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Year in Review: 2022 at Hen Cloud House

What an amazing year it has been at Hen Cloud House! The home celebrated many milestones this year, including its first birthday, achieving a perfect score of 10 on carehome.co.uk, and then being named as one of the Top Rated Care Homes in The West Midlands! Hen Cloud House also welcomed their new Manager, Belinda and ALF Cathryn who along with everyone at Hen Cloud House have supported and encouraged their residents to live Life in Colour. Let’s take a look back at some of the activities at Hen Cloud in 2022…

In February, we were thrilled to announce that Hen Cloud House received a score of 10 out of 10 on carehome.co.uk. It was amazing to receive a perfect score and see the hard work of their wonderful team pay off! To celebrate, we wrote about the ten things that made life at Hen Cloud House so special.

In March, Hen Cloud House residents had an amazing St Patricks Day! They had a Jazz singer for the day, and a few tears were shed singing Danny boy. There was plenty of Guinness and Guinness cake, and Lenny the leprechaun created some Irish inspired conversations.

To celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee in June, the Hen Cloud House team put on a magnificent spread. Staff, residents and their loved ones came together to celebrate the Queen, eat some fantastic food and enjoy the lovely sunshine.

In July we were delighted to share that Hen Cloud House was named one of the Top 20 care homes in the West Midlands by carehome.co.uk. Speaking of the news, resident and Leek native Janet Binnall said ‘It’s a wonderful place. I don’t think I could have gone anywhere better – all of my family agree with that! The win is absolutely wonderful – a feather in the cap, so to speak. Everyone at Hen Cloud House deserves it.’

After the sad news of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, our homes each marked the event in their own thoughtful way. Some of our homes opened books of condolences, whilst others created flower arrangements together.  At Hen Cloud House, residents expressed their wishes to create a memorial area for the Queen, so everyone spent time choosing photos to display in frames, and came together to help arrange some beautiful flowers. They created a special area of commemoration in the lounge and one for reception, which was a beautiful and a very fitting tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

In October the home welcomed a very special new resident, a kitten who they chose to name Lady Lilibet. They adore her!

October saw Borough Care celebrate our Life in Colour Employee Awards. We all got together at the Alma Lodge Hotel in Stockport for a huge awards ceremony in celebration of the incredible work that our team have all done over the last year. Hen Cloud’s Housekeeper Olga Walicka picked up an Outstanding Colourful Care Award for always providing exceptional individualised care and making our residents smile the most. Olga couldn’t make it on the night but colleagues Belinda Byron and Abigail Bradley were on hand to pick up Olga’s award on her behalf.

Hen Cloud House residents had a wonderful time visiting The Roaches in November. The drive from Leek into the Peak District took them through some beautiful countryside. Despite the cold, wintery weather, the rain held off and they were able to enjoy some stunning views as they had a very tasty lunch together. Everyone said that the staff at the Roaches Tea Rooms & Restaurant couldn’t have been more helpful! Hen Cloud House staff Tash and Jess joined ALF Cathryn for the trip – a big thank you to them for organising this fabulous day out!

With Christmas just around the corner, Hen Cloud House celebrated Elf Day last week and it was a day filled with nothing but fun! Afterwards, everyone gathered at the home’s very own cinema for a showing of Elf the Movie, which the residents loved. The popcorn and chocolate ice creams went down a real treat!

Hen Cloud House started the week with a very Christmassy visit from the Vintage Pram Group, which the residents thoroughly enjoyed. The dolls and prams were all dressed in their Christmas finery and the residents spent several hours looking at and holding the dolls, admiring their outfits and the prams, and of course chatting with all the visitors. Lifelike dolls can have great benefits for some people who are living with dementia. Holding or just being with a doll can improve their wellbeing and ability to communicate, and remind them of a time when they had young children or relatives.