St Oswalds House

During the festive season, brighterkind residents across the UK will be treated to seasonal activities and events as our care homes fill with the magic and joy of Christmas.

Of course this year’s pandemic means that the usual festive trips and traditional community Christmas events can’t take place in person, but we have come up with new ideas to create a magical experience for all our residents.

The time of year that Keats called the ‘Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’, autumn is a season famous for its harvest times, turning leaves, cooling temperatures and darkening nights.

1. Why leaves turn brown in autumn

One of the most stunning signs of autumn is the turning of the leaves as  trees begin to prepare for winter.

To celebrate National Poetry Day we decided to create something very special for our Poetry Challenge. This challenge involved residents, relatives and team members. Each home was challenged to come up with a poem on the theme of 'Friendship And What It Means To Me'. This amazing opportunity built on the skills and knowledge from the Culture Workshops introduced for the Magic Moments Club team.

We have gathered together all of our favourite poems from the challenge and put them together in one flip book for you to enjoy.

Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan unveil their latest selection of recommendations for this Autumn’s Richard and Judy Book Club, with returning novelist Jessie Burton and debut authors Jake Jones and Lara Prior-Palmer.

With tense thrillers, extraordinary memoirs and engrossing novels, the fantastic line-up of this season’s six, must-read picks are available online and in WHSmith stores across the country.

Residents and teams are looking forward to celebrating Harvest Festival

Although the weather remains warm and we have sunny blue skies, autumn is definitely in the air. There is something very special about this time of the year. A crisp autumn breeze, crackling log fires and the spectacle of green leaves turning rich reds and yellows.

An update from our CEO

Richard and Judy Book Club abuzz for Summer with authors Christy Lefteri and Philippa Gregory

Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan are back with their Summer Book Club presenting a fantastic selection of titles everyone can enjoy reading this summer. The great line-up of six, must-read picks, are available online and in WHSmith stores across the country.

The Second Sleep by Robert Harris

brighterkind and The Four Seasons Health Care Group have joined with researchers at UCL, alongside the Department of Health and Social Care, to launch the only major study into the impact of COVID-19 in care homes. Although there are many research studies investigating the impact of COVID-19 in the general population, this is the only one focused on those living and working in care homes.