The Laurels

02/06/2026

31/05/2026

Our residents had a wonderful morning creating beautiful floral centrepieces to decorate the lounge and dining tables.

This enjoyable activity offered valuable sensory benefits, allowing residents to touch the flowers and foliage, explore different textures, and enjoy the fresh floral scents. The activity encouraged creativity, conversation, and reminiscence while bringing everyone together in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

The finished arrangements look absolutely beautiful and have added a lovely touch of colour and elegance to our communal spaces for everyone to enjoy.

Thank you to all our residents who took part and helped create these stunning displays. We are so proud of what they achieved, and we know the arrangements will brighten everyone’s day.

30/05/2026

Person-Centred Room Visit

Today we spent some lovely one-to-one time with one of our residents, enjoying a simple but meaningful crochet activity together.

Although she wasn’t crocheting herself, she thoroughly enjoyed helping by holding the yarn, untangling knots, and passing it over when needed. These small moments brought so much joy and engagement, and her smile said it all.

The activity seemed to spark comforting memories from years gone by, perhaps reminding her of helping her mum or grandmother with their knitting and crochet projects as a child. Whether it was the feel of the yarn in her hands or the familiar rhythm of the activity, it was wonderful to see how happy and involved she became.

Person-centred care is about recognising that meaningful experiences are different for everyone. Sometimes the simplest activities can bring the greatest sense of purpose, connection, and happiness.

29/05/2026

A Day of Celebration, Farewells and New Beginnings 🌿👑

Last Friday, we came together to celebrate Beer Garden Day with a very special event filled with laughter, friendship, and unforgettable memories.

It was a bittersweet occasion as we said goodbye to our much-loved Deputy Manager, Louise. Louise has been an important part of our home and will be greatly missed by residents, families, and colleagues alike. We would like to thank her for all her hard work, kindness, dedication, and support over the years, and we wish her every happiness and success on the exciting journey ahead. ❤️

At the same time, we welcomed a new chapter with a fun and creative coronation ceremony for our new Deputy Manager, Jamie. Complete with a crown, royal robes, and plenty of smiles, the ceremony brought lots of laughter and excitement as Jamie officially took on his new role. 👑

As always, our residents, families, and staff came together to make the day truly special. From sharing stories, to enjoying delicious treats and celebrating together, the sense of community was felt by everyone.

Thank you to all who joined us and helped create such a warm, joyful, and memorable occasion. Here’s to cherishing wonderful memories with Louise and creating many new ones with Jamie.

29/05/2026

This morning, one of our residents enjoyed a one-to-one flower arranging activity in the garden, creating these beautiful floral centrepieces using fresh blooms and greenery.

The stunning arrangements were later displayed in our lounge and dining areas, bringing colour, fragrance, and a touch of summer indoors for everyone to enjoy. Residents and staff alike admired the beautiful creations, which helped brighten the atmosphere and sparked many lovely conversations throughout the day.

One-to-one activities provide valuable opportunities for meaningful engagement, creativity, and personal achievement, while also bringing joy to the wider home community.

A wonderful morning, a beautiful display, and plenty of smiles all around.

29/05/2026

Yesterday, our residents enjoyed a delightful baking activity, creating beautiful homemade biscuits in a variety of shapes, including flowers, leaves, and hearts. Everyone had the opportunity to get hands-on with the dough, using rolling pins, cutters, and decorative tools to bring their designs to life.

Activities like this provide much more than just tasty treats. They encourage creativity, support fine motor skills, promote social interaction, and create opportunities for reminiscing and sharing happy memories. It was wonderful to see so much enthusiasm, concentration, and teamwork throughout the session.

A big well done to everyone who took part. The biscuits looked fantastic, and most importantly, everyone had a lovely time creating them together.

15/05/2026

After weeks of creativity, teamwork, rehearsals, laughter, and hard work, we are so excited to finally share our Little Mermaid of Hastings Drama Club performance video with you all! 🧜‍♀️🌊✨

This production became so much more than just a play — it became a beautiful journey that brought residents, families, staff, and our whole community together. From painting decorations and creating costumes to learning lines, practicing scenes, and supporting one another every step of the way, every moment was filled with joy and togetherness. 💙

We are incredibly proud of our amazing residents, whose confidence, enthusiasm, and talent truly made this performance shine. A huge thank you to everyone involved behind the scenes and on stage, especially our wonderful families, activities team, management, and staff members who gave their time, energy, creativity, and support to make this experience so special.

A very special thank you to Tatjana for the fantastic ideas, storyline, and dedication, and to Paul for all the technical support and music that helped bring the magic to life. 🎭🐚

We hope everyone who was unable to attend the performance at The Laurels can now enjoy watching this very special production and experience a little bit of the happiness and magic we all shared together.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy The Little Mermaid of Hastings!

15/05/2026

15/05/2026

This afternoon at The Laurels, we enjoyed a wonderful Poetry Afternoon filled with beautiful words, shared memories, laughter, and meaningful conversations. 📖✨

Residents came together to listen to and share poems old and new, bringing back special memories and emotions through the power of poetry. Some poems made us smile, some made us reflect, and others reminded us of cherished moments from years gone by. 💙

It was lovely to see everyone relaxing together with a cup of tea, enjoying the calming atmosphere and the joy that poetry can bring. Activities like these encourage creativity, conversation, confidence, and connection, while creating warm moments for everyone to enjoy together.

15/05/2026

What a truly magical experience The Little Mermaid of Hastings has been for all of us here at The Laurels. 💙🧜‍♀️

As we share some beautiful memories from our dress rehearsal and main performance, we would like to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who helped make this so special.

A very special thank you to Tatjana for creating the wonderful storyline, ideas, and activities that brought this whole production to life. Your creativity and dedication inspired us all. ✨

Thank you to all of our amazing activities team, to Paul for all the technical support and music, and to every single person who helped behind the scenes.

To all the families who helped with costumes and supported us throughout the preparations — we are so grateful for your time, effort, and kindness. The costumes looked absolutely amazing and added so much magic to the performance. 🐚🎭

Thank you to our management team for always supporting our ideas and encouraging us to create meaningful experiences for our residents.

And most importantly, thank you to our incredible residents for being so brave, talented, and full of joy throughout this journey. You truly made this production shine. 🌟

A huge thank you also goes to the staff members who came in on their days off to rehearse, prepare, and help make this production something truly unforgettable. Your dedication and care mean so much.

This play brought so much happiness, laughter, teamwork, and togetherness to everyone involved, and we feel very proud to have shared this experience together. 💙

We will also be sharing a special video soon so that everyone who was unable to attend the performance at The Laurels can still enjoy this magical adventure with us.