Staff profile: Sue Kilby, Activity co-ordinator

Meet Sue, senior activity co-ordinator at Mill View, a Bupa care home in Bolton, Lancashire.

After 12 years at Mill View, Sue leads a team of four and “lives and breathes activities”.

You inspire the activities

“The most important thing is to know what you enjoy,” says Sue. “The things you used to like to do and what you would still like to continue to do.”

Although if you want to broaden your horizons, Sue will also help you find new interests and hobbies.

Sue and her team also get ideas from your family and your ‘map of life’ (which plots “anything that really makes you who you are”).

See more on map of life

Classical music to workouts

“A club is anything where you get two or three people together with a central interest,” says Sue. “We find we have a few people who like classical music. They come together, listen to music and chat – and a club is born.”

Among clubs on offer at Mill View you’ll find flower-arranging, watercolour painting and very competitive dominoes. (“We have a few people who are very good,” says Sue.)
There’s even an exercise class run with Age UK that brings Mill View residents together with other older people from the neighbourhood.

Sue’s programme runs from Monday to Sunday. Residents typically take up some scheduled activities, then spend the rest of their spare time in their own way.

But there is also a core of very active residents at Mill View who make the most of nearly every activity on offer.

New experiences and lifelong passions

You may like trying new foods or meeting different people. So Sue runs “wine-tasting, cheese-tasting – and other things you might not do if you lived at home on your own.”

But she knows that “what’s been important to you in the past will still be important to you as you get older”.

“You can still continue to enjoy the hobbies and pastimes that you’ve always had,” she says.

The Big 12

“We’ve always done a lot of large events but it’s great to have Bupa’s Big 12 behind us too,” says Sue.

Bupa’s Big 12 is a year-round calendar of themed events – from summer fetes to storytelling week and is designed to bring the local community closer to the care home. Sue makes sure she involves local people, businesses, schools and charities whenever she can.

Not your cup of tea?

No matter how varied the activities programme, it may not be the sort of thing you enjoy.

That’s where personalised plans come in. Working with you and your family, Sue builds up an even more detailed picture of what you like to do.

“For example, if I know that you enjoy music, I could suggest to the care staff that after breakfast you might enjoy sitting in your room listening to Radio 4.”

Supporting you to recreate your accustomed routine can also help you adjust to care home life.

You may like to get a daily newspaper, just like you always used to, or have your breakfast early.

And if you come along to an activity but don’t enjoy it, Sue’s careful record keeps track. So you can rest assured that you won’t be drafted into clubs and events you simply don’t enjoy.

“One big team”

“Activities are not just limited to what we put on the programme,” says Sue. “They’re not just the games of dominoes or the knitting club.”

The activities team also help to inject interest into the things you do throughout the day.

Sue runs staff training sessions at Mill View, “so I can explain to all members of staff that they’re all responsible for the daily activities of residents”.

“The housekeeper might be dusting someone’s room – someone who’s in bed – and they can chat to that resident about photographs on the wall, about what’s going on in the outside world – about anything really.”

“We all have that important role to play,” she says.

A fulfilling life

Sue finds that activities are a top priority for prospective residents and their families.

“When people come to look around they don’t say, ‘How do you administer the medicines?’ but they always say, ‘What activities do you have?’”

Sue understands that. “Just because you’re in a care home doesn’t mean to say that you can’t still have a meaningful life.”

When Sue first started in care homes, activities weren’t everyone’s priority. “We just bumbled along,” she said.

“But I think it’s changed everywhere within Bupa,” says Sue. “Bupa takes activities very seriously.”

Find a care home near you

Help and guidance

We’re experts and we’re here to help you.

For help and guidance on aged care advice, call our contact centre at any time (we’re here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) on 0800 011 44 04 or fill in our contact form.

Contact us – contact form