TUESDAY 19 APRIL - Out and about

As England basks in beautiful spring weather and with the prospect of our unseasonal mini heat wave extending over the Easter weekend it is definitely time for the Chief Executive to get out of the office. So today I made the most of the opportunity of the cancellation of a meeting that would have taken me to the National Audit Office in London to get out into the Somerset countryside. The landscape is looking spectacular right now with the striking yellow of oil seed rape fields in bloom. Our local cider orchards, about to burst into flower, are providing restful shade for large numbers of young lambs. This is a wonderful time of year.

In our homes there is much activity underway to prepare for Easter and there seems to be some excitement building about a certain wedding due to take place next week. The party preparations for wedding day are in full swing in all our homes.

It was a pleasure to pay a visit to Burnworthy in South Petherton for a chat with our Manager Karen Roberts, some of our residents and members of the staff team. The home was looking bright and very well presented with the gardens looking great in the spring sunshine. There are currently no vacancies but there were two couples visiting while I was there hoping to identify residential places for elderly relatives. It seems that demand for places is as high as ever.

Burnworthy is a typical Somerset Care home that enjoys the strongest of links with it's local community and I was interested to hear from Karen of the contacts she and her staff have with local school and youth groups. We discussed how we want our homes to be seen as focal hubs of community activity. My thanks to Karen and the team for a delightful visit. I hope everyone enjoys the festivities of the coming days.

Location:South Petherton