Ashford House Care Centre - Barchester Healthcare

15/10/2025

🌟 Community Connections at Ashford House 🌟

Our General Manager, Daisy Mingle, recently visited Ford Bridge Community Centre to present a lovely hamper filled with sweet treats and goodies for their upcoming Christmas raffle 🎁✨

During her visit, Daisy also took the opportunity to introduce Ashford House and the care services we provide.

At Ashford House, community engagement is truly at the heart of what we do — building meaningful connections and supporting those around us. ❤️

15/10/2025

🧁The first of our weekly baking club 🧁

We made and then enjoyed eating some delicious mixed fruit cheesecakes which were absolutely delicious.

If you would like to know more about our life here at Ashford House Care Centre - Barchester Healthcare please visit www.barchester.com/home/ashford-house-care-centre

14/10/2025

🌟 Employee of the Month – Congratulations, Sheila! 🌟

Our lovely receptionist Sheila De Castro has been nominated as Employee of the Month, and it’s so well deserved!

Sheila welcomes everyone with her warm smile and gives every family her kind, personal attention. She’s been the friendly face of Ashford House for many years, and we’re so proud to have her as part of our team.

Well done, Sheila, congratulations! You truly deserve this recognition. 💐

To find out more about life at Ashford House, please visit our website: https://www.barchester.com/home/ashford-house-care-centre

13/10/2025

🌸A Heartfelt ThankYou from Ashford House 🌸

Today we’d like to remember our lovely resident Sheila, who was with us at Ashford House for many years. Sheila was a truly wonderful lady! a talented musician and dedicated teacher who filled our home with beautiful music and warmth. 🎶💖

Her family recently visited to thank our team and brought along some thoughtful goodies for the staff, which meant so much to everyone.

At Ashford House, our residents are always at the heart of everything we do, we care for them as if they were our own family. 💕

Thank you to Sheila’s family for their kindness and appreciation , it was such a lovely gesture. 🌷

To find out more about life at Ashford House, please visit our website: https://www.barchester.com/home/ashford-house-care-centre

12/10/2025

World Mental Health Day takes place every year on 10 October. It’s a reminder of the importance of good mental health and the need to prioritise and invest in good mental health.

The world is going through a tough time right now and even if you're not directly affected by events, it can still feel like a lot to cope with. It's okay to ask for help, no matter what you, or anyone else is going through.

If you or anyone you know is struggling with their mental health please call and talk to someone.

10/10/2025

🎉 Awel-Y-Mor Celebrates Excellent Ratings 🎉

Awel-Y-Mor Care Home in , Swansea passed a recent Care Inspectorate Wales inspection with ‘Excellent’ ratings - the best possible ratings – across the board, after being praised for operating a safe, well-maintained, caring and well-led service.

The CIW report stated that there was a strong sense of belonging and teamwork in the home, nurtured by a very well-respected management team that encourages a positive culture.

Highlighted in the report was that the care staff knew residents well and were dedicated and driven to offering them the best possible care, going above and beyond to do so.

A relative commented: “I can’t speak highly enough about the place, they are so good at the little things, all the residents come first here. My loved one has a good life here.”

Our CEO, Dr Pete Calveley, visited Awel-Y-Mor to congratulate Rachael, General Manager, and her team on the home’s Excellent ratings and award every member of staff a £500 voucher to celebrate their achievement.

Huge congratulations to everyone at Awel-Y-Mor – what a fantastic achievement! 👏

Here are some of the highlights from the day.

08/10/2025

⭐ We’re Finalists for the National Care Awards ⭐

We’re delighted to share that Barchester Healthcare has been shortlisted in the Large Care Home Group category for this year’s National Care Awards.

The National Care Awards are the largest awards recognising excellence in the UK care sector, celebrating the very best people and companies across the sector.

A huge congratulations to Aila Evangelista from Atfield House Care Home in , London, a finalist in the Care Registered Nurse of the Year category, and to the entire team at Atfield House Care Home - Barchester Healthcare, also shortlisted for Dignity and Respect Care Home of the Year. 👏

We’re so proud of all our teams who work tirelessly to provide the very best care for residents, patients and their families every single day.

The winners will be announced on 7th November at Park Plaza London – good luck to all the finalists!

08/10/2025

Come along and join us this Friday 2.30pm - 3.30pm for World Mental Health Day.
We will be enjoying some relaxing music, some delicious healthy smoothies and some light exercise to relax our minds.

World Mental Health Day takes place every year on 10 October. It’s a reminder of the importance of good mental health and the need to prioritise and invest in good mental health.

