April seems to have gone by in a flash with lots of visitors to the Estate. We have been delighted to welcome lots of visitors to Huntington House and Langham Court this month, as well as a few unusual guests waddling along the corridors!
Seeing the delight of those living in Huntington House, was a great reminder of the power of animal therapy....
The residents at Huntington House have been busy again this month with a visit from Dolly Pots, who run mobile ceramics painting sessions, painting and generally enjoying their hobbies.
Around the Estate whilst the signs of Spring are slowly appearing, earlier in the month we had a blanket of snow, and captured some stunning photos all available in this months newsletter:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
All at the Huntington and Langham Estate are deeply saddened by the death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.
We’ve lowered the flag here at Huntington House for Her Majesty The Queen. She served our nation for her lifetime and will always be remembered with fondness and gratitude.
Her Majesty was a truly remarkable Monarch who dedicated her life to the service of others and will be forever missed and celebrated.
We will be following the period of official mourning across the estate, supporting our residents to pay their respects and share fond memories of her reign.
We extend our sincere condolences to The King and all members of the Royal family.
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 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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
At our professional elderly care home in Surrey, we’re delighted to share some news with you!
This month, we’re celebrating our shortlisting in several categories in the regional Great British Care Awards, as well as at a national level in the Caring UK awards — two of the care sector’s leading forms of recognition.
We’ve been shortlisted in four categories at the Great British Care Awards, including The Care Home Registered Manager Award for Maggie, who oversees Huntington House, as well as the The Dignity in Care Award, The Care Employer Award and The Care Team Award.
We’re also shortlisted at a national level in the Caring UK Awards, with our team at Langham Court gaining recognition for their hard work in dementia care.
The format of the Great British Care Awards sees them celebrate the achievements of regional professional elderly care services, before the regional winners then compete at a national level – so this is an incredibly exciting opportunity for all at the estate!
The past couple of years has been incredibly difficult for everyone in the healthcare sector – so to be recognised at this point in time truly is an achievement.
Charlie, our director, said: “Being shortlisted in a leading industry award is always something to celebrate, but to be shortlisted in five separate categories really is fantastic and the team here are delighted. Everyone has worked so hard in the last 18 months to overcome the challenges of the pandemic, so to receive recognition for the services we’ve been providing during that time is a really wonderful feeling and we’re enormously excited at the prospect of winning.”
The Great British Care Awards will take place on the 6th November at the Hilton Hotel in Brighton — with the Caring UK Awards following later in the year on the 2nd December at an awards ceremony, hosted by Emmerdale actor Dean Andrews, at The Athena in Leicester.
Both events intend to celebrate those who have gone above and beyond in the care industry and will offer the opportunity for care providers across the UK to reflect on their resilience throughout the pandemic.
Charlie added: “The interviews that have occurred as part of the award shortlistings offered a moment of reflection for all the positives that we, as a team, have achieved during 18 months of dealing with almost relentless challenges. It’s so important to take stock at times like this, and whether or not we win, I am immensely grateful to have had everyone at the estate by my side through the ups and downs of the pandemic.
“Our team have done a magnificent job under the most trying of circumstances to deliver consistently excellent care throughout the pandemic and it’s all thanks to their hard work and dedication that we’re in the running. So I’d like to say a huge thank you to them for their efforts, and in particular, Maggie and Anita who have done a tremendous job in managing their respective teams. Fingers crossed for the win!”
At the estate, we’d like to thank everyone who has supported us so far throughout our journey. Without our wonderful residents, family members and dedicated staff, we certainly wouldn’t have made it this far.
If you’d like to find out more about our professional elderly care home, please do browse our website.
Alternatively, to book a tour today, please contact a member of our team.
Huntington House
Langham Court
