Lake View Retirement Home

05/03/2026

Today we played a variety of card games and also learnt some new ones together.
Higher or Lower, Chase the ace and a new found favourite of 'Go fish'.
Boosting cognitive function, strategic thinking, memory and social interaction.
playing simple games together reduces any stress/anxiety and increases self esteem and helps with dexterity too.
We had everyone involved smiling, and some friendly competitiveness.

04/03/2026

We had the pleasure of enjoying wildlife day in the sunshine today, collecting leaves and hunting for wildlife, wildflowers and insects, we recognised different tree leaves, we searched our bug hotel to see what insects have made a home, spotted many different birds and heard various nature sounds.
We also had to think hard on completing many different life cycles of plants and wildlife from seeds-trees and eggs/larve- butterfly’s and shared interesting facts and memories of our own wildlife experiences.

A beautiful and emotional moment between Dave and Anne yesterday as Dave decided he’d help deliver the post to our residents, Anne had a lovely postcard from her friends and was very excited & thankful to Dave, they then read the card out together and laughed and even shared a little tear of happiness and gratitude.

22/02/2026

Everyone loves a good pancake with a selection of toppings to choose from- our residents were a great help in making these! 🥞

02/02/2026

Do you have a big heart, a positive attitude and a passion for providing quality care that makes a real difference every day? If so, we would love to hear from you!
Our friendly and welcoming Lake View care home, located in Newton Abbot is growing and we are looking for enthusiastic Carers to join our united team.

If you are new to the care industry or looking for a positive change, we are recruiting for caring and reliable Day Care Assistants both full and part-time:

27.5 – 36 hours per week
£12.60 per hour plus great employee benefits
If you are an experienced Care Assistant and a natural born leader ready to take the next step, we are also recruiting for a Team Leader to cover 12 months maternity who loves supporting both residents and colleagues:

36 hours per week
£13.60 plus great employee benefits

To apply for one of these fantastic opportunities, please send your CV to recruitment@southwestcarehomes.co.uk or speak to the home manager Carole Fellowes for an informal chat on: 07786132471

You must be eligible to work in the UK and be a resident. Please do not apply if you are not eligible to work in the UK. Please note we are not offering sponsorship at this time.

21/01/2026

This week in preparation for the 'Great British Bird Watch' through the RSPB held on 23rd-25th January, we have had many bird themed activities.
The ladies colouring some beautiful bird pictures, word searches/crosswords and wildlife quizzes, conversations, bird watching and also preparing the many bird feeders with lard balls, peanuts and mixed seeds.

This has helped our hand eye coordination, increased fine motor skills, concentration as well as having a positive impact and sense of achievement.

Pat needed to get a little more physical, in building our new bird feeder mount, using his brute strength and problem solving skills, he felt very accomplished when he'd finished.
We will all be watching out of the windows and wandering in the garden (weather permitting) over the weekend to tally up our bird spotting totals.
🐦🐦‍⬛🐦🐦‍⬛

19/01/2026

It's Complete….. our beautiful decking area and garden fencing has finally been finished. Here are a couple of our lovely ladies sat outside enjoying a little sunshine.

We will be sourcing raised flower beds and high benches, plus ordering some garden furniture and bird tables.

We would be very grateful if anyone has any time to assist us with painting, bug and bird house making, fruit/veg planting, in the run up to spring or if anyone would like to donate some seeds, pots/plants or ornaments that we can place in the garden that would be very much appreciated.

16/01/2026

Today we had a full day of sensory activities.
Sensory input is crucial for the elderly especially those with dementia, it helps maintain cognitive function, enhances social communication & interaction.
It helps reconnect with memories with familiar sounds/smells/touch and tastes.

We had all our senses awoken, first with taste... we tried various different flavours & textures to see if we could guess what they were?

Moving on to touch, we asked residents to search a sensory bag just using their hands to find the texture asked for i.e.- smooth, spikey, squishy?

Then we did a sounds tests, listening to various household sounds & animal noises to see which ones we recognised.
Lastly was smells, we used our scent pots to sniff up a whiff, to see which ones we liked and which we didn't.

13/01/2026

Tasty Tuesday treats….
Today we had Cadbury and Nestle chocolates to reminisce about, we looked at pictures from past times in the factories, to the transport/delivery vans and the classic original wrappers.
We talked about the costs and old coins used, our favourite treats that we remember saving up for, then we looked at how the wrapping and chocolates now differ (along with the inflation)

We then got to sample some lovely chocolates which all residents enjoyed, but the most popular was definitely the Dairy Milk Fruit and Nut bar, so it was a good job Gemma brought a large bar to share!
🍫🍫🍫🍫

08/01/2026

31/12/2025

Lake View Christmas Party.
What can we say about our fabulous festive party? We had a fantastic time full of smiles, songs and lots of fun and games.
Snowman snowball throw was a favourite, the carol singalongs sent waves through the house, the buffet was devoured.

We had some tricky questions on our Christmas quiz, the food picture quiz had us all feeling hungry and the pure joy seeing and spending time with our family and friends was beautiful.
A great time had by all.