Author: Julia Johnson

It was a lovely warm day for this year’s Summer Garden Party at Cornwell House, our residential care home, in the village of Ferring, near Worthing.

The staff and volunteers worked incredibly hard to make this a day to remember and it was well supported by families of residents, friends of Abbeyfield Ferring, volunteers and staff. It was a great opportunity for everyone to relax and enjoy themselves. The residents talked about it for weeks and we were very grateful for the support of local businesses who donated raffle prizes and plants. The event raised £619.50 and our residents will be deciding to spend the money which could go to social events or trips out.



This year, for the second year running, we welcomed the energetic dance and entertainment group, Eight Beat Jive. Their demonstrations of dance from the 1930s (Balboa) through to Lindy Hop (Jitterbug) in the 1940s, Rock ‘n’Roll and the history behind the music and dance, was thoroughly enjoyed by all ages.

The care home staff made cream teas, baked homemade cakes, served up hotdogs and burgers and sold hundreds of raffle tickets. The tombola did extremely well and all the cakes disappeared from the cake stall and lots of visitors purchased plants.

Dee Reilly, Home Manager said ‘Thank you to everyone for making our garden party such a fun-filled day and seeing the smiles on our residents’ faces and the joy the day brings makes the hard work all worthwhile. We receive a lot of support from local traders and our suppliers. It was a fabulous afternoon.’

We are very pleased to be launching our new dementia respite service, Stay Steady, for people living with dementia and their carers. The launch is on Friday, 7 December 2018 at our Abbeyfield Centre at 50 Ferring Street, Ferring, near Worthing BN12 5JP.

The launch is open to everyone that is interested including local health professionals, GPs, carers, staff and dementia specialists. Just call into our centre on Friday, 7 December between 11 am and 12 noon for mulled wine and mince pies. This is an opportunity to meet our team and find out a little more about the service which is mainly for people more recently diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s, and who are still socially active and enjoy getting out and about.

The service will commence on January 8th and 9th. It will run for two days per week and has been funded by the Big Lottery Fund Reaching Communities. You can find out more here

Abbeyfield Stay Active flyer.

We are delighted to announce that Abbeyfield Ferring has been successful in obtaining funding to provide a local dementia service in the Ferring area. The funding has been granted by Reaching Communities England, part of the Big Lottery Fund, which focuses on awarding grants to help make communities stronger and more vibrant places in which to live.

The service, which will be called Stay Active, will run for two days per week and offer people living with dementia the opportunity to enjoy activities with like-minded adults in a supportive environment. This may include trips out, well-being activities, exercises and therapies. Additionally, the service will provide carers with a well-deserved break and the opportunity to re-charge their batteries for a few hours a week.

Jacqui Swindells, Chief Operating Officer at Abbeyfield Ferring said ‘We are very excited about being about to offer this service locally from our new centre in Ferring. We have a number of operational factors to agree first but hope to start the service later this autumn. If anyone is interested, we are happy to take enquiries on 01903 240313 and we will contact people nearer the start date with more information.’