Larks Leas Rest Home

06/01/2026

Larks Leas would like to wish all our friends and families a very Happy New Year. We brought the new year in here with mocktails, cocktails and festive music.
Now that our decorations have come down Christmas already starts to feel like a distant memory! But what wonderful memories we created!
Our residents threw themselves into Christmas preparations at the start of December, making cakes and decorations. We also enjoyed a few weeks of Christmas singalongs, team quizzes, and bingo.
We must say a big thank you to everyone who helped us to make it an extra special season of festivities, including our friends and entertainers:
Richard Gracie, thank you for standing in for Santa who was otherwise busy delivering his gifts to children across the world. and also for strutting on to stage as an ugly sister in our little pantomime.
Lorraine Tillbrook, you were an extra helpful elf and we loved your musical input.
Tickled Pink Productions, thank you for bringing us an amazing Christmas Show. We loved your singing and dancing, but you also took the time to interact with our residents with genuine warmth and sensitivity, bringing smiles to their faces.
Blandford Parish Church, thank you for your support and for sharing your Advent Communion service with us.
Gill and Alan McIntosh, we really enjoyed your Christmas Carol Service, with the addition of folk tunes , guitars and bodhran.
Andy Hague, we always appreciate your musical entertainment, with your accordion and singing, and this Christmas performance was no exception.
Blanchards Solicitors, thank you for your kind donation of goodies, some of which made wonderful Christmas Bingo prizes.
Mandy West, our residents were all looking their very best after your hairdressing. Thank you for squeezing in an extra Christmas visit.
A big thank you must go to the residents and staff who participated in our little panto, helping to make everybody laugh out loud.
And finally, thank you to anybody else who contributed to make Christmas 2025 and the New Year a joyful and special time for us at Larks Leas.

18/12/2025

Here at Larks Leas Retirement Home we have been really getting into the festive spirit with our own home produced mini pantomime, performed by activities, care and management staff. We tell the story of Beckerella, our manager, worn out by the christmas cleaning, shopping and cooking. She has 3 ugly sisters, Germolene, Listerine and Vaseline, who ask her to help them dress for a grand Royal Ball. She certainly has her work cut out trying to make them look presentable, whilst dealing with a laundry muddle which has resulted in the wrong underwear!
In scene 2 our fairy godmother and pet parrot, Peregrine, make an appearance. She is glum because no care bells are ringing and she feels useless, so she is happy to help Beckerella, so that she may also attend the Ball. She conjures up a little black dress, a cucumber is turned into a mini car and Peregrine becomes a flying horse.
King Charles and Camilla open scene 3, having locked Prince Andrew in the basement, and having also omitted to send a special invitation to president Trump. This upsets the ugly sisters as they were hoping to find their love matches.
The cast throw themselves into song, with "Anything you can do, I can do better", and residents join in with their their own lines, as everybody seeks to outdo each other.
Our narrator presents a happy ending. No lost shoes and no love matches, but a job offer for Beckerella, as she is invited to become manager of Buckingham Palace, and all our residents are, of course, welcome to join her.
We all had a lot of fun with this. Residents managed all the expected lines of "Oh no you're not" and "She's behind you", and there was plenty of cheering
A big thank you goes to staff who participated, and to those who helped to organise the room, residents and refreshments. Another thank you goes to a willing husband, Richard, who played an ugly sister, and to The Ansty Pantomime who lent us some wonderful costumes.

02/09/2025

Larks Leas residents have been competing all summer in a big team quiz tournament, with the Buttercups battling the Daisy team. There have been questions on general knowledge, cryptic clues, specialist subjects, true/false, word play and quick fire rounds which have seen eager hands at the ready.
The tournament has been a really close one from start to finish, culminating in an exciting finale. Ultimately the Buttercup team triumphed, just one point ahead of the Daisies.
Congratulations to Sylvia, Liz, Irene, both of our Joans, Sybil, Gordon and Valerie.
We are now looking forward to a Grand Autumn Quiz tournament, in which we will mix up the teams.

