Butterfly Gardens
Residents and staff have had a busy spring, our fantastic staff are always discovering new places for the residents to visit in the local and wider community, more recently those include Fishers Farm Park in West Sussex and the Butterfly Gardens at Ditchling Common – both are well worth a visit!
Even with all the wet days staff have managed to pick sunny days to visit the seaside at Bexhill, Eastbourne and Hastings, with some groups of residents it is essential to find places that are wheelchair friendly and the seaside promenades are just that luckily!
A big event this spring was a quiz hosted by ‘The Friends of Oakdown Trust’. The Friends of Oakdown Trust is a registered charity, founded over 30 years ago by a dedicated group of relatives to raise funds to provide extra support for our residents that they wouldn’t otherwise have access to. Since fundraising began the Friends have raised and donated over £100,000 in sensory, musical instruments and gardening equipment as well as diverse, accessible entertainment. A big achievement for a little charity! More recently they set and achieved their most ambitious ever fund-raising goal yet to install a hydrotherapy pool at Oakdown House. The pool was opened in 2022 and this amazing facility enables the residents’ access to a truly wonderful on-site sensory experience. The swim jets help the more able with exercise and the warm water jets & LED lighting provide a safe & sensory environment for gentle physio and stretching exercises, for those less able.
The quiz in April 2024 raised over £500 towards the next big fundraising drive for the Trust which is to install an all-weather enclosure & over-head tracking hoist, so it becomes a truly year-round facility for the residents. Look out for more fundraising events on our Facebook and Instagram pages or of you would like to support the Friends of Oakdown Trust or make a donation please contact the charity treasurer, Barbara Kingham, at friends@oakdownhouse.co.uk. The swim spa is used and enjoyed by both Oakdown House and Carricks Brook residents.
Swim Spa Fun!
