One thing we pride ourselves on here at PA is our commitment to resident impact, especially within our specialist housing schemes.
The staff working closely across these schemes strive to give our older residents opportunities to socialise and have fun, shaping the activities we provide around the feedback they give us. Events and activities like this happen frequently, so we thought we’d give a little roundup of what’s been on the calendar this March and April!
March
It was quite the eventful month for Wolsey and Abbey Mill Extra Care Scheme in Leicester. The residents have a selection of weekly activities that they choose to be held there, and on the menu this month was housing surgeries and resident quiz nights.
Residents at the Wolsey often request support from our Extra Care Scheme Officers and Managers, so we aim to hold these surgeries at least every fortnight. This way, it gives us ways to meet with them in our comfy communal spaces and provide hands-on guidance for any requests that they make. This can be the more ‘standard’ requests such as repairs and maintenance, or event helping residents to translate understand letters they receive that aren’t from us. Residents have told us they love these little sessions and requested that we keep it up!
Of course, there has to be some fun in the mixture as well, with the Wolsey holding a quiz night in the lounge that the residents love so much, they ask to have them every week! Similarly, at Albany House in Nottingham we have a card bingo event that residents have a blast with, and we love to oblige in their requests to hold activities like this. It’s always fun to foster a little bit of friendly competition!
April
One of our residents at the Wolsey, Mrs Shah, joined our all-resident call in person back in February 2026. After the meeting, Mrs Shah approached our CEO, Michael, and asked him to come and visit Wolsey and Abbey Mill Extra Care Scheme in Leicester.
He came along for a relaxed visit on April 15 along with one of our Directors, Sally, and both were very excited to get involved with the morning activities of board games, crafts, and a cuppa.
On arrival, Michael took time to sit on our Welcome Bench. This was an initiative we introduced last summer, allowing residents the time to sit for a while and chat. We will be holding another sit and chat event this summer too, across all our schemes.
Michael accepted the challenge from Mrs Shah to a game of darts, joined by some other residents. Mrs Shah was delighted to showcase her skill and love of darts. Michael was a little rusty, but he stepped up to the oche. There was much fun and laugher as everyone enjoyed a simple game of darts.
Sally decided on the more therapeutic activity of colouring with Joan whilst chatting over a cuppa and discovering the hidden talents of our residents. Ms Gajjar's exceptional painting skills and her love of sewing and embroidery, for example. Ms Gajjar was delighted to show us her paintings – which she had won prizes for. The pride Ms Gajjar showed has sparked another idea – we will now look into ways that we can showcase the hidden talents of our residents within the schemes. We'll also think about how we can use their skills to facilitate other activities. Taking the time to chat for 5 minutes can make a massive difference to our residents!
Activities within our schemes are an important part of the service we offer. Our aim is to provide opportunities for inclusion in the community, to break down barriers, and to prevent social isolation. We hold a minimum of 3 activities per week, such as a gardening group, art and crafts, cake decorating, bingo, seated exercise, quiz nights, karaoke, jigsaw club, and card games to name but a few. Whether we have just one resident attending a session or a full house, it really doesn’t matter because it's about residents having some meaningful social interaction while doing something that they enjoy. Knowing that we've made a difference by putting these activities on is what really counts.
