As we close another year let us reflect on the activities at Southmore Court.

Frances mentioned encouragement. But what does encouragement mean? Encouragement is the action of giving someone support, confidence, or hope.

At Southmore no matter what we are doing we try to motivate each other.  Instead of giving a reason why we can’t do a certain task, we give a reason why we can, and should do. Instead of looking at our glass and saying it is half empty, we have to say it is half full with room for improvement.

In the past year as we lost one tenant, we gained our youngest one who has fitted in with the older generation very well.

We started the past year with our Autumn Fayre that was supported by tenants, relatives, and friends alike. We were happy to see our extended family to come and support us from Cedarmore Court. The day was a success and tenants and visitors both enjoyed their time here. Thank you for all your support on the day. We hope to see you this year.

As Christmas was fast approaching, we visited Polhill Garden Centre for inspiration for our Christmas display. We made Christmas garland decorations for our downstairs corridor. It was a collaboration between all of us. We put encouragement into practice as none of us did anything like that before but with a reassuring “you can do it”, some of us put our hands to it while others were cheering us on watching the garlands come together.  The festivities took us to the Toby Carvery for a delicious meal first. Then we all enjoyed the CHA Carol Service followed by refreshments. We must have been extremely good as Father Christmas visited us twice, from the Southborough Lane Baptist Church then form the services team. We had our Christmas meal for only one tenant on Christmas day, followed by bubble and squeak on Boxing Day.

Decorations started in the lounge in the new year with new air conditioning system being installed in our communal lounge. Then both the guest room and the lounge got decorated. Six chairs are the new additions to our lounge to accommodate us on the daily basis. We were looking fresh and glamorous for our Easter festivities. We enjoyed an Easter Craft afternoon with invitation for tenants from Cedarmore Court as well. Everybody enjoyed themselves very much. We got together again on Good Friday for fish and chips and hot cross bun pudding for lunch. Then those rabbits were having fun decorating Easter biscuits. On Easter Monday we had a good time hunting for Easter eggs and relaxed with a cup of tea and cakes and biscuits.

In May some of our tenants were lucky enough to see their second coronation in their lives. We took pleasure in our buffet meal to celebrate the occasion.

Then we had a lunch invitation to Cedarmore Court that was delicious, and all had a good time at the end singing old songs in the garden.

In July we celebrated the 50th anniversary of CHA with a BBQ invitation to Cedarmore Court. We were fed and entertained and had the time of our lives. How do we ever top that?

We delighted ourselves in outings to the RAF Museum in Biggin Hill, the Mayfield Lavender Farm, Whitstable, and Aylesford Priory. We are so lucky to be able to take time and enjoy days out in our busy lives.

Our Southmore Family loves to get together on the daily basis in the afternoons for a cup of tea and a chat. We savour our lunches together, from the preparation, and the laying the tables, to the clearing the dishes. Your help and support are very much appreciated. We also love to sit in the garden and enjoy the sunshine with refreshments and ice cream. We do most things together as a family. We don’t only encourage tenants to participate in daily activities, but we get spurred on by a “you can do it” as well. Imagine when you are told by two men that you can cook something you haven’t cooked before (it was toad in a whole) because they said “it is easy”. One of them even offered to help as well. It is good to have the tenants’ support. We as managers are not the only ones looking after the tenants, but they look after us as well.

At last, but not least we would like to thank the services team their unrelenting support in dealing with all the problems and repairs that need doing at Southmore. We also appreciate being transported to Cedarmore and on outings when there are hundreds of other things need doing. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support.

Pushpa Ranasinghe and Marianna Pinter

Scheme Managers