Have to organise a summer fete for nursing home - help!

piglet6

If you are looking for "games", the following always go down well at our local church events (Christmas bazaar, Summer fete, Autumn fayre, etc):

Pegs on a line: string up a clothes line between the backs of 2 chairs. Let people use one hand and put as many pegs as possible on the line in 1 minute (ideally it should be the hand they don't usually use, i.e. right-handed people use their left hand, but this is difficult to police!!)

Nails in a colander: Again, in one minute, you have to put nails (1" nails from the local hardware store are very cheap!) into an upturned colander, using a pair of tweezers to pick them up - no hands allowed!!

Treasure hunt: You can pick up a poster of a scene (town/farmyard/countryside/seaside scene) fairly cheaply and mark on it numbers 1-100 (or as many as you can fit on!). Then call it "[Somebody local whom everybody knows - maybe the nursing home matron's or manager's name] has lost his/her hat/anything else you fancy" and let people pay 10p a guess to choose a number... A cheap box of chocs as a prize usually goes down well, and you will make a profit, plus the poster can be used over and over again in years to come (you don't write on the poster, but on a list next to it).

Will post back again if I think of anything else.

Piglet

TillyTrippit

Hi, in our area the local beauty therapy NVQ students do some voluntary work in care homes - hand massages and back rubs - would it be worth contacting the colleges to see if they would come and do a therapy on your patients and their families?
People such as holistic therapists - aromatherapists etc will often be at fairs in our area - giving out 'treatments' and raising their business profile etc.
Could you get them to write their favourite story from their lives which are then read out by their own young relatives? Gives them a sense of belonging to their own family and a chance to show off their younger generations. If not read out, maybe put onto the walls as a display?
hth
Tilly
xx

loulou123

Thanks everyone, for even more great ideas

The fetes just an annual event to bring together the residents, relatives and staff, not for fund raising.

The hand and foot massage is a great idea and something ive already arranged for the home on a monthly basis.

If i approach companies for prizes for the raffle am i likely to have very much sucess-no you cant say for sure, but cant imagine in these grim econimcal times, them wanting to give too much away, even for the free advertising.

I'll properly give the treasure hunt and number of something in a jar a go too. : )

rainmac

loulou123 wrote: »

Thanks everyone, for even more great ideas

The fetes just an annual event to bring together the residents, relatives and staff, not for fund raising.

The hand and foot massage is a great idea and something ive already arranged for the home on a monthly basis.

If i approach companies for prizes for the raffle am i likely to have very much sucess-no you cant say for sure, but cant imagine in these grim econimcal times, them wanting to give too much away, even for the free advertising.

I'll properly give the treasure hunt and number of something in a jar a go too. : )

I think you'd be surprised what people will do for a good cause - and the free advertising

JailhouseBabe

My local chip shop often stumps up a fish meal for 2 as a raffle prize for local causes.
Also, I'm always seeing requests on freecycle for books and bric-a-brac for fetes, etc. They seem to get a lot of responses.
As rainmac says - make sure you have plenty of people to help on the day!

Bogof_Babe

I'm going to buck the trend here and suggest you keep it very very simple. If the residents have dementia they will possibly find it all rather bewildering, just being away from their usual rooms and routines.

I went to a summer garden party at my mum's care home last year, and there were no 'activities' as such, except a live musician on an electronic keyboard, with sing-a-long type sessions at intervals. They made a big thing of the raffle draw, but apart from that everyone just sat around and enjoyed the barbecue.

I'd concentrate on making sure the food is adequate and that there is enough staff or volunteers to cook and distribute it, also to organize a drinks stand. Oh and make sure there are enough tables and chairs, as this causes great confusion if there aren't! A good supply of table-top sunshades is essential too, you don't want them all getting sunstroke.

Have a sign showing the guests where to go for the loo, and a couple of people just keeping an eye out for anyone wandering around looking lost. Don't forget about visitors parking too - a sign to say whether they are allowed to park in the grounds might be helpful, or arrows to alternative places where they can leave their cars.

Schedule the timings so that everyone knows when the party will break up - a couple of hours will be more than adequate given the nature of the residents.

I really wouldn't complicate things by having masses of games. People enjoy just sitting in a group and feeling like they are at a party.

loulou123

Thank you Bogof_Babe, i agree that having too much going on would possibly cause confusion from some of the residents. So i will be keeping it relatively simple. I have booked someone, who we have had in the home before to provide musicial entertainment-sing alongs etc.

Im thinking of having the entertainment, the raffle and a couple of little games such as sweets in a jar and name the teddy, just to make it feel a little more like a fete.

Will definately try approaching some local businesses for the odd raffle prize, as that would definately make the raffle more popular.

Thank you everyone : )

RebeccaLecca

Hey everyone!

I'm new to being an activities coordinator also and I've been put in charge of organising the summer fete at my home. It'll be my first big event. I did do the Easter Fayre and that went down a treat however I've been told to make the Summer Fete much bigger and much better..

All of these ideas have been so helpful! We're doing our Fete to raise some money for our residents fund. My home has only been open a year and the activities coordinator before me didn't have anything in place at all so I've had to start from scratch in every aspect. It's been a slog but I think I'm getting there after 3 months haha.

loulou123 it sounds like you're in the same position that I am, you have all the ideas but bringing them all together is harder than it seems.. It's nice to see that I'm not the only one who feels like it though!

thank you for all your ideas though guys.. it helps so much! x