October 2015 Newsletter

Dear friends,

September was sunny and dry, very pleasant weather. There was a moon eclipse, whereby the the moon was at it’s closest to the Earth. The sun is now below the equator in the southern hemisphere, so the nights are drawing in now. The clocks will be going back an hour at the end of the month.

The flu jab lists will be going to the three health centres this month. Only the residents who have requested the vaccinations will be treated. We expect these to happen next month, in November.

The bus outings last month were well attended. The lavender farm was very enjoyable with sunny weather. The trip to Bideford park art gallery was also a success - the bus was full, and it was dry sunny weather. The trip to Westward Ho! was spoilt by a light shower. The Sunday morning harvest festival at Appledore church was most enjoyable and the weather was bright and sunny. Three staff came along as well to help Mr and Mrs Woods, as all the residents required wheelchairs.

Next month there will be a couple of bus outings on Friday afternoons. These will be long trips, to places like Bude, Woolacombe and Exmoor, depending the weather. 

March 2015 Newsletter

Dear Friends, 

February was cold and mainly dry, averaging temperatures of 7 - 12 degrees unlike last year, which was wet and mild, and the wettest winter on record! Despite the chilly weather there were four bus outings; one to Woolacombe beach, second to Simonsbath on Exmoor, the third to Bude, Summerleaze beach; and the fourth to Hartland Quay.

We are beginning to see a lot more of the Sun and the daffodils and crocuses are beginning to flower - Spring is on the way. On the 29th of March the clocks go forward one hour - the start of British Summer Time.

Michelle recently went around and spoke with all the residents to create new four weekly menus for lunchtime and tea-time. We hope you will enjoy these new menus. 

The next of kin questionnaire started in February and is an opportunity to tell us and the CQC, who inspect our home, if the service we provide is good or if there is room for improvement. Michelle, Joyce and June will be coming around to get the residents opinion soon. It is you opportunity to tell us if the service we are providing is good or indifferent and if there is anything you dislike and would like to see changed or made available. All proposals will be considered.

February 2015 Newsletter

Dear Friends

January was dull and cloudy as always with temperatures of 3 degrees to 9 degrees. A cold windy and depressing month to start the year off. Although Spring is just around the corner please keep warm. If you have any problems with keeping warm, please let the staff know straight away. 

  

There were three mini bus outings, one was to Bude Summerleaze Beach and one to Simonsbath, Exmoor. At Exmoor we saw several riders coming back to their horeseboxes and trailers from a day hunting. The third was to Hartland Quay. The snow drops are coming out now, as well as the daffodils. Lambing has started on a few farms near South Molton near the link road. 

  

Out thoughts go out to Ruby who organises the weekly bingo sessions, who is not very well. Hopefully she will be back in a few weeks time.

To all the staff, next of kin and residents Mr and Mrs Woods are now directors of Cheverells Care Limited, due to Cheverells becoming incorporated on January 13, 2015. In April 2015 it will be 30 years since Mr and Mrs Woods have been running Cheverells as a residential care home.

January 2015 Newsletter

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Dear Friends,

We hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas, Mr and Mrs Woods enjoyed their Christmas lunch with all the residents, well done to Sue the cook for a lovely meal.  The Appledore Band came on Christmas morning and gave a fine performance.  In the afternoon Mr Woods showed photos of his Egyptian holiday on the television in the residents T.V. Lounge.

Mr and Mrs Woods and all the residents would like to thank the staff who worked over the Christmas and New Year period and also thank the staff for their good work they have done over the past year, not forgetting the good ratings from the Residents’ Quality Services Questionnaire, well done to all the staff.

Winter Solstice was on the 21st December, which is the shortest day, so the nights will start to draw out again.  Temperatures for last month were about normal 5°C to 11°C.

There were three outings in the Minibus in December, one to Hartland Quay, the second to Summerleaze Beach Bude and the third to Woolacombe overlooking the beach.

Happy New Year to Everyone.

December 2014 Newsletter

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Dear Friends,

The mild weather we have had is now turning to normal autumn temperatures of single figures, however it was still a record November for above normal temperatures.

Mr and Mrs Woods went to Egypt for a week long holiday, flying to Luxor and cruising down the river Nile to Aswan and its famous dam, which holds back the water of the Worlds’ largest man-made lake.  Temperatures were 30ºC to 32ºC.  A film show of the holiday will be shown to the Residents’ between now and Christmas.

St Mary’s School Choir are visiting us on the 11th December in the morning at 10.30 am.  Last year 35 Residents came to listen to them, so I hope we have another good attendance this year.  We hope to get the fir tree soon for the Hallway in Cheverells and decorations up in the lounges and dining room.

There were two minibus outings, one to Hartland Quay and the second to Woolacombe overlooking the beach.

Mr and Mrs Woods do hope you all enjoy the extra festive entertainment lined up for you in December.

We wish all the residents, their relatives and all our staff, a

“MERRY CHRISTMAS and a PEACEFUL NEW YEAR”.