This year's theme is 'access to services - mental health in catastrophes and emergencies'. The theme highlights the importance of people being able to protect their mental health in times of global instability.

If you would like to know more about our hone please visit www.barchester.com/home/ashford-house-care-centre

07/10/2025

🖌️ Pinetree Residents Get Creative with Mosaic-Making 🎨

As part of their first home anniversary celebrations, and together with volunteers from partner company CBRE UK, colleagues and residents at Pinetree Care Home in set to work on a joint project to commemorate the occasion.

Residents were asked what they would like to do to celebrate and decided to create a beautiful mosaic sign for the home.

The project was a wonderful collaboration that everyone at the home could join in with. The end result is a fitting tribute to the home, which now hangs in reception for all the staff, residents and visitors to enjoy.

A resident commented: “It is so wonderful to try new hobbies, I had never made a mosaic before but I absolutely loved it and have been bitten by the bug! I can’t wait to have another go and see what else we can make. I really enjoyed sitting down with everyone else and working on something together, it gave us all a fantastic sense of achievement.”

What a beautiful mosaic! Well done to all involved. 👏

07/10/2025

🌸 Community Connections at Heart! 🌸

Our General Manager, Daisy Mingle, visited SenaCare and Reynolds today to promote Ashford House’s services and strengthen our local partnerships.

At Ashford House, community engagement is at the heart of everything we do — we believe in building genuine relationships and working together to support one another. 💙


To find out more about life at Ashford House, please visit our website: https://www.barchester.com/home/ashford-house-care-centre

04/10/2025

Today we celebrated World Animal Day with the amazing Browells Wood Pet Therapy Mack Entertainment.
We got to cuddle the most adorable animals, which brought huge smiles to our residents and families, especially the wonderful Kevin and Betty who went around to see all our residents in their rooms 🐇🐹🐱

If you would like to know more about our life here at Ashford House please visit www.barchester/home/ashford-house-care-centre

03/10/2025

♥️ The Power of Music: a heart-warming moment at Ochil Care Home ♥️

Colleagues and residents at Ochil Care Home in were over the moon to uncover a beautiful piece of history when they heard an original recording by one of their much-loved residents, Wilma, who used to be a professional singer years ago.

Wilma’s husband, Donald, had lovingly kept the original master copy of Wilma’s debut album which was recorded in 1996. Staff at the home helped Donald transfer the precious recording onto a CD to preserve it.

Everyone at the home watched the heart-warming moment when Wilma, who is living with dementia, realised the recording being played was her voice from almost thirty years ago. Her reaction was absolutely magical as her memory of that time in her life came flooding back.

What’s more, the video of that extraordinary moment showing the power of music to connect, has now been viewed over 65,000 times.

Such a beautiful moment! ✨

Ochil Care Home - Barchester Healthcare

03/10/2025

🌿 Strengthening Community Ties 🌿

This week, our General Manager, Daisy Mingle, visited the wonderful Allium Home Care in Ashford to deliver a special hamper filled with delicious sweets and snacks bags for the hardworking carers in our community for their tea time! 🍪☕

At Ashford House, we believe in the power of community engagement and fostering meaningful connections. Small gestures like this remind us how important it is to support and stay linked with our local community. 💙

A big thank you to the team at Allium for their warm welcome—we look forward to more collaborations ahead! 🤝

To find out more about life at Ashford House, please visit our website: https://www.barchester.com/home/ashford-house-care-centre

01/10/2025

🥨🍻 Oktoberfest Celebrations 🥨🍻

Oktoberfest was a huge hit with residents, patients, families and visitors this year.

Our care homes and hospitals joined in the celebrations with themed decorations, live entertainment, community events and plenty of fun.

Our talented chefs and hospitality colleagues prepared a selection of pretzels and Bavarian dishes, all complemented by some refreshing cold beers.

It was a day to remember - here are some of our favourite moments.

30/09/2025

☕💚 World’s Biggest Coffee Morning ☕💚

Colleagues, residents, patients, families and friends across the country came together to enjoy charity coffee mornings and bake sales, raising funds and awareness for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Our care homes and hospitals hosted a variety of community events, inviting everyone to catch up over a cuppa and a slice of something delicious, all for a great cause.

Residents and patients enjoyed spending time with friends and relatives, and members of the local community. Our talented chefs baked plenty of cakes, biscuits and pastries for everyone to sample.

The events were a great success – thank you to everyone who took part and helped support this important cause.

