News

AUGUST 20 2024

July GEM of the month

GEM of the month Stroud House for July goes to one of our shift leaders.
Aishwarya is a fantastic member of our Stroud House team. Aish has one of the kindest hearts. She shows kindness, compassion and consideration to residents, family and staff.
Over the last 2 months Aish has stepped into the Team leader role, supporting her team to continue with exceptional care.

She has been awarded GEM of the month this month for all of the above and some exceptional feedback we received from visiting healthcare professionals.
Thank you Aishwarya and well done!

AUGUST 5 2024

12 days to go ...

One of fabulous team at Stroud House is taking on Snowdon! Ashleigh has been caring for our Stroud House family for nearly 13 years. She is raising money to add to our residents fund, supporting residents living with dementia.
Ashleigh will be making the climb to the summit of the highest mountain in England and Wales Saturday 17th August. We are extremely proud of her. It’s not an easy climb but we know she can do it.

Distance: 9 miles (there and back)
Total Climb: 975m (3,199 ft)
Difficulty type: Hard/Strenuous
Time: Approx 7 hours (there and back)
If you would like to support Ashleigh you can sponsor her via her sponsorship page.
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfu.../ashleigh-waterhouse...

APRIL 30 2024

Fun in the Sun

Making the most of the sunny weather with a spot of gardening!

APRIL 27 2024

90-years-young

Another special birthday this week, happy 90th celebrated with a delicious afternoon tea with family

APRIL 22 2024

Happy 90th Birthday Maureen!

Happy 90th Birthday 

Celebrated with family and a lovely afternoon tea 

APRIL 19 2024

Out and About

Out and about at Keydell Nursery Horndean and of course stopping for a spot of tea

APRIL 18 2024

Sunshine and Good Times

Making the most of some nice weather in the garden

APRIL 17 2024

Birthday Twins!

We'd like to wish both of these people an wonderful birthday today! Have a happy happy birthday

DECEMBER 4 2023

Christmas Movie

Residents welcomed staff and their little humans to enjoy a Christmas movie together in their lounge. We enjoyed Santa Clause the Movie wearing Christmas PJ's, with popcorn and of course Hot Chocolate and Marshmallows. 

DECEMBER 1 2023

Festive spirit

Getting in the festive spirit at Stroud House with a little Tree.

OCTOBER 31 2023

Inter-generational Group

Thank you to Stepping Stones Playgroup for visiting us today. We love the joy and fun the children bring to the home. There were some very spooky costumes and lots of games to play together. 

JUNE 7 2023

Hanging Baskets Time

Its time to plant the hanging baskets in our Gardening Club. Residents choose and purchased the plants on an outing to the garden centre. Now its time to plant their selection of flowers, including Petunias, Busy Lizzie and Loblia, there's probably a few more.  

JUNE 6 2023

Pimm's at The Chocolate Frog

Venturing out to many different places. Todays visit was to the Chocolate Frog Tea Rooms in Bordon. 

This little treasure is a local family run business, a tea room set in the Hampshire Country Side surrounded by boutique shopping barns, fashion, stationery, Art and much more. 

We have been here many times, but todays treat was a Pimm's in the Garden, what more do you want on a summers day!

JUNE 3 2023

Staff & Resident Socials

Today was Doughnut Day. Everybody loves a treat, we took this opportunity to welcome residents, staff and families to a Doughnut Day Social. The doughnuts went down a treat with our little visitors. 

For more photos of our Doughnut Day visit our Facebook page - South Downs Care

JUNE 2 2023

Belly Dancing!

We have a lot of dancers at South Downs Care, some pros in Foxtrot, Waltz and even the Jive, one or two have even won competitions in their younger years. But none of us have ever tried belly dancing! well you're never too old to try something new, so we did. 

Residents and staff put on the coin skirts and tried their hand, or rather their bellies, at some belly dancing. It's not as easy as it looks, but we gave it a go, and had a lot of laughter trying. 

Maria gave us a master class in belly rolling, and some of us had a go at playing some belly dancing music with the drum. Although we couldn't master the art of belly rolling, we did manage to shake our hips and make some music with the coin skirts. 

