BLENHEIM House recently celebrated a Day of Reflection to focus on their successes of the past couple of years and celebrate their togetherness in overcoming the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Blenheim House has adapted and overcome many challenges during the pandemic, so, with a sense of normality returning, we wanted to support Marie Curie in their National Day of Reflection projects,” explained communities lead, Chris Guest.
“Our home continues to practice our high standard of infection control measures as stated in our ‘Keeping Safe, Our Promise’, and came together to reflect on these unprecedented years and celebrate our amazing key workers.
“We also teamed up with Melksham’s Community Hub and local school Project SEMH to involve them in their own Day of Reflection, our partnership helped everyone enjoy a day full of decorating, and sharing heartfelt chats together. Thanks to Sian and all of the staff at Project SEMH for involving their pupils in a day of mindful kindness.
“Our Blenheim House Day of Reflection was a wonderfully positive event, combining both a day of reflection and reminiscence, alongside fun singalongs and musical activities. It was also a great opportunity to share why we all work in care and our many journeys into our chosen careers.
“Our resident, Peter, kicked off proceedings with a beautiful reading of the poem Daffodils by William Wordsworth. Peter, who is also a published writer, also thanked our staff for their dedication and exceptional levels of care, a touching moment which had many a happy tear amongst our staff!
“Whilst residents from across the home joined Peter in the Mosaic café for music and refreshments, they could also enjoy our community messages area, featuring a huge community heart from members of the public thank you to Melksham’s community engagement officer Miriam Zaccarelli for this!
“Finally, a big part of our Day of Reflection revolved around the amazing lives of our residents which are presented in their beautiful Life Story books. Our Life Story Exhibition encouraged residents to learn about other residents’ lives and to look back at their own lives and achievements. A moving insight into the lives of our residents indeed!”
“The day rounded off with lots of fun activities throughout the day and was a meaningful time for us to come together and discuss any questions our residents might have as we move forward into the new year. We can’t wait to celebrate the National Day of Reflection in March next year and would love to hear from you about your own journeys throughout the pandemic.”
Julie Pearce, Marie Curie chief nurse and executive director of quality and caring services added, “It’s wonderful to see that the staff and residents of Blenheim House, alongside their local community, used the National Day of Reflection to come together and say thank you to those who have supported them.
“While life is back to normal for some, many people are still living with the deep trauma of losing loved ones during Covid and being unable to properly grieve for them. The National Day of Reflection 2022 will once again give us all time to pause, reflect and come together, in our communities and as a nation, to support the millions of people bereaved during the pandemic and remember the people we’ve lost.”
If you would like to contribute, please contact Chris at events.blenheimhouse@majesticare.co.uk
