From Care Home Resident to Managing Director

Posted on 18 January 2023 by Nicky Macfarlane

Growing up on The Huntington and Langham Estate, where his mother Marylin created our two specialist care homes in Surrey, gave Charlie a unique upbringing. Charlie now runs the family business and describes how his special upbringing has shaped his career.

As MD of Huntington House which offers Residential Nursing Care and Langham Court a Specialist Dementia Care Home, Charlie shares his journey from being a young care home resident to Managing Director and why he is so passionate about the holistic care they offer residents of both homes.

Located in Hindhead these family focused care homes are accredited Dragonfly and Butterfly homes and rated Good by the Quality Care Commission.

Remembrance Sunday

Posted on 13 November 2022 by Nicky Macfarlane

Lest we forget

At the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month – we remembered them.

In preparation for remembrance Maggie created a beautiful poppy field on the lawn in front of Huntington House, with more poppies added each day in the run up to Sundays service.

The residents decorated the window in the main lounge looking out onto the grounds with their stunning autumnal colours. The staff created some beautiful knitted poppies from the red Huntington House wool, which were on display at reception to welcome visitors, with new smart plaques on the front door too.

The legacy of the Blue Cedar at Huntington House

Posted on 12 October 2022 by Nicky Macfarlane

As the air turns crisp and autumn afternoon sun casts a warming glow across the estate, our team are turning their attention to getting ready for winter, preparing the gardens and grounds of The Huntington & Langham Estate.

Each year we take this opportunity to survey the trees which overlook Langham Court and Huntington House as well as along the woodland walkways, enjoyed by many of our care home residents.

We generally anticipate a number of the trees to require some remedial surgery or indeed felling completely. However, this year we were particularly concerned about the large blue cedar that has dominated the view from Huntington House since it was built in 1898. During Storm Eunice it lost a large bough and has been dropping its needles ever since. Sadly, our concerns were confirmed by the tree inspector, who has reluctantly recommended for it to be felled.

After being such a dominant feature of the estate for so many years, we were keen to continue its legacy and are delighted that, it has produced cones. We plan to harvest these before it is cut down and some of our green-fingered residents of Huntington House have kindly volunteered to germinate the seeds from the cones in an attempt to replace the once magnificent tree with its own offspring, so that its legacy can live on.

We will be posting about our attempts on our Facebook page for anyone interested in following our progress and look forward to planting our new saplings in the coming months.

Advice for planning the move into a care home

Posted on 30 September 2022 by Nicky Macfarlane

When the decision has been made to make the move into a care home, there are a number of things to think about whilst planning the actual move. Forward planning will help to ease what can be a challenging time for all involved, just as any house move can be.

Overcoming any personal concerns before the move

For the person moving home it can be a big change, so it is important for family supporting the move to be supportive and considerate of their feelings, as the thought of the move is bound to be daunting. Whilst there will be lots to think about and organise, our advice is to remember to take time out to listen to any concerns in order to be able to find answers and offer reassurance.

We find those who visit us here at The Huntington and Langham Estate a number of times before the big day, become more familiar with their new home and by meeting the team and residents, they start to build new friendships quickly. If time and budget permits, it is also worth considering a short respite stay, in preparation for a full time move.

Arranging the best day to move into a residential home

For many families of a relative planning to move into a care home, due to work and family commitments the weekend is generally the best time, however not all residential care homes will take admissions over the weekend. We are more than happy to welcome you all any day of the week.

“I love to be able to welcome our new residents and their families over a weekend, as we understand the pressures of juggling work and family commitments during the week and want to make the move a stress free for everyone” Sarah Chapman, Director

We suggest agreeing the schedule with the wider family, as far in advance as possible so that the day itself runs smoothly. When you arrive its easy to just stay in the new room, but at Huntington House and Langham Court we encourage families to take time to go with their loved one to meet other residents and staff members, or to spend time in the shared areas together.

Our team will be on hand to welcome you all and we are conscious how upsetting the big goodbye on the first day can be, so are happy if the family slip away whilst our homemakers involve our new resident in doing something, so there isn’t the big break.

Visitors are welcome at anytime and we can arrange to prepare lunch for guest in one of our private rooms.

