News

Tea party at St Wilfrid’s Priory, OSJCT, West Sussex

‘It’s all about the interaction’

Arundel, 5 November 2019

Staff, family and volunteers came together this week for a splendid pre-Christmas tea for the Home’s residents. Delicious sandwiches and cakes were handed round, and excellent entertainment was provided by a professional singer who encouraged everyone to sing along. Manager Rachel Staker says: “It’s all about the interaction, making a difference in someone’s life.”

Manager Rachel StakerActivities coordinator Rosie Beller explained that she arranges five activities each day, based on what the residents like – there may be a seasonal theme, or talks, or art classes or singing. A fun current project is ‘incredible eggs’ – where a company sends six duck eggs in an incubator and the residents get involved, help them hatch and feed, watch them play in a little pool. After 10 days they go off to the duck farm. “We also have a therapy dog, and the residents love baking, so if they can’t get downstairs to the kitchen, I take a portable oven up to them. We also have lovely walks in our garden. They are popular and our residents can watch how it changes through the year.”

Margaret, a volunteer primary school teacher whose mother was cared for at St Wilfrid’s, takes a poetry group each week: “The group has their favourites, especially childhood ones such as A.A.Milne. Sometimes we have a serious theme, but often not – we follow people’s interests.”

St Wilfrid’s is an OSJCT Home (Orders of St John Homes Care Trust) in a castle – it is part of the Grade II castle complex at Arundel. Its residents are cared for by a professional, caring team.