It was great fun - check out our facebook page to see a video of our efforts-  South Downs Care take on Belly Dancing.

MAY 31 2023

Garden shopping

We all get involved in all aspects of the home- today's focus was the garden, we went to B&Q to choose some flowers for gardening club ready for the hanging baskets. 

MAY 19 2023

Soaring heights

Out and about exploring. Today we took to the skies with a trip up the Spinnaker Tower, Portsmouth. The tower stands at a whooping 170 meters heigh and -Wow what a view! With floor to ceiling glass all round and a view of 23 miles, we could see right across to Gosport and The Isle of Wight. We had a great view of the harbour and could see all the ships coming in and out of port. With views across the Solent all 3 forts in the sea were visible, Spit Bank Fort, Horse Sand Fort & St Helens Fort. The Views really were incredible. 

As if that wasn't brave enough, we took a leap of faith across The Sky Walk. Taking off our shoes and walking across the glass floor 100 meters above the harbour. To see a video of our trip visit our Facebook Page - South Downs Care Facebook.

MAY 18 2023

Oh you Beautiful, Beautiful Creature

We've heard of the Tiger that came to Tea, but what about the Alpacas that came for coffee!

Well that's what happened this morning at South Downs Care. 

Can you imagine a knock on your bedroom door to open it and see its an Alpaca visiting! Wow what a surprise. definitely not something you see every day. 

What a smile these guys made. Some many residents were surprised to see the Dunreyth Alpacas in their living room! There were lots of smiles, lots of petting and even a good old head to head rub and cuddle - comment of the day -Oh you Beautiful, Beautiful Creature. To see a video of the Alpacas that came for coffee visit our Facebook page - South Downs Care Facebook 

MAY 10 2023

Cuddle Ducks, Donald & Daisy

We have some amazing staff at South Downs Care. Always think of ways to put a smile on the faces of the people in our care. 

Of Course in true fashion, when Ashleigh acquired 2 ducklings at home she didn't waste any time bring them in to meet the team. 

Donald and Daisy were 11 days old on their first visit and have been back several times since. What a treat. 

MAY 6 2023

Long Live the King

We celebrated the Kings coronation with an event that spanned 3 days. 

Getting to know the Royals day, quizzing, remininiscing, there were a lot of memories of street parties and community spirit. and Royal Bingo. 

Live streaming of the corionation followed by a banquet fit for a king. We made our own coronation pudding which was delicious. 

Lastly a street party followed by live music with of course the very popular Jelly and Ice cream. 

Visit our Facebook Page for more photos of our coronation celebrations -South Downs Care Facebook 

APRIL 25 2023

Crazy Critters Visit South Downs Care

We love all kinds of animals at South Downs Care, even the creepy kind, Snails, Scales, Lizards and legs. 

Zoo Lab brought their Crazy Critters to meet us today. See our video on our Facebook page to see how it went - Zoo Lab Visit 

APRIL 14 2023

Easter Parade

As per South Downs Care tradition this years Easter Bonnet Parade went ahead on Friday. There were lots of designs with feathers, eggs and of course little chicks. 

Our winners for 3rd, 2nd and 1st enjoyed a chocolaty treat that was share with all. 

APRIL 7 2023

Feathers at the ready - Pony Pals visit

Pony Pals visited for some animal therapy. We had cuddles with the Guinea Pig Gang and were treated to a race. Our feathery friends took to the floor to see who would win in a food race, no wings allowed!

To see the full video of their visit follow this link to our facebook page where you will find more posts and vidos of what we get upto. - South Downs Care Facebook Pony Pals Visit.

APRIL 6 2023

Sky Park Farm

Have you ever visited Sky Park Farm in Petersfield?

It was a treat to see so many Deer and their Fawn, even better to be able to feed them. It was a special experience and we all had such a lovely day. We are blessed to have so many wonderful things to see and do in our community. The tea was pretty good too!

MARCH 19 2023

Happy Mothers Day

Mothers Day was spent enjoying a poetry afternoon with an Afternoon Tea and a discussion on where the Afternoon Tea/ High Tea originated.