Packing for a move into a care home

As with any move it is good to plan ahead what to bring along to your new home.

There may be some items you want to replace or treasured possession not to be forgotten. If you are packing for someone else, it can be easy to forget or not know their favourite items of clothing for example so again, it’s good to open up the conversation well in advance, to give time to decide what is or isn’t coming.

As space may be a little more limited, it’s good to check this when you visit the home and plan how the items of furniture coming along will fit in the available space.

A few tips we share with families are:

As with the H&L Estate there are generally phone points in all bedrooms and private phonelines can be connected via BT, who will allocate a personal number to the room and bill in the same way as in a private home.
Electronic devices – any devices being taken with you into a new home will need to be in working order and in some cases checked by an expert (PAT tested) to make sure they are not a fire risk. So if there is a favourite radio or alarm clock which you plan to bring it is worth checking this in advance so not to be without it.
Internet – WIFI is available in each room and the team are on hand to help set up personal computers or tablets.
Pets – At the Estate we are happy to discuss loyal pets also joining our extended family, and will just have a few questions to check before giving the green light.
Clothing – It is a good idea to label clothes, as this will help them to not get muddled up in the laundry.

Top tip for making a care home feel like home

At H&L we actively encourage our residents to place items around the home, not just in their private rooms, as you will see if you visit us we have an eclectic array of artwork and photography around the walls all from our residents.

We have a great guide to help families think about how to decorate their loved one’s space as the things we have around our home generally have a memory or significance attached to them.

All of our rooms will be freshly decorated for your arrival and you’ll have a choice of colour, with new residents welcome to bring their own bedding to make their private room more familiar.

We also encourage you to bring your own furniture and will make our best efforts to make the room available before move day to bring in any pieces of furniture into the home.

Let our family look after your family

We work hard to make The Huntington and Langham Estate a home away from home and empower each person to continue living how they wish to. We don’t talk about activities and interests, we talk about life and living and have received some wonderful feedback from both our residents and their families which you can see here

We would love to invite you to visit our beautiful estate.

Please contact us via the web form or give us a call on 01428 604600 – one of our friendly team members will be happy to help you.

Afternoon Tea on the Estate

Posted on 23 August 2022 by Nicky Macfarlane

What better way to enjoy the beautiful weather we have been having this summer, than to host afternoon tea in the shade.

Geoff, Mal and Charlie Hoare were joined by Audrey, Christopher, Lynn and Anne who are residents of Huntington House.

As a dragonfly home, we regularly host events and create meaningful moment for our residents to create memories and share time together with our family around the grounds.

With such a sunny and warm afternoon, everyone had a lovely afternoon and enjoyed their delicious homemade cakes, tea and a cheeky glass of pimms, whilst sitting in the shade of the pavilion by the lake.

Our resident taxi service, was on hand to take everyone back home, on a tour through the estate’s extensive grounds.

A huge thank you goes to our chefs who made the delicious sandwiches and cakes.

The importance of short term Respite Care

Posted on 26 July 2022 by Nicky Macfarlane

The importance of short term Respite Care

The demand for Respite Care during the summer months is unsurprisingly high, with many families heading off on holidays whilst their children are on the summer break from school and others planning action packed days, during the warm weather.

For those who have a caregiving role in the family, the need to balance the support they give with their wider family can be challenging at this time of year. Whilst caregiving is very rewarding, it is demanding both physically and mentally and being able to take time away, can be hugely beneficial to health and wellbeing.

What is the purpose of Respite Care?

Taking a break from caring for someone else is the main reason people consider respite care, giving carers time for themselves. This can be based on day care, care in the home or a short stay at a residential care home of 1 to 4 weeks.

When is it time to consider Respite Care?

There are many reason caregivers make the decision to organise Respite Care for a person they support and our recommendation where possible is to plan this ahead of time during busy periods like the Summer Holidays.

Simply take time out to reboot and recharge physically and mentally
To enable them to spend more time with children or the family during school holidays
When the list of general household to do’s aren’t getting done and they need to catch up on themselves.
During renovation work to the home, which is likely to be disruptive
The need to attend medical appointments or treatment themselves
They simply just need a break

What are the benefits of short term residential respite care?

