Virtual meets bring lockdown joy to Kepplegate

The wonderful team at Kepplegate House Care Home in Preesall, Lancashire, have been hard at work thinking of innovative ways to make sure their residents, known as the Kepplegate family, stay entertained during the current pandemic.

The lockdown has meant that the family are unable to have their usual visits from loved ones, however residents have been chatting to relatives on Skype and loving messages and drawings from great grandchildren have been emailed to the home.

Entertainers have sung in the garden whilst the Kepplegate family watched through the windows of the conservatory. They’ve also enjoyed seated exercise sessions and tai chi classes from instructors online!

However, one of the biggest hits during lockdown has been the virtual meetings held twice weekly with people living in care homes in different parts of the country, including Devon, West Sussex and the Isle of Wight.

All sorts of activities have been played during these meetings, including darts competitions, games of Pictionary and various quizzes and word association games, resulting in a friendly rivalry, but lots of laughter too! Lined up in the future are a game of Countdown, a quoits competition and a picture quiz.

Mrs Sandra Hobson having a go in the darts competition against West Heanton care home in Devon (on the TV screen)

Mrs Jessie Meylan enjoys watching Dave Bear entertain in the garden

Sam McAughey, admin and social media assistant who organises the virtual meetings, said:

“It’s great seeing everyone smiling and building friendships with people living miles away during this difficult time”.

Members of the Kepplegate family added their thoughts:

“Something different & very nice” Mrs Olga Grime

“Interesting, makes me feel happy!” Mrs Agnes Swarbrick

“Informative & competitive. It’s nice making new friends” Mrs Jackie McCreery

If you know of a care home that would be interested in doing some activities with Kepplegate, please email: sam.kepplegate@yahoo.com.

Thank you to the staff at Kepplegate for their creativity in thinking of inventive ways to keep the Kepplegate family entertained when face-to-face meets aren’t possible. Have you adopted new activities in your care home during lockdown? Please get in touch with us, we’d love to hear from you!