08/07/2025

Last week at Larks Leas we celebrated a very special day with our star resident and his guests. Gordon achieved the wonderful age 105 years!
We all enjoyed a fun packed day, starting with musical entertainment by the very talented Andy Hague with his accordion and songs. Then for lunch we all had proper fish and chips, which is Gordon’s favourite meal.
During the afternoon Gordon’s family joined us, along with a visit from Hugo Mieville, mayor of Blandford. There were presents and cards to open, including a very special one from King Charles and Queen Camilla. This card will now join his 100th card from Queen Elizabeth II, quite a collection!
Our celebrations continued with glasses of bubbly or Pimm’s, a toast to Gordon and a tasty buffet. By the end of the day Gordon had posed for hundreds of photos, and had really enjoyed being a VIP.
Gordon puts his long life down to a daily tipple of whisky, a cooked breakfast, a full and happy life with his family, and his life-long enjoyment of ballroom dancing. We all at Larks Leas feel blessed to have his company.

02/07/2025

Larksleas residents are enjoying our wonderful English summer, and making the most of our beautiful garden! In June we held a garden party and invited our friends and relatives. The weather really was perfect, and so was the musical entertainment, courtesy of the Shroton Ukulele Band.
One of our residents, Peter, took the opportunity to present a very special birthday present to fellow resident Joan. To her absolute delight, he had painted her family's beloved dogs, Willow and Bubbles. What a talented painter he is!

14/05/2025

Our friendly & dedicated team provides 24/7 residential care. Short, long & respite stays available.

Rated 'Good' by CQC in all areas.

13/05/2025

May has already proven to be an especially busy month at Larks Leas. Last week we celebrated the 80th anniversary of VE day. A couple of our residents are wartime forces veterans and it was fascinating to hear their stories and memories. Another of our residents was a wartime nurse, and others had childhood memories of air raids, evacuees and rations. Highlight of the week was a big wartime singalong when we were joined by singer Richard Gracie, followed by a delicious teatime treat with china cups and saucers and fabulous cream cakes.
Our cook has also been kept extra busy this month as we have already celebrated 4 birthdays, so all our best wishes go to Joan, Valerie, Jean and Sylvia who together make up 369 years, and are all still looking fabulous!
We have also managed to fit in a couple of May minibus outings, to see the bluebells in beautiful bloom, and to enjoy lunch at a Garden Centre.
We are making the most of the sunny May weather, enjoying our garden and making plans for a June garden party.

09/01/2025

Well, Christmas is long over and we are properly into the new year. Christmas was a busy and fun packed time for us at Larks Leas. Highlights included a Mother Goose panto, a christmas carol service, a garden centre outing, a visit from Santa and his elf, and a Christmas party. The party saw us entertained by singer, Mike Sidaway, and a sketch by the activities staff and managers. Christmas day was greatly enjoyed, with presents to open and a delicious lunch. We saw the new year in with cocktails and mocktails. Oh, and we also celebrated a few birthdays.

27/11/2024

Over the past few months we have been running a Larks Leas team quiz tournament, with the Ladies and the Lords fiercely competing against each other. The ladies were very well led by their Captain Lady Sylvia, whilst the Lords were in safe hands with Captain Lord Peter. The scores have been close throughout and today saw the teams competing in a Captain's Mastermind and a an exciting team quiz finale. Sylvia impressed us with her knowledge of classical music but Peter managed to gain a small lead with his art knowledge. Both scored well in the general knowledge round. In the event the Lords team battled to victory with a one point lead.

15/11/2024

Residents at Larks recently proved themselves to be both curious and brave as they were introduced to a variety of wild creatures during a visit from Zoolabs. The lovely Anna put everybody at ease as she answered questions and gave lots of interesting facts.
We look forward to inviting ZooLabs back again next year. Meanwhile we are looking ahead and planning for Christmas, starting next week with a pantomime production by Tickled Pink Productions. Watch this space!

07/08/2024

Larks Leas held a very enjoyable summer fayre yesterday when we were blessed with sunny weather and were able to enjoy our beautiful garden, along with our invited friends and relatives.
Our celebrations began with a sumptuous roast chicken lunch, followed by fruit trifle. Then we assembled in the garden to enjoy some musical entertainment by the Shroton Ukulele Band and, later on, a sea shanty singalong with singer Richard Gracie, accompanied by our very own Sky Larks choir and our activities coordinator.
We held a grand raffle, with some wonderful prizes, and a guess the cake weight competition.
We were also treated to a tasty cream tea with Pimm's, punch and tea, with much debate about the merits of jam on top of cream or vice versa.
It was a fabulous day, enjoyed by all.

02/07/2024

Today we had a very special birthday at Larks Leas, where Gordon celebrated his 104th birthday along with his family and got a special visit from the Mayor of Blandford Forum! 🎉🎉🎉