We discovered High Tea is an Australian term and Afternoon Tea is a English term, both are the same thing, a light afternoon meal consisting of sandwiches, cakes and of course tea. Afternoon Tea was introduced in the 1940s by Queen Victoria's lifelong friend, Anna Dutchess of Bedford.

We also discovered putting your pinkie up is impolite, who knew!

You can find out more about Afternoon Tea here.

MARCH 18 2023

Red Nose PJ Day

We spent the afternoon with our favourite Nursery,  our friends from Stepping Stones. The Children, Residents and Staff spent the afternoon playing games, they were split into teams and played various games scoring points and cheering each other on. We had so much fun, we had lost count of the score board and decided everyone was a winner! We finished the afternoon with story time. 

To support Red Nose Day follow this link- Red Nose Day 2023

MARCH 18 2023

St Patrick Day 2023

Any excuse to dress up!

We played a rainbow parachute game and Craft club made some gonk leprechaun's.

Did you know that Gonks originate from Scandinavian folklore and are thought to be their version of Santa Clause. 

MARCH 3 2023

A Trek for Alzheimers

Our wonderful Head of Care Sophie, is taking on the Trek 26 Marathon around London to raise awareness and money for The Alzheimer's Society. The event is on 3rd June and she will be joined by her partner Chris. 

The Alzheimer's Society is a charity really close to our hearts, and we a very proud of Sophie for taking on this challenge to support this charity. Sophie, having worked at Stroud House for 7 years, knows only to well the effects this disease has on individuals and their loved ones. She supports the people at our dementia home Stroud house with their day to day lives, improving their quality of life and supporting their families. 

If you would like to support Sophie and the Alzheimer's Society, you can make a donation to her Just Giving Page by following this link - Sophies Trek

FEBRUARY 22 2023

Annual Pancake Flipping Competition

Our annual Pancake flipping competition got underway with some very strong competitors. 

Pancake flipping rules - 30 seconds to flip one pancake as many times as possible. We are not fussy, if the whole pancake comes off of the pan that counts as a flip. 

Once the group stages we complete, the top scores move into the quarter finals, followed by the semi-finals and then the final. 

The winning flipper won by 2 points with 19 flips in 30 seconds. Although this was not their highest score, in the quarter finals they "flipped" 34 times in 30 seconds!!

FEBRUARY 14 2023

We love you lots!

Valentine's Day celebrated in style with a Dinner and Dance.

Also reminding ourselves what we love this Valentine's Day 

• Each other 
• Our Family
• Our Planet
• Ourselves 
• and of course, some Chocolate - this one was quite popular!

JANUARY 24 2023

Happy New Year

Happy New year 

January the month of the come down following the hype of Christmas. Dark mornings, cold weather and broken resolutions. 

January blues - low mood, tiredness, and lack of motivation. What are we going to do to take on the January Blues- Panto of course, oh no you didn't, oh yes we did!

Carousel theatre company visited both homes with their Jack and the Bean Stalk Panto, it was a great pick me up to take on January, it was so good we have already booked them for again next January! 

We also got stuck into some craft, model making, flower arranging and enjoyed a high tea or two.

DECEMBER 11 2022

Christmas Carols with the Salvation Army

Beautiful Carol Service with the Petersfield Salvation Army. We really enjoy their visits. Good old-fashioned carol singing with live music from the very talented brass band.

DECEMBER 1 2022

Christmas visit to Kendell Nurseries winter walk.

Outings are so important, it can be difficult to think of interesting places to visit during the colder months of the year. We really enjoy the Christmas display at Keydell Nurseries in Horndean. The Woodland Walk is full of colour and lights and is very well put together with lots to see. It will definitely get you in the Christmas spirit.  

NOVEMBER 21 2022

Children in Need fundraiser

South Downs Care and Stepping Stones Playgroup put on their wellies and walking boots for an intergenerational Autumn walk around Petersfeild Heath to raise money for BBC Children in Need.

The walk took place at Petersfield Heath today 18th November at 10:30am. We stopped along the way for a word game to see how many words we could find for each letter of PUDSEY. 