November 2014 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

The temperatures are still above the norm, October was between 15°C to 20ºC.  All the clocks in Cheverells have been put back one hour, I trust you have done the same to your clocks and watches.

The annual flu jab lists have gone to the Health Centres, so we expect the district nurses to be out this month to inject those residents who have requested the vaccination. 

There were five minibus outings the first was to Lee Bay near Moretz, the second was to Woolacombe beach, the third to Summerleaze Beach Bude, the fourth was Ilfracombe harbour and the fifth to Withypool on Exmoor. Our trip to Withypool on the  31st October was like a summer day, lovely warm sunshine, with children paddling in the river Barr, we are so lucky still having such warm weather at the end of October.

Designing Christmas Cards will start in the next week or two with Michelle who organises the arts and crafts session.

October 2014 Newsletter

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Dear Friends,

What fantastic weather we have had for September, temperatures between 20ºC to 25ºC, well above the norm, summer is still with us due to the jet stream staying north of Scotland, instead of coming down to the south of England.

Thank you all for completing our six monthly quality questionnaires, we will inform you of the results in due course.

The builders are back completing room 21 balcony with new door and window, level with the balcony floor.  Robert our handyman has a brand new workshop below room 37, his old wooden shed has now been demolished and a patio and sitting area will be built in its place, so one can look down Little Cheverells garden.

Sid Stones 100th Birthday went well, his photograph in the local newspaper has been enlarged and put on the notice board in the dining room.

There were four mini- bus outings in September, Withypool on Exmoor, Summerleaze beach at Bude, Lochshore on Exmoor and finally to Hartland Quay.

Syd Stone Celebrates 100th birthday at Cheverells →

Happy Birthday, Syd!

Here is what the local paper had to say. Written by Elliot Anderton at the North Devon Gazette:

Friends and family gather for party to mark latest chapter in a remarkable life.

One of Devon’s oldest former policemen has celebrated his 100th birthday.

Sydney Stone worked in the Devon and Cornwall Police force for more than 20 years, starting in Torquay before moving to Axminster and Seaton, where he met his wife Margaret on his first day on the beat.

“I went for a walk to see what the town was like when I looked across the road and saw a lady with a girl next to her,” said Sid. “I looked at her and ‘click’, that was it. She was beautiful and I can still see that now.”

Dozens came to Cheverells Residential Home in Northam last Wednesday for Syd’s birthday party, including his three children, Christopher, Jacqueline and Josephine, and his grandchildren.

Syd, who spent time in Copplestone during the war before heading to Great Torrington, said that being able to help people was the best part of being a policeman.

He also revealed that ‘playing the game and keeping yourself fit’ was the key to him reaching the milestone birthday.

In his younger days, Syd was an excellent rower, winning every regatta race in the 1933 season.

And his retirement from the force was due to health problems picked up playing rugby for the Devonshire Constabulary.

He also worked as a security officer and in social services before retiring to Spain with Margaret.

Syd had to return to England when Margaret passed away in 1991, but his son Christopher said he’s done ‘very well’ since, in Westward Ho!, Marlborough Court in Bideford and now Cheverells.

“He’s a superb guy and he looked after us kids ever so well,” said Christopher. “He was a super copper and everybody liked him.”

September 2014 Newsletter

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Dear Friends,

The weather for August was below average as temperatures were 18ºC to 20ºC, with occasional showers and overcast skies.

At the beginning of August Mr and Mrs Woods had a weekend away in the Cotswolds and also celebrated Francis Woods 99th Birthday with family at a lunch in a hotel overlooking Stroud, it was a lovely sunny day.

We went on four mini- bus outings, the first was to Tarr Steps on Exmoor.  The moorland was covered in purple heather.  We arrived on the opposite side of the river at Tarr Steps to where we normally park, so we decided to go through the river Burle and park the mini-bus, the river was quite low.  The second trip was to Duck Pool beach near the radar dishes of GCHQ, on the way to Bude, unfortunately there were no ducks or ducklings, like the last visit.  The third trip was to Ilfracombe, there were quite a lot of tourists around the harbour, some on the sandy beach in the harbour, some swimming and some boating as the tide was in. The fourth trip was to Woolacombe which was on a Sunday as Friday was wind and showers.

A residents’ quality questionnaire will be carried out this month by Joyce Copp, June Hookway and Mrs Woods.  Some of you said there were too many questions, you now have a choice of a short list or the normal list of questions. 

The forecast for September is warmer weather possibly temperatures in the middle twenties.

August 2014 Newsletter

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Dear Friends,

July was very hot for the whole month.  We had temperatures between 24ºC and 28ºC.  We had to cancel one bus outing because it was too hot!

Congratulations to Phil Copp for making a lovely job of the garden, we think it is looking very nice.

Robert’s new workshop will be finished this month and we will be demolishing the garden shed in Little Cheverells garden and making good the ground it was over.

Room 19 extension has started and we hope any noise caused has been minimal.

The Commonwealth Games in Glasgow have started with England gaining medals in several events so far.

Last month’s Mini Bus trips were to Lee Bay, Woolacombe and Hartland Quay.