Customer wellbeing

At Bluebird Care Norwich & North Norfolk ‘Customer Wellbeing’ is at the forefront of everything we do, one example of this is through the relationships and engagement our care team build with each and every customer they support.

Celebrating creativity!

A summer of wellbeing

Over the summer we celebrated creativity and imagination with our Creative Customer Competition! The event was designed to support our customer’s wellbeing through the encouragement of meaningful activities, social engagement and reminiscence.

All of our customers are individual, so the competition was constructed to support them to enter through accessible categories. If creativity was their inspiration, then their submissions could take any form. From poetry to knitting, cooking to green thumbed displays, we loved seeing each wonderful creation.

To wrap up the summers event customers taking part in the competition were overjoyed to receive a home delivered afternoon tea as a their ‘prize’.

Arthur’s creative story

Arthur has always had a way with words and our Creative Wellbeing Competition gave him the perfect opportunity to craft some wonderful poetry to honour the high-level care and support his care team deliver. You can listen to one of Arthur’s submissions below, a poem affectionately nicknamed ‘Oliver’.

Arthur also wrote a poem dedicated to one member of the Bluebird Care team who had taken beautiful pictures of the flowers in his garden after he commented on how he’d like to see the blooms. The Bluebird office team supported Arthur to frame the poem to present to his care assistant as a surprise.

When Arthur was told he’d be receiving a home delivered afternoon tea in recognition of his wonderful poems he was overjoyed.

 

Arthur enjoyed the tea at home with his granddaughter and the Bluebird Care Team were delighted to prepare the treats for them both to enjoy. Arthur and his poetry are a wonderful example of how home care services can support people to maintain their independence and still enjoy their hobbies in the comfort of their own homes. When wellbeing, dignity and support combine they can lead to wonderful memories.

Les’s creative story

Les, a customer of Bluebird Care, invited team member Freya, to learn more about his creations and his history with the arts.

Les and his late wife Jean, led a life filled with fun and laughter, performing shows as entertainers and puppeteers with their very own double act, Cheeky and Chuckles!  From shows in Covent Garden to performing at the local seaside, the couple and their friends spent may days doing what they loved. Les and Jean even visited RAF camps to entertain the troops! Their shows were free, with their number one goal being to make others laugh and bring joy to their communities.

Les shared wonderful pictures from their shows with Freya, and she was lucky enough to ‘meet’ some of the handcrafted puppets Les had created to entertain the crowds.

“They were lovely to see, Les told me that his friend had made the puppets clothing for him, and each character had so much history and personality, it was an honour to be shown them. From Lulu to Pavarotti the Penguin, each had been crafted with love and care.

I must admit Les had me in stitches with some of the characters voices, he definitely knows how to make a crowd laugh!” ~ Freya

After walking down memory lane together, Les took Freya outside to see the community garden he had created for his neighbourhood. Les and his neighbours have turned an old scrap of land into a thriving community garden, affectionately named ‘The Dingles Community Project’. The garden features fruits, herbs and vegetables and the team have built protective natural barriers around the area to protect the project from erosion. On the edge of the garden Les has planted trees, which he hopes will grow to benefit future generations with their fruit and yield in years to come.

 

Les and Jean are an inspiration to others, their creativity and passion clearly brings much joy to their local communities. They’ve shown how acts of kindness can make a difference, and how creativity can come in many different forms!

Ken’s creative story

Ken hadn’t played his piano in years until his Care Assistant Marthese asked “why not?”.

Ken responded that "no one had asked him to" and that he was afraid he might have forgotten. Marthese encouraged Ken to try with her as his audience and you can see the joy in his face in the video below when he finished his piece.

Relationships built between customers and their Care Assistants are vital to wellbeing in home care, it is why our care team take the time to get to know everyone they support, so they can encourage interests and personalise their approach to suit each customer’s needs. It is an example of the high-quality, personalised care our customers receive each day.

If you’d like to learn more about how home care with Bluebird Care Norwich & North Norfolk can enhance your own, or your loved one’s wellbeing, contact a member of the team today: norwich@bluebirdcare.co.uk