The walk was a great success, everybody enjoyed the time together, we received many donations from passers-by into our buckets. We came across some puddles on the way, it was only right that we gave them a little splash. 

On one of our stops the group enjoyed a singalong to some well-known nursery rhymes led by the children.

We finished our walk with a well-deserved cuppa at the Plump Duck cafe.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us and donated. We raised £110.58 for Children in Need. 

OCTOBER 24 2022

Congratulations

Congratulations to Abi on achieving her Level 2 Certificate in Understanding the Safe Handling of Medication in Health and Social Care. 

OCTOBER 19 2022

October

Some of what we have been up to this month,

Getting the bulbs planted and pots re-potted in our gardening club.

Miniature Scarecrow competition- there were some fab entries.

Halloween craft ready for decorating the homes and preparing for our Halloween party next week.

Out and about with trips to the Physic Garden & Rogate Pumkin Patch. 

We also had our first monthly meet at Winton House Centre. 

AUGUST 5 2022

Congratulation Chef Andy

Congratulations to chef Andy for earning employee of the month with Signature Dining.

Andy is a fantastic chef and a valued member of the South Downs Care Family, well done Andy

JUNE 10 2022

Planting a Tree for the Queens Jubilee

Today residents at both homes planted a tree for the Queens canopy. The trees are planted in the grounds of the homes and are marked with a plaque commemorating the Queens Platinum Jubilee. 

DECEMBER 19 2021

Christmas volunteer from the North Pole

NOVEMBER 30 2021

Fur & Feathers

FEBRUARY 14 2021

Spreading the love

Spreading the love on Valentine's day with a tiple or two!!

We spent the lead up to valentine's day making decorations, sharing stories of those we love and making biscuits, although the one in the picture was made by our amazing chef.

Did you know valentine's day origins trace as far back as the 6th century B.C. Started by Christians as an effort to replace the pagan fertility festival Lupercalia. 

Also, every year Verona, Italy receives thousands of love letters addressed to Juliet. Letters re answered by the volunteers of the Juliet Club. The most touching letter is awarded "Cara Giulietta"prize. 

NOVEMBER 26 2020

Compliment for Stroud from Patient Transport

We received a lovely compliment from a member of the Patient Ambulance Crew. It was so nice of the lady to take the time to contact us, a compliment goes a long way. 

"I work for Medisec who provide a patient transport service. Myself and my crew mate dropped a patient to Stroud House location last night.

I wanted to let you know how amazing the two ladies were that greeted us. The patient was very frightened, and I had a challenge to keep her calm during the journey. As soon as she saw your employees, her face lit up and she was so pleased to be back in their care. One of the ladies made a comment on how the patents teeth will need a clean, I thought that was really reassuring that the patient is in a caring and safe place. 

The whole experience made me smile to see such wonderful hard workers and I'd really like the credit to be passed on to them."

The team at Stroud were very greatful for the compliment. Thanks Jenny. 

NOVEMBER 5 2020

Remember, Remember the 5th of November

Remember, Remember the 5th of November, The gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason ,should ever be forgot!

The words we all know so well! The poem written to remind us of the plot to blow up the house of lords in 1605. 

We wont remember the events of the day leading to our yearly celebrations, but we will have the memories of our own celebrations. A bonfire, festival, family gathering and of course the bang, wizz, pop of a firework or two. 

As usual we had a small fireworks display in both our homes, which is always popular with residents and staff, sadly this year no visitors. 

There is many a tall tail that comes with yearly events such as this. The feelings, sounds, smells invoke memories as we reminisce of times gone by.

Some stories from this year, a memory of a father baking potatoes in the bonfire, some ended a little black. A dog that was really frightened of the loud bangs, they would sit and cuddle to feel safe. The muddy boots in the kitchen from the husband who set of the fireworks. Even the big fireworks display a family member was involved with organising. 

This years memory for us will be the bright colours of the fireworks through the safety of the window shared with friends and a cup of coco. 

JUNE 17 2020

A well deserved rest after 24 years service

Sad to say goodbye to our well loved friend and fellow carer Shelia. 

