A fun balloon bouncing session gave staff and residents a chance to shake off some energy.

Several members took part in the balloon fun.

The residents and staff loved chasing the balloons and seeing how high they could bounce.

We had a brilliant time and the shrieks of laughter could be heard all around Birch Green Care Home.  

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A new exercise regime has been implemented to boost the health and wellbeing of residents at Birch Green Care Home.

Staff were given a bit of Oomph – a wellbeing programme which has been designed in partnership with key national sports encouraging older adults to get fit.

Gill Seddon, activities co-ordinator at Birch Green, said: “This is a fantastic initiative and we can’t wait to have some fun with the residents, but most importantly boost their health. There are so many benefits of doing these kinds of sports and we can’t wait to see the results.”

The programme also includes a series of skills workshops, including Oomph Sport which aim to make exercise as engaging as possible, to encourage inactive residents to take up physical activity and try something new – or rediscover lost passions.

Residents at Birch Green can now choose from clock cricket, slipper soccer and armchair volleyball from the homes activities schedule – these sports are especially adapted to fit the needs and abilities of residents, with the new content ensuring that exercise sessions are continually fresh and exciting.

Ben Allen, Oomph’s CEO and Founder, said: “Oomph! is excited to be working with the team at Birch Green Care Home to bring awesome activities and engaging exercise classes to their wellbeing programme. We are delighted to be adding additional fun and engagement to resident activities, and working together to ensure that residents live a full life, for life”

Additional workshops include relaxation, culture and nature.

Vicky Sudworth, General Manager of Birch Green, said: “We are delighted to introduce the Oomph programme and I am looking forward to seeing some positive results. The staff couldn’t wait to show everyone what they had learned.”

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A leading care home in Skelmersdale has made two senior appointments to lead it forward into the next phase of its development.

Vicky Sudworth has been promoted to general manager at Birch Green Care Home and Emma Kay becomes deputy manager to lead the 100-plus strong team.

With many years of experience in the NHS, Vicky will be developing a diverse range of services including nursing and personal care, specialist dementia care, mental health conditions and end of life care.

Emma also has wide experience as a qualified mental health nurse at Birch Green where she has helped to develop services for the last seven years. She is an award-winner in the Great British Care Awards North West in the Good Nurse category.

Vicky said: “Emma and I relish the opportunity to develop the wide range of services we offer at Birch Green to make sure we are serving the needs of the local community.

“As an organisation, we want to provide the very best quality of care possible and to that end we commit a lot of time and resource in the quality of training of our staff at all levels and ultimately how that benefits our residents.”

Birch Green Care Home is part of the award-winning Springhill Care Group, which also operates homes in Accrington and Bristol.

Recently, inspectors from the industry’s watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) made particular note of the commitment and quality of staff and the training they receive at Birch Green in awarding the home a ‘good’ rating.

All areas of the home, part of the Springhill Care Group, were examined, from the safety of the service to how it is led, with inspectors looking at everything from how medicines are stored to the quality of day-to-day activities.

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Birch Green Care Home has taken the latest steps in a major commitment to dementia care.

Staff at the home held a Dementia Friends training session which mean that, so far, 45 staff at the Skelmersdale home have been trained up.

Dementia Friends is a programme operated by the Alzheimer’s Society, aiming to transform the way people think about dementia.

Birch Green is committed to helping all its staff take the training, which has been provided by local volunteer Joe Sherville, a Dementia Champion. Joe spends time in the community helping provide information on dementia and offering the training required to help people qualify as dementia friends.

The training offers key facts about dementia, what it is like to live with, and practical action which can help people with dementia in their community. Around 2 million people have signed up to the programme across the UK.

More than 850,000 people in the UK live with dementia, a figure set to increase to more than 1 million by 2025.

Vicky Sudworth, General Manager of Birch Green, said: “It’s such a great programme and has a real relevance to our work here at Birch Green.

“Thanks to the Dementia Friends programme, Birch Green and its staff has access to resources and information which will continue to improve the care we provide to our residents.

“We’re very proud of our staff and the extra mile they all go in the course of their duties, and the uptake of the training we’re offering has been incredible. Our aim is to have every member of staff undertake the Dementia Friends training.”

For more information about the Dementia Friends programme, visit www.dementiafriends.org.uk/

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