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Highcliffe Care Home in Witherwack, Sunderland is an established and a highly respected provider
of care services to the elderly. The home was acquired by Avery Healthcare in 2009 and
offers residential and dementia care services in a thriving community of care.
Letís show you around our home and show you some of the spaces and features that give
this home such a unique feel and introduce you to some of the people that contribute
to life at Highcliffe. [To resident] What are the staff like?
Lovely. Iíve had no complaints. I came in for respite and I liked it and then when I
find I couldnít manage at home, I asked if I could come in and they said yes. So I came
in here and Iíve been quite happy.
Itís a huge decision to come into care and I think itís still continuing for their home,
so itís their home that I facilitate. So it should be if the relatives want to come
in and make a cup of tea, they want to come and have a bit of a chit-chat in the office,
thatís how it should be.
What would you say is the best thing you put on here?
Everything, everything, serving the residents definitely, and watching them eat the food
and appreciate what you do for them. We make it from scratch, everything, everything form
scratch, so we prepare our own veg, even on a Friday when we do fish and chips, make our
own batter, make our own chips.
I had my own breakfast in bed. Well, I wasnít in bed, I was up, and they came and asked
what would I like. If I just ask for something, they do their best to get it. So this morning
I had a fried egg sandwich and it was lovely.
The style of food should be obviously be fully home-cooked food. I donít believe in frozen
veg, pre-packaged foods, because their era of people would have been cook everything
from fresh, so thatís what we advocate.
Weíll have a quick fire round of words and sayings, alright? Iím going to start off
by shouting out the beginning of a word or phrase, a well known word or phrase and see
how quicklyÖ..
All our residents are able to enjoy and benefit from a varied programme of recreational and
leisure based activities and events.
We paint, we do collage, we do needlecraft, we make basic jewellery. We go out, we have
pub lunches, we go out for tea and cakes to the local garden centres and parks. Obviously
the beach is only 15 minutes away, so down to the beach for ice creams.
Do you enjoy the activities here?
Oh yes, very much, Itís nice, good company.
These are devised daily by our full-time recreational coordinators who will help you settle quickly
into home life through the various shared activities that we all enjoy.
Tell me about the activities they have here.
They have Sit and Be Fit come in once a week and that is regular, so we do get exercise,
good exercise as well.
Our rooms and the support services you can enjoy are of a hotel standard, and you are
free to personalise your own room with mementos and keepsakes. Your bedroom is your own space.
Just let us know what youíd like, and weíll make sure it stays that way.
You spend all your life building up this lovely home and then alll of a sudden it comes that
stage in your life when you need some assistance. Youíre all of a sudden breaking that home
up, therefore we try and create where theyíve got much more personalised rooms.
When the weather is fine, we take our time out to enjoy our enclosed garden and the seating
areas, where the well-stocked garden, raised flower beds, paths, patios and water feature
help make our summer evenings that bit extra special.
Our lounges are light and airy in their feel. Residents come here to relax and enjoy the
company of others and are free to do so as they please. Our resident and family committees
have all offered valuable contributions to the development of our home life.
I think you can get feedback from the residents. We do have a residentsí committee, we have
regular residents and relatives meetings as well. They actually quite openly, because
of the atmosphere we have, theyíre not frightened to tell me what they think, even if itís
about something that Iím wearing or something on tv, theyíll tell me.
Well, it looks like a happy home, doesnít it?
It is, very. All our residents seem happy enough. They all have their own personalities
and characters which ends up with one big happy family, really.
A comfortable and secure elder care community that is a positive lifestyle choice and, where
everything we do is guided by our residentsí well-being and quality of living.