2023 has been a fantastic year for us at Ashton Manor, jam packed full of fun activities for our residents, successes for our team and chances to get involved with our local community. We started the year afresh having lifted all visiting restrictions within the home, we have so enjoyed seeing many of you at Ashton Manor this year, whether it has been for events, celebrations or simply to enjoy a visit with your loved one.
Having received some fantastic feedback from our relatives’ quality survey, we took steps to make improvements around the home to further improve the comfort of our residents. We also continued with our regular relative’s meetings this year, a fantastic opportunity to share with you our plans for the home and to hear your thoughts on how things are running. Thank you for your involvement with these meetings throughout 2023 and your continuing support to help us make Ashton Manor the best it can be.
This year we celebrated our first anniversary as an accredited living wage employer, an accolade that means a lot to us as an employer. It has been a great year for the Ashton Manor team, we have welcomed several new members of staff and have been able to forge an incredibly strong team. As well as welcoming new staff, we have had several former members of staff rejoin us and have welcomed nursing students for work experience placements.
We have seen great growth in our team members and are proud to see them progress in their careers, including Lubomira Trnkova who was promoted to the role of Head of Care, and Monica Pacala who has taken on the role of support manager at our sister home Springkell House.
Our staff have continued to develop their skills with regular training and many pursuing individual NVQ qualifications, we are proud of the work they have put in to expand their knowledge and abilities for the benefit of their roles. We have continued to recognise the achievements of individual members of our team who have gone above and beyond.
2023 marked the 25th anniversary of Beritaz Care so we came together with staff members from our sister homes to celebrate this momentous occasion with a party. It was wonderful to honour this occasion with the rest of our Beritaz family, taking time to look back on how far we have all come and celebrate everything we have achieved.
Our residents have taken part in a lot of fun events as part of our activities calendar this year. Our celebration of the King’s coronation was enjoyed by all, we decorated the home and hosted a tea party to commemorate the day. The residents went on some adventures in our minibus over the summer, with trips arranged to the local garden centre, a visit to the Devil’s Punchbowl and a special trip to the seaside.
The highlight of the summer was our Retro Summer Party where our staff dressed up in fantastic retro outfits, perfectly on-theme for the party. The residents and visitors enjoyed the fantastic musical entertainment, getting into the party spirit by singing and dancing along. We had some delicious food and drinks, then handed out the raffle prizes to some very happy winners.
This year we also hosted our first pub afternoon, where the residents enjoyed some delicious cheese and wine while playing a game of celebrity bingo. Our wonderful staff went above and beyond to create the proper feeling of a fun pub night for the residents, even going so far as getting all dressed up for the occasion. It has been wonderful to see the fun and creative activities our staff have put on this year for the residents to enjoy.
We were excited to have our own stall at the Wrecclesham village fete with some fun games for visitors to try, including our wheelbarrow raffle and a guess the sweet game. Some of our residents came along to enjoy the village fete, they had a lot of fun strolling around and visiting all the different stalls. Thank you to everyone that came to our stand to say hello to the team.
Towards the end of the year, we were delighted to attend the Surrey Care Awards, where two of our team members had been named as finalists. As well as our Home Administrator, Priscila Ferraz being a finalist in the Unsung Hero award category, Lubomira Trnkova our Head of Care, won the Care Worker of the Year award on the night. It was a very proud moment for the home to see our staff recognised for all their hard work.
The festive period at Ashton Manor involved lots of Christmas fun, including a pantomime performance at the home which the residents really enjoyed. We also took a trip to the local garden centre to see all the beautiful lights and decorations. Christmas day was spent together with loved ones, enjoying delicious food and lots of festive fun.
We are looking forward to seeing what 2024 has in store for us and already have many plans on how we will be ensuring our residents have a fantastic year at the home.