Here are some of our favourite moments. ✨

30/09/2025

🇺🇸✨ Bingo fun at Ashford House today! ✨🇺🇸
Our residents enjoyed an America-themed bingo session — we called out the cards, shared lots of laughs, and had a wonderful time together. ❤️🤍💙

To find out more about life at Ashford House, please visit our website: https://www.barchester.com/home/ashford-house-care-centre

26/09/2025

Last Friday of every month
If you or anyone in your family has served in the British Armed forces, why not join us for our Veterans Dinner?
Enjoy a delicious meal and chat with other people who have experienced military life in a relaxed and friendly environment.

If you would like to join us please book your place by calling 01784 425810 or email Ashford@barchester.com

24/09/2025

🖌️ Virtual V&A Make-along 🎨

In celebration of National Day of Arts in Care Homes, residents and patients across the country enjoyed a wonderful V&A Virtual Make-along experience with Holly from the V&A Learning team and designer-artist Rafin Jannat.

Taking inspiration from the South Asia Gallery at the museum, everyone had the chance to experiment with paints and pigments made from everyday ingredients, creating their own unique artworks.

It was a calming, creative experience that everyone truly enjoyed. A big thank you to the Victoria and Albert Museum team for leading such an inspiring session!

Here are some of our favourite highlights. ✨

National Activity Providers Association

22/09/2025

⭐ We’re Finalists in the UK Customer Experience Awards ⭐

It’s awards season and we’re thrilled to share that our talented Customer Experience Team has been shortlisted in not one, but two categories in the prestigious UK Customer Experience Awards:

💡 Best Use of Customer Insight
💻 Best Use of Technology

We’re proud that Barchester Healthcare is the only company from the health sector to be recognised in either of these categories. The winners will be announced at Wembley in October – wish us luck!

Our nomination for Best Use of Customer Insight comes from our Tell Barchester survey, which gathers invaluable feedback each year from more than 13,500 residents, patients and their families. Every single piece of feedback helps us shape and improve the care and services we provide.

In the Best Use of Technology category, our new Connex CRM system, powered by Salesforce, has been recognised for transforming how we manage every customer interaction – making the care journey seamless.

We’re so proud of our team and grateful to everyone who shared their feedback with us.

21/09/2025

World Alzheimer’s Day 2025 – Why It Matters More Than Ever 💜

World Alzheimer’s Day, observed annually on 21st September, is a global event dedicated to raising awareness about Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

With nearly 1 million people in the UK living with dementia, understanding, support and research have never been more important.

Alzheimer’s Day serves as a powerful reminder of the challenges faced by individuals and families living with Alzheimer’s, and the importance of early diagnosis and intervention.

At Barchester, our commitment to dementia care goes beyond World Alzheimer’s Day. We strive to make a difference every day, providing compassionate support, innovative programmes, and expert care for residents, patients and families.

To find out more, please see our latest blog here: https://www.barchester.com/help-and-advice/world-alzheimers-day-2025-why-it-matters-more-ever-barchester

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16/09/2025

⭐ Happy National Housekeeping Week ⭐

This week we’re celebrating the fantastic housekeeping teams across our care homes and hospitals.

It’s a wonderful opportunity to recognise their dedication to keeping everything spotless and creating a welcoming environment for residents, patients, families and visitors.

Thank you to all our colleagues for their continuous hard work and support – you truly make a difference every day.

12/09/2025

🎉 Lotus Manor is Now Open 🎉

We’re excited to share that Lotus Manor Care Home in has opened its doors in style, with a Grand Opening performed by the Deputy Mayor of Guildford, Councillor Jane Tyson, in front of invited guests from the local community.

Our CEO, Dr Pete Calveley, and General Manager, Candy Guo, hosted the event and invited guests to view the stunning new 64-bed care home.

Designed with residents’ comfort in mind, Lotus Manor Care Home will offer residential support, respite stays and specialist dementia care, all delivered by a dedicated and passionate team of trained professionals.

Take a look at some of our favourite moments from the event. ✨

11/09/2025

🚑 Celebrating Emergency Services Day 🚒👏

Residents, patients, colleagues and visitors marked this year’s Emergency Services Day in style, recognising the contribution of local emergency services, volunteers and heroes.

Our homes and hospitals hosted a variety of community events, from coffee mornings to afternoon garden parties, inviting emergency services personnel to join for hot drinks and delicious home-made cakes.

Everyone had a wonderful time, visiting local emergency services sites, engaging in conversations and sharing inspirational stories of emergency services heroes, both past and present.