Shelia has taken care of us for 24 years!!! Now after that impressive commitment to our family at Stroud House she has decided it's time for retirement.

We will miss all the enlightening, friendly and helpful corridor converstaions that Shelia provided us with and her hard work making our jobs a little easier. 

We hope that she will return for a cuppa but maybe after some well deserved rest. 

JUNE 17 2020

Happy 105th!!! Birthday Dolly

On Thursday we celebrated the 105th birthday of our lovely Dolly. She is a warm, happy and lively memeber of our Stroud House family, its no suprise to us that she took on her role as the life and sole of the party ( especially after a sherry!!) 

We hosted a what has become know as a lockdown party for the lovely Dolly. We enjoyed an afternoon of Songs, Sherry and Sinatra and Dolly did it her way..

DECEMBER 17 2018

Elf Day 2018

We teamed up with the Alzheimer's Society for this year's Elf Day campaign. We included this as part of our homes annual Christmas party. Our parties are always extremely popular with residents, families and staff alike. The Alzheimer's Society named December the 7th as Elf day, however ours was on 17th December. Families were welcomed to join us for the day to enjoy some Christmas fun with a Jack and the Bean stalk Panto and some delicious home cooked food. Our staff join in the festivities dressing as Elf's or in Christmas attire. 

We raised £255.20 for the Alzheimer's Society, to find out more about Elf day and how the money could be used click here. 

This year we even had some of Santa's little helpers join us for 25 days. Elf on the shelf was present at South Downs Care, we also heard about all the mischief  his friends had been causing around Petersfield. They were swinging on the decorations at Stroud House and sliding down the banister at Downs House! Take a look at our Elf on the Shelf photos on our Facebook page here. 

OCTOBER 11 2018

Stroud visit the Zoo

After some residents had been talking about wild animals, Stroud House decided to take a step outside of Petersfield and visit Marwell Zoo in Winchester. There was quite a bit to see and do and a lot of walking for our lovely staff, who enjoyed the visit as much as the residents.

The Penguins where popular, it was interesting to see them swimming under water and watching them dive from the edge. A couple of residents were surprised by the great stature of the Giraffes, they spent quite a bit of time admiring them.

After stopping for a well-deserved coffee by Tigers they continued round stopping for photo opportunities and even staging some of their own, see the Shark attack!

At South Downs Care we are always looking for new and interesting places to visit, we will definitely visit Marwell again. 

SEPTEMBER 11 2018

Fruits of our labour

Our Petersfield in Bloom award winning gardening club at Downs House pulled their carrots out today. They were delighted with how well they had grown. 

JUNE 13 2018

Grow your Own

Thats what we are doing - our gardening club are growing all sorts Potatoes, Strawberries, Runner Beans and Herbs to name a few. This is our first little green tomato. 

JUNE 6 2018

Petersfield Heath

We enjoyed a lovely afternoon at the Heath Pond 

JUNE 1 2018

Slithers & Wriggles

Slithers & Wriggles popped in with some friends and not the fury kind!

MAY 23 2018

A breath taking view at the Spinnaker Tower

MAY 19 2018

Celebrating the Royal Wedding in Style!

We had a lovely day celebrating the Royal Wedding. The ceremony was wonderful, the homes were at a stand still, everyone glued to the screen as the happy couple took their vowles. Residents & staff celebrated wearing home made fascinators & holding flags, this was followed by a delightful lunch  and a traditinal cream tea.

MAY 8 2018

Today's Dessert yum!

Freshly made by our wounderful Chef Lawrence. 

APRIL 1 2018

Happy Easter

Happy Easter from everyone at South Downs Care 

MARCH 9 2018

Pampered

FEBRUARY 28 2018

Alpaca's Visit

Dunreyth Alpacas vist South Downs Care 

JANUARY 9 2018

Cupa

DECEMBER 25 2017

Santa Claus Came to Town

DECEMBER 17 2017

Dec the Halls!

We had a festive time on the run up to Christmas making decorations. 

