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| Earlston High School Students Visit |
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During September 2011 we were delighted to welcome some groups of young
people from Earlston High School who were visiting Grange Hall to see and
experience the environment within a Care Home. After the visit some of
their thoughts were featured in a Southern Reporter article on the visit. |
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A right song and dance as
Harmony win funding joy and royal acclaim “This represents the high respect that the Harmony’s volunteers are held in,” said Lord Lieutenant, The Honorable Gerald Maitland-Carew, Her Majesty’s official representative in Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale. “It is the highest honour that can be bestowed on voluntary groups and is the equivalent in status to the MBE,” he added, before presenting a scroll and commemorative crystal to Harmony founder and its chairperson Violet Baillie. Earlier the company had been entertained in the home’s social centre by Tweedbank accordionist Jimmy Gold and Selkirk guitarist John Irving, two of Harmony’s 25 volunteer musicians who perform 800 shows a year for older people in 85 different venues across the region. Guests had also watched a professionally-produced DVD on the incredible work of Harmony. It featured a testimonial from retired Bowden GP Malcolm Morrison, who nominated the charity for the award, on the transforming effect that live music had had on his mother, who is a Grange Hall resident. |
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Matron Wendy Smith spoke of the impact on how staff perceived residents. “They no longer see someone with dementia, but a very different person, having a wonderful time resonant of a happy childhood,” she enthused. After receiving the award Mrs Baillie said it was a “very great privilege” to accept it on behalf of Jim and Ann Smith, secretary and treasurer respectively, the musicians and volunteers who had worked so hard over the last nine years. “You have realised Harmony’s aim of bringing happiness, fun and a feeling of belonging to the frailest members of our Borders community,” she told them. “That Her Majesty should bestow this honour on Harmony is a great mark of distinction and we are honoured and exceedingly