Family life

Peter's Scrabble Club

“I used to play Scrabble in the evenings with my wife Elizabeth before she passed away – we felt it kept our brains ticking over!

“I thought it would be a good idea to start something similar in our household at Middlefields House. I asked around to see if anyone else would be interested and they were. Therefore, I decided to start a Scrabble Club with the help of one of our volunteers, John, who is also a keen Scrabble player.

“One of the lovely things is that it enables other households to join us. It’s always on a Thursday afternoon and is popular. I get to meet other people who normally I would never have met and it gives us something to do.

“One member of our household has regular hospital visits which fall on the same day, so I thought it would be a good idea to hold an additional date in the evening so that she could attend. She is delighted and we play regularly on Monday evenings.”

Shirley’s bag for Betty

Julia, our Activities and Community Engagement (ACE) Facilitator at Middlefields House, explains how family member Shirley came up with a thoughtful gift that has been a blessing to a friend and an inspiration to the whole community:

“Shirley had seen Betty struggling to carry her mobile phone, handkerchief etc. in her pockets as she needed both hands for her walker, particularly when travelling to other parts of the household. Shirley came up with a design for a bag with pockets that would fit to Betty’s walker and made it for Betty on her sewing machine.

“Betty is so pleased with it and is able to carry all her bits and pieces. Other ladies have seen it and demand has grown! A few of the relatives of family members have caught on with the idea and made bags in different colours and materials for their loved ones.

“A brilliant idea that started with a very creative lady who wanted to help her fellow Middlefields friends – Betty is in a different household from Shirley.”

“We always listen to our family members. There is one lady who kept asking, ‘What can I do to help?’. She clearly wanted to be busy with household activities, as she has been all her life. Our staff thought about what they could do to make this happen. They decided that they would regularly bring her towels to fold in the lounge. She also sometimes goes to help with sorting the washing in the laundry room. We’ve noticed that she’s been more mentally alert as a result.

“We have another family member, Barbara, who wanted to go out. When our Activities and Community Engagement (ACE) Facilitator, Dave, went to the shops to buy things for the home, she came along too.

She was so cheerful when she came back – she got a lot out of being in a different environment and seeing other people.

“Many of our family members are into baking. They’ll make biscuits, cakes or pastries and have them for their 3pm snack. Recently our home celebrated National Pizza Day. Our family members made pizza that was enjoyed at teatime.

“Gardening is also popular. We have a small gardening corner where we grow tomato plants and flowers. When we had our summer fête, our family members planted seedlings that could be sold to help raise funds for the home.”

Please pray:

Thank the Lord for how The Way We Care approach is transforming life for family members in our homes.