February 19

IN THIS NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY

Karen’s Korner 2019
Suggestions Box
Kepplegate Logos NEWSLETTER
Age Concern Dementia Conference
Exercise Class KAREN’S KORNER
Kepplegate Family News
Winter Driving Tips Well, the year is well under way and we have new
John’s Campaign things happening at Kepplegate all the time! I hope
Kepplegate’s New “Pets” you’re all enjoying our TV therapy screen which
Coins to watch out for! showed particularly cosy pictures of roaring fires over
5 Facts about Chinese New Year the Christmas period.
Dates for Your Diary
Under the Lancashire County Council “Cards for
Kindness” scheme we received lots of lovely (mainly
hand-made ) Christmas cards and Margaret B was
later featured in an article for the Gazette that we sent
into the paper… see it on our notice board.

We have also “splashed some cash” and paid for a
special film to go onto the roofs of the conservatories,
which keeps them much warmer in winter and cooler
in the summer and , hopefully , we’ll get some more
use from these rooms during 2019.

Have you been enjoying the seasonal v
variations of our logo?!!
For anyone who might want to attend, there is a
Dementia Conference on Tuesday, 5th March
10.30 am—3.00 pm at South Ribble Civic Centre.
Please contact [email protected] for
information or to register a place.

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KEPPLEGATE FAMILY NEWS

KEEPING FIT IN THE NEW YEAR! Congratulations to Stacey W (& to Michelle
who became a Nana again!) on the birth of
Following up on a newspaper article that Scarlet Amelia , who weighed in at just
was brought to a Relatives Rendezvous, under 8lbs on 23rd January.
we arranged for Mike, from Thornton
YMCA, to begin taking a short exercise A warm welcome to Jessica & Jayne who
have joined the care home team and to Linda who is on the
class at domiciliary team. Also, welcome to John, Brian, Maurice &
Doreen who have come to live at Kepplegate.

Kepplegate Goodbye & good luck to Becky D-T who has moved
on Friday back to Chester after working at Kepplegate for 4
afternoons. years.
The first one
was a big hit Congratulations to
in the Sheila & Doreen on
community their recent birthdays.
lounge! Happy birthday in
advance to Karen &
Lilia for their February birthdays.

WINTER DRIVING TIPS
Well, we’ve had our first few falls of snow so we thought we’d include

some tips to try to keep everyone safe on the roads:-

Before setting off

1. Properly clear your vehicle of snow and ice bot h to give yourself a clear view and to
prevent loose snow falling off the top of the car when travelling.

2. Check your wipers are turned off before turning the engine on—they could be frozen
to the windscreen—& use god quality screenwash.

3. If going on a journey, pack some breakdown essentials.

When driving

1. Accelerate & break gently and reduce speed before turning into a bend. If you
happen to start to skid, remember to always steer gently into the skid.

2. Maintain a safe stopping distance. Dropping back from the vehicle in front is vital.
3. Select a higher gear—the higher the gear, the lower the revs & the less chance of

wheelspin.

3

JOHN’S CAMPAIGN
We’ve spoken about John’s Campaign in previous newsletters,
but this year Adam hopes to raise the campaign’s profile so that
more care homes (and hospitals) in Lancashire embrace the
ethos behind it. This is that families of patients and residents
should not only be allowed and encouraged, but they should be
integral to the support and care their loved ones receive whilst in
hospitals and care homes. We would like to remind you that we
have a John’s Campaign bed here at Kepplegate which allows
relatives the opportunity to stay overnight when their loved one
first moves into the Home or during periods of illness or, unfortunately, when
approaching the end of life’s journey.
Adam recently attended a steering group in London at the invitation of the campaign’s
co-founder, Julia Jones, after being asked to ambassador the initiative in the north. He
found the experience hugely rewarding to be around other providers from across the
country who have also advocated John’s Campaign.

COINS TO WATCH OUT FOR!

Karen found an article which tells of the most rare and valuable coins in circulation in the UK right now and
has kindly passed on the information, so watch out for these coins in your change to make a few £££’s!

A 50p released to commemorate 250 years of Kew Gardens in 2009 is the coin in
current circulation that will make you the most money. Depicting the Garden’s
famous pagoda on one side, only 210,000 were minted, meaning you can now expect
£80 for one.

Another 50p was released in the early 1990’s to celebrate the European Economic
Community ……. A very topical and controversial subject at the moment! It depicts the
12 stars to represent the member states of the EU at that time. This is an older,
chunkier variety of 50p piece and collectors could be willing to pay £60 for one.

The undated 20p is the one coin every change collector wants to get their hands
on. It was the first coin to (mistakenly) enter circulation without a date in over 300
years when, in 2008, a Royal Mint error saw a quarter of a million timeless 20p
pieces printed! Not the most valuable coin around, but you could expect to get
around £50 for one.

£2 coins celebrating the participation of Northern Ireland in the Commonwealth Games of
2002 were minted, making them the rarest variant of the £2 coin around. Part of a set of
the four home nations—Wales, England & Scotland versions of the same coin are also
highly sought after—can fetch an asking price of £30 from collectors.

4

OUR NEW PETS

Videos of three gorgeous pups to be trained as guide dogs
were shown on our therapy TV for everyone to choose their
favourite. Eventually Milo was chosen. His description
was “a playful pup who loves bounding around the
garden”. His sponsorship will be one of our chosen
charities this year and we’ll receive monthly updates on
his progress.

Our other pet news is that Adam sourced some robotic animals which only
appeared to be available in the States….cue Pauline who was just about to visit
her son in Chicago! She brought a cat back in her case and it’s been an
instant hit with the family with its life-like miaows, purrs and rolls over for a
tummy tickle! We’re still collecting ideas for names so our new pet’s gender &

name will be revealed next month...watch this
space!

Chinese New Year in 2019 begins on Dates for Your diary
5th February and this year is the
Year of the Pig. Did you know….? Every Friday at 1.30 pm it’s
exercises with Mike. The
Chinese New Year is also known as the following Kepplegate favourites
Spring Festival. Although its still wintry, will sing at 2 pm on the following
the holidays marks the end of the coldest dates:-
days, with planting and harvesting in sight.
25th Feb: Jane Black
There’s no set date for Chinese New Year and it can range from
21st January in 2020 to 5th February this year. 4th Mar: Rachel Mercer

The Spring Festival was originally a ceremonial day to pray to the 19th Mar: Al Lee
gods for a good harvest season.
1st Apr: Brian Brodie
It was also a day to fight off monsters! Legend has it that a
brave boy once fought off the monster named Nian by using 22nd Apr: Amanda Kelly
firecrackers and people celebrated the next day by setting off
even more firecrackers. So the widespread use of firecrackers
at new year began!

Due to safety reasons and air pollution many Chinese cities have
banned fireworks altogether or have restrictions on their use.