NOVEMBER 14 2017

Quick step

Residents and Staff at Stroud House enjoy a dance 

OCTOBER 31 2017

Happy Halloween

Residents and staff had a spooky time carving pumpkins for Halloween. 

OCTOBER 6 2017

Summer Party Puppet Show

After a delicious lunch we were delighted to welcome Carousel Theatre Productions back to our homes today. They put on a very funny puppet show which was enjoyed by all.  

SEPTEMBER 9 2017

Summer BBQ

" What a terrific party you all laid on for the residents and their families today. It was a really happy event and great to see everyone enjoying themselves. The food was excellent and so was the very professional entertainment enjoyed by every generation!"

" I just wanted to say how much we enjoyed Saturdays summer party. It was lovely to be able to sit out on the new patio in the sun, eating a delicious barbeque lunch with a glass of wine- it felt like a very happy and relaxed occasion."

JULY 26 2017

Dementia friendly Petersfield

We are delighted to be a part of Dementia friendly Petersfield. Dementia Friends is building the knowledge of our community to help support people living with Dementia. The Alzheimer's Society is spreading 5 key messages -

1- Dementia is not a natural part of aging.

2-Dementia is caused by diseases of the brain.

3- Dementia is not just about losing your memory-it can affect thinking, communication and doing everyday tasks. 

4- It's possible to live well with Dementia.

5- There's more to a person than the dementia. 

click here to find out more about Dementia Friendly Petersfiled or for information, support and advice about Dementia call the National Dementia Helpline on 0300 222 1122.

You can find local services at alzheimers.org.uk/dementiaconnect  

Vist dementiafriends.org.uk 

FEBRUARY 14 2017

Valentines Day

Happy Valantines Day 

JANUARY 28 2017

Chinese New Year

Cock-a-doodle-doo!2017 is the year of the Rooster. 

We celebrated this week with themed activites including arts and crafts ( see one of our dragons made by some of our residents), chiniese music and movment and readings of Chinese stories and legends to name a few. We finished the week with a Chinese dinner party.  

DECEMBER 30 2016

Charity Christmas Raffle

Well done to all the residents and staff, we raised £165 for Cancer Research UK with our Christmas raffle.  

MAY 19 2016

Building the future - construction at Downs House

The last year has been an exciting one that has largely been focussed on the planning and construction of the new wing at Downs House. This is a fantastic addition to the main house and has been a wonderful opportunity to improve the excellent facilities we already offer to our residents. The building has been designed with our residents needs at the forefront of our minds, ensuring that we continue to offer the highest possible standard of care and maintaining compliance with the Quality Care Commission (CQC).

The new facilities, which are due for completion in Summer 2016, include:

• 12 new bedrooms, over two floors, all with ensuite wetrooms. Many of the ground floor rooms open out on to new patio areas.
• A beautiful new dining room and coffee shop for residents and guests to enjoy.
• New commercial grade kitchen and office administration space.
• An inspiring new terrace and woodland walk. The garden has been designed to be fully accessible to all residents including wheelchair users, including raised, accessible flower beds to encourage them to take part in outdoor activities.

The biggest challenge has been to carry out the building work with minimal disruption to our residents and we hope that we have managed to achieve this as much as possible. 

We are planning on holding a garden party to celebrate and officially open the new wing, we are hopeful that we may also have a local celebrity come along to do the honours too so watch this space!

APRIL 29 2016

Digital dynamism!

We are delighted to announce the launch of our brand new website.

At South Downs Care we are continually striving to ensure that we provide the most up to date and best possible service and care for our residents and their families. This commitment to ongoing improvement drives our planned long term programme of development which, to date, has been rolled out across many areas of our operation including the development of our new website and the construction of the new wing at Downs House.

The new expanded website has been designed to be as accessible, easy to use, attractive and informative as possible for all users. The site includes more information about our homes, our ethos and what we offer and we have endeavoured to offer answers to as many questions as we can.

However, we always value feedback so if you have any comment about the site or would like to see additional information added, perhaps in the form of extra FAQs please do let us know. You can contact us using the contact form on the website or by emailing us here.

We very much hope you like the site and enjoy using it, happy surfing!