Residents from Strachan House care home in Blackhall, Edinburgh, were delighted to visit Ratho Canal for an afternoon with The Seagull Trust Cruises.
Residents were able to engage in some nature spotting and enjoy a brief history of the canal, including its bridges and famous aqueduct. Residents were able to spend the day cruising along the canal, and enjoyed an incredible afternoon tea provided by the home’s hospitality team.
Fran Fisher, General Manager of Strachan House, said: “Our residents have enjoyed their day out on the water.
“Trips out in the homes’ mini bus are a regular event for the residents, and we always ask for ideas on where they would best like to go. The day was so much fun. Residents were delighted to see such a diverse range of wildlife. ”
Strachan House Care Home is run by Barchester Healthcare, one of the UK’s largest care providers, which is committed to delivering personalised care across its care homes and hospitals. Strachan House provides residential, nursing and dementia care for short and long-term stays.
RESIDENTS at Edinburgh Care Homes have had the chance to experience their first organised outdoors activity after a year of lockdown, with a visit to Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic and Saughton Gardens.
Apart from the short trips to the end of the garden and stints in the home’s purpose-built outdoor seating area, residents at Mansfield Care’s Eildon House and Belleville Lodge have not been on a day out in more than a year.
Pre-lockdown, trips out were a regular staple for residents, with visits to the Royal Yacht Britannia, the National Museum and the Zoo.
Now with all residents and staff fully vaccinated and restrictions easing, carers at the homes organised garden outings as a special treat for the residents.
Staff from each care home planned and assisted the residents to travel to and from the Botanic and Saughton Gardens, which is only a short walk away.
Fiona Shale, Activities coordinator at Eildon House said: “While some of our residents do still feel more comfortable remaining indoors for the time being, the vast majority have been very excited to get out and about again.
“The Botanic Gardens were very accommodating with our visit and it all went off without a hitch, although we made sure the residents were well wrapped up for the unpredictable weather.
“We spent the majority of the time in the Garden of Tranquillity which is a new area of the Botanic Gardens that has been created specifically for people with dementia. As the name suggests, it’s a lot quieter than some of the other areas, with beautiful landscaping and water features giving visitors a peaceful and safe space to enjoy.”
Residents from Belleville Lodge took a trip to Saughton Gardens enjoying the rose and herb garden in the sun.
Margaret Russell, Manager at Belleville Lodge said: “The residents really enjoyed looking at all the flowers. The herb garden was a resident favourite and we even tasted some of the different herbs.
“One of our residents, Heather Salzen (above), is a Botanist so she really enjoyed her day out and was telling us all about the plants.
“It was a great day out. We ended our tour of the garden with a cup of tea and refreshments in the garden café and sat outdoors as the weather was lovely.”
With activities requested, led and coordinated around the interests of the residents, Mansfield Care staff are dedicated to creating a homely, supportive and exciting environment, putting the needs of its residents at the forefront of everything they do
Fiona added: “Our priority is keeping the lives of our residents as enriched as possible.It’s been a very tough year not being able to do the range of activities we normally would, but we’ve been keeping residents entertained through the likes of craft activities such as painting, physical seated exercise and also reminiscence story telling.
“Following on from our Botanic Gardens trip, we’ve got some excellent stuff in the pipeline for later this year and look forward to resuming our regular frequency of outings.”
Mansfield Care operates 11 small, friendly and residential care homes in Edinburgh, the Borders and the west of Scotland.
Inspired by a golden rule ethos of providing the care we would wish for ourselves in later life, Mansfield Care offers bespoke care that support residents’ health and wellbeing.
Children and young people are getting geared up for a summer of fun as an exciting programme of activities is being delivered by over 100 Council services and partner organisations across the Capital.
The Get into Summer initiative is part of a nationwide scheme funded by the Scottish Government to create a variety of opportunities for children and their families to play, socialise and re-connect over the summer.
The activities will build on the regular summer programmes put on by the City of Edinburgh Council and partners and are taking place in communities across the city. They will help children and young people to get healthy, creative and most importantly, re-connect with each other after a disrupted school year caused by the pandemic.
A key focus of the programme will be activities targeted to those families from low income households who may otherwise struggle to access such experiences during the holidays. The overall programme has a focus on opportunities for youth and children’s work, very young children and their families, with opportunities for sport, outdoor, art and cultural activities.
Some of the partner organisations putting on events and providing support include: 6VT Edinburgh City Youth Café, Disability Services, Intercultural Youth Scotland, Edinburgh Young Carers, Lochend Football Academy, National Galleries of Scotland, Play2Learn Sports Coaching and Shakti Women’s Aid.
Fet Lor Summer Programme
Councillor Ian Perry, Convener for Education, Children and Families at the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “We know how much our children and young people have had their year disrupted by the pandemic and our ‘Get into Summer’ programme aims to bring as many of them together as possible to play and socialise over the holidays.
“There really is something for everyone with activities ranging from sports coaching to museum trips and music workshops with many additional activities on top of what we usually offer during the summer. We want to do all we can to support our children, young people, their families and carers so they can enjoy the summer.
“This programme is a great way to do that. Thanks must go to the different Council teams and partner organisations across the city who have pulled together to put on such a great programme of activities.”
MYDG Summer Programme
Councillor Alison Dickie, Vice Convener for Education, Children and Families at the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “We have listened to our young people who have told us about the impact of lockdown on their mental health and wellbeing as a result of the pandemic so these activities are a first step to help them re-connect with their friends and interests over the summer.
“They and their families are showing great resilience but no one should underestimate the huge impact the pandemic is having with many of the activities and support usually open to them not yet available. This must change.
“Many families on low income struggle during the summer holidays so this targeted offer is a positive step forward and will boost opportunities for those who have faced the greatest challenges in the past 15 months. This programme has children’s rights and needs at its heart.”
Dot Horne, Director of 6VT Edinburgh City Youth Café, said: “Get into Summer is a much-needed support for children and young people. During this pandemic so many young people have been adversely affected, isolated and missed out on essential life skills they would have learnt as they progressed through “normal” experiences.
“We’ve seen an increasing number of young people coming forward who are lacking things like self-confidence, coping skills, feeling socially anxious , lonely or unhappy. At 6VT we are offering teenagers a dynamic and active programme of activities where they will be supported to improve their wellbeing, experience new activities and learn how to build respectful relationships with others.
“We are striving for a lot of fun and laughter with the overall impact of improving happiness. We encourage parents to support their children and young people to engage into Get into Summer activities.”
Royston/Wardieburn Adult summer programme kicked off on Tuesday with a visit to the Scottish Parliament. After viewing the World Press Photo exhibition by the world’s leading photo journalists*, participants had a meeting with Ben MacPherson, the new MSP for the Forth Ward. Continue reading Free Summer Programme for adults at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre
Lynn and Lydia are developing a seven week pilot programme for adults in Royston Wardieburn Community Centre …
The purpose of the new pilot is to give adults a chance to try different activities which we hope we will be able to provide on a more permanent basis after the summer. At this stage we are calling the group Spring Chickens although the group may decide to change it at a later date!Continue reading Calling all spring chickens: roost at Royston Wardieburn!