Whilst there are a number of options available for a respite break, such as asking friends or family to help out, employing a live-in carer or sourcing home care from a paid carer, there are added benefits from opting for short term residential care.

A short term stay in a luxury all inclusive residential home like Huntington House, can be a holiday in itself for people who need extra help in their day to day lives or live alone with change of scenery and the peace of mind being in a welcoming, safe and secure environment.

These short stays can also be a great opportunity to trial the services and environment of a Residential home, if a full time move is being considered. The socialness of joining in activities and chatting to the other residents and staff is often the thing people enjoy the most from their stay.

Respite Care for people living with Dementia can also be beneficial when it is in a specialist dementia care home like Langham Court. With the reassurance the person living with dementia’s needs will be taken care of, gives carers peace of mind to have a break whilst the stimulation of taking part in activities created with individual abilities and needs in mind can be a positive experience for those living with dementia

Who pays for respite care?

Where respite care can’t be fully funded within the family, there is funding available for respite care and local councils will complete an assessment of both your individual living and financial circumstances. This will be completed as a carer’s assessment and a needs assessment for the person who needs the care.

The Huntington & Langham approach to respite care

Whether recovering from an operation, injury or medical condition, or if you’re a carer and need somewhere safe for your loved one to stay while you take some time for yourself, our respite care is second to none and comes part and parcel with complete peace of mind.

We create a personalised care plan before any stay so that you and your loved ones can relax, knowing we’re providing specialist support in a comfortable home from home. We often find people settle into the home very quickly and extend their stay.

“I don’t think you could find many Huntington’s. It’s extremely well run. Different people get different things. I love it! I came for two weeks and have stayed for months. It’s the attitude you just couldn’t fault. They have been very understanding to me as a smoker as so many places don’t these days. AND they’ve let me have my dog Woolly – they had a vote on it and then Maggie said “Woolly is welcome!” Respite Resident at Huntington House

You’ll be welcomed into the family and are encouraged to make the most of all that we have to offer here, such as an exciting activities programme, freshly-cooked meals and beautiful gardens, along with high quality care from our fantastic team.

Huntington House is a leading accredited Level One Dragonfly Residential Home. In our recent audit we received an Excellent rating from the team at Meaningful Care Matters, who described our care as:

“A highly engaged service with a high value on meaningful moments and a true person-centred philosophy, which is congruent in look, sound and feel as well as with regulatory compliance requirements. People’s individuality and expression is evident, and people can express that freedom and be themselves.

Our Home Maker team have a great mix of different skills and interests which helps offer variety in the day; with some residents enjoying the more structured activities such as quizzes whilst others value time with the team who are great at offering more 1-to-1 time and conversations.

How can I organise Respite Care?

If you, as a caregiver, need some time out, or you feel your loved one might benefit from a change of scenery, our respite and daycare services could be ideal for you.

We encourage anyone thinking of Respite care to come and visit us to take a tour of the homes and Estate, simply give us a call on 01428 604600 or Email us at huntington@hlestate.co.uk

Random Acts of Kindness Day at the Estate

Posted on 17 February 2021 by Ricky

How we’ve been spreading cheer this Randon Acts of Kindness Day

Here at the estate, we’re passionate about embracing any opportunity to spread joy within our home, and throughout the community.

The past year has been a rollercoaster ride – and so, we think it’s more important than ever that we clutch to little nuggets of happiness whenever they arise.

So, sit back, relax and enjoy reading all about the random acts of kindness we’ve been exhibiting throughout February.

Surprising Our Care Team

To celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Day, we’ve taken the opportunity to show our gratitude to our care team for all the hard work they do each day.

So, we surprised each member of the H&L team with either a bottle of wine or a box of chocolates. It’s safe to say that they were delighted with their gifts!

Spreading the Love on Valentine’s Day

Last Sunday, we donned our creative hats to celebrate the day of love.

Three members of our wonderful team clubbed together to create mini hand-made Valentine’s cards for the H&L family. A small act of kindness really does go a long way; our residents were overjoyed with the gesture!

Getting Crafty

It’s not just our staff that love getting creative; it turns out that our residents do, too!

