Pamper Afternoon

2.30pm (All Courts)

Tuesday 27th

Poetry Morning

11.00am (Birch)

Bingo

2.30pm (Training Room)

Wednesday 28th

Sing-a-long

10.30am (Training Room)

Sing-a-long

2.30pm (Orchard)

Thursday 29th

Trip: Christmas Market

10.30am (Depart)

Trip: Christmas Market Exercise Balls

3.30pm (Return) 3.00pm (Orchard)

Friday 30th

St. Andrews Day

Upcoming trips, events and regular activities….

Pub lunch served every day in the pub on Saffron Street

Our lovely

hairdresser Gill

is available in

the salon at the

end of Saffron

Street every

week on a

Tuesday and a

Thursday from

2:00pm. With

Christmas fast approaching, what

better excuse do you need to book

yourself in as a little treat!

We would like to extend huge

congratulations to Buba Touray who

was one of three people shortlisted as

finalists for the Care and Support West

Awards in the Nurse category. This

nomination covers the whole of the

South West region, so a massive

accolade.

Well done Buba – you are a star!

Christmas Events

Dates for your diary….

Tuesday 4th December:

Brunelcare Christmas Carol Service (we

are taking three minibuses)

Friday 7th December:

Saffron Gardens Christmas Fayre

(2:00pm-6:00pm)

Thursday 13th December:

Christmas Pantomime performed by

staff

Sunday 16th December:

Resident’s memorial service for

relatives (this date is subject to change)

Friday 21st December:

Residents Christmas party with Father

Christmas

Monday 24th December:

Carol singing – all units

Thursday 27th December:

Jack and the Beanstalk Pantomime

Monday 31st December:

New Year’s Eve Party – Saffron Street

Meet our Hairdresser

Care Support West

Awards

If you haven’t already popped along to

one of our Art Club sessions, it really is

a must. Everyone thoroughly enjoys

getting involved and the artwork

produced is wonderful.

These pieces of art were painted by

Sonya Curtis on Palm.

Art Club sessions are held every

Friday at 2:30pm in the Training Room

From the end of November/beginning

of December we will be introducing

some Tai Chi classes for the people

living here at Saffron Gardens.

These classes are aimed at improving

the wellbeing of our residents through

gentle exercise in a small group

setting. The weekly sessions will start

off being based on the Courts, so do

look out for the upcoming date.

Most people that visit Saffron Gardens

have already met our fantastic

Receptionist Vinnie!

If you have not yet had the privilege, let

us put a face to the name….

Vinnie is from Sorrento which is on the

Amalfi Coast, southern Italy. He has

been living in Bristol for three years

and working with Brunelcare for just

over two years. He is the first

welcoming face you will see when you

arrive at Saffron Gardens. Always

smiling and ready for a chat, Vinnie is

so incredibly helpful and

knowledgeable.

Vinnie loves swimming and going to

the gym on a regular basis. Over the

past few months he has been using a

personal trainer in order to get into a

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) adapted

programme, Vinnie also enjoys reading

books and going out with friends for a

drink every now and then.

Join our Art Club Meet our Receptionist!

Tai Chi