We were delighted to see their enthusiasm for making Valentine’s cards and sending love to their nearest and dearest.

Baking Sweet Treats

At the estate, we think there’s little better than a tray of warm, freshly baked goodies.

We were delighted to discover that one of our residents had decided to treat us with a delicious array of shortbread, moulded into heart shapes in celebration of Valentine’s Day.

We Have a Secret Hairdresser Among Us…

This may come as a surprise to some of you… Bess, one of our team leaders, has a special talent (aside from her wonderful caring nature!); she’s actually a qualified hairdresser!

During lockdown, Bess has very kindly been putting her skills into practice, making our residents feel special with a fresh haircut.

Thank you to all our staff and residents for continuing to spread kindness and joy at our home, and throughout the community. It truly does make all the difference at a time that’s so difficult for us all.

How did you celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Day? Let us know via our social media channels.

Tasty tarts and perfect handmade pies

Posted on 29 April 2019 by Ricky

An afternoon of home baking in Huntington House

Last week, two lovely ladies living here in at the Huntington and Langham Estate decided to get their hands dirty in the kitchen and have fun with a spot of baking! Molly has lived here for quite a while and Veronica has only recently moved in, so they haven’t known each other for too long, but they decided to join forces and have some fun together as they both fancied getting creative in the kitchen.

Meaningful care matters

With the introduction of Meaningful Care Matters Dragonfly approach into Huntington House, following the success of the Butterfly approach implemented from day one in our specialist dementia care home, Langham Court, we have made all sorts of changes to our residential and nursing home here in Surrey.

There’s such a strong focus on the wellbeing of the people living here; we believe everyone should be able to lead as independent a life as they would like to here in our home, so we have put all sorts of things in place to facilitate this, and it seems to be going down a storm. As part of that, we decided to build a kitchenette!

This isn’t the typical kind of kitchenette you see in most care homes where it’s used to make the odd cup of tea and slice of toast – this is a proper kitchenette and people living here are encouraged to make use of it whenever they fancy it, so everyone is able to cook and bake whenever they want to.

Although it’s not everyone’s idea of fun, the facility is there to be used at any time, with the team always on hand to help, of course. For people like Molly and Veronica – who are really quite independent, they just happen to be living with early memory loss – it’s the most amazing way for them to be engaged in meaningful activities and fully connect with how everyday life would have been for them in days gone by. It’s these small things like being able to bake that we take for granted.

How baking can help with early memory loss

In fact, Molly was a great baker at home and on quite a few occasions has mentioned that she missed being able to bake. Molly wanted to make jam tarts and said she used to make them every week for her family, so it was a pleasure seeing her in her element, baking for the first time in a while – and it was amazing tasting the finished tarts too!

Molly completely remembered how to make shortcrust pastry from scratch, along with all the exact quantities she needed – all we did was provide the ingredients. She spoke about making apple pie and custard as well as Eccles cakes, so fingers crossed we can make those very soon.

Whilst enjoying making pastry, Molly chatted about growing up in Lancashire, walking about how much she loved cooking for her husband and family. Seeing and hearing Molly during the couple of hours spent in the kitchen was just so wonderful, and everyone who wandered past the kitchenette commented on how great it was to see, smell and taste.

In addition to the delicious jam tarts, we also cooked mini chicken and leek pies! Veronica was keen to stop, chat and get involved, so she helped Molly by getting the pastry cutters out and filling the tins. Both the pies and tarts went down extremely well with everyone, and another baking session is planned for after Easter.

We are thinking of starting a recipe book to record our successes – hopefully we won’t have to include any failures, although learning as we go is all part of the fun.

Why don’t you pop in and see us at our lovely home here in Hindhead? It would be lovely to see you and you may even be lucky enough to have a sneak peek at our recipe book.

Have you seen our Haslemere Hounds?

Posted on 16 April 2019 by Ricky

Supporting a local artwork project for charity

There are two rather large dogs on the Estate at this very moment… but don’t worry, as if you’re not too keen on canines, you’re perfectly safe with this pair as these two greyhounds are made from fibreglass!

Bordering Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire, Haslemere is a lovely market town, and one thing that makes us different is our annual animal artwork project. Have you heard of the Haslemere Hogs or the Haslemere Hares or the Haslemere Hounds?

Here at the Huntington & Langham Estate, we were delighted to be taking part in the 2019 round of this annual animal artwork project for charity. In case you’re unfamiliar with this project, it was in its third year and takes place in and around Haslemere.

Here’s an overview of how it started and what it’s all about.

Brian Howard MBE, former Mayor of Haslemere honoured by the Queen for services to the community, thought up the project to help local charities. The idea is to fundraise through the purchase, painting and display of various animal models. Back in 2017 in its inaugural year, we painted Hogs and the project raised £35,000 – last year, the Hares raised over £50,000! Can 2019 go bigger again? We certainly hope so.

The Huntington & Langham Estate has supported this project each year and this year, we have painted Lady Langham and Huntington Hound! People living and working here on the Estate worked together to come up with the themes and decorate the models – what do you think?

The Hounds are all being decorated now, ready to be displayed from May to September – they will then be auctioned off with the proceeds going to a variety of local charities, which is absolutely brilliant for the area.

Keep an eye out for them in Haslemere and the surrounding villages as you’ll be able to spot not only our two creations but many others!

Thank you to Brian for 35 years and counting of ‘selfless service’ to the town – we couldn’t be prouder of our care home in Haslemere being a part of this wonderful charitable project and hope to continue to participate for many years to come. Our only question is, what will the next animal be?

A great reputation for care in Surrey

Posted on 2 April 2019 by Ricky

Here at the Huntington & Langham Estate, we’re incredibly grateful for every single review of our homes, whether it’s from someone who lives here, a family member or friend, a member of the team or anyone else who pops in!

Recently, the husband of a lady living here described Langham Court as ‘probably the best home in the area, country even, for dementia care’ – we are so thankful for this kind comment and are proud to have made somebody feel so confident in the care we provide for their loved one. It made us start thinking about how lucky we are to live and work in such a wonderful place, surrounded by acres of beautiful countryside, so we wanted to share our thoughts with you.

Right on the edge of Surrey near the border of Hampshire, our residential & nursing and dementia care homes in Hindhead are ideally located to travel up into London or down to the coast, meaning we can offer all sorts of opportunities for exciting days out. We’re also easily accessible for those looking for expert residential, nursing and dementia care in Surrey for a loved one, as we’re located just off the A3 by the Hindhead Tunnel, right by the charming villages of Bramshott, Grayshott, Grayswood and Liphook, as well as the town of Haslemere.

In fact, people travel all the way from places such as Basingstoke, Winchester, Crawley, Farnborough, Horsham, Leatherhead and Guildford for our expert nursing and residential care in Hindhead, and even further afield for our specialist dementia care here in Surrey, including from London, Hampshire and Sussex.

It’s a real team effort to make these homes what they are and to provide award-winning residential, dementia and nursing care in Surrey. We have people who travel from far and wide to help us provide such a wonderful service for the people who call the Huntington & Langham Estate their home, and we hope this shows how much people enjoy working here.

We endeavour to make life as exciting and fulfilling as possible for the people living here at the Huntington & Langham Estate, so we appreciate how lucky we are to have all sorts of attractions nearby to visit; Winkworth Arboretum, Hindhead Commons and the Devil’s Punch Bowl, and Hollycombe Steam to name a few of our favourites. As part and parcel of our residential, nursing and dementia care in Hindhead, everyone living here is provided with the opportunity to partake in a wide variety of activities and we also organise all sorts of entertainment here in our purpose-built home.

We have consistently high review scores on carehome.co.uk and are proud to have high ratings from the CQC too, with the Care Quality Commission being the independent regulator of health and social care in England. When it comes to finding the right residential, nursing or dementia care in Surrey for you or someone you love, there are so many factors to consider, but hopefully recommendations from real people who know all about our expert residential, nursing and dementia care in Surrey will help to make that decision a little easier.

To read more about what people think of the Huntington & Langham Estate, visit carehome.co.uk and have a look at the reviews on our Facebook page. If you like what you read, we would love to hear from you – get in touch by clicking on our Contact page. We would love to show you around the Huntington & Langham Estate, so feel free to pop in to see our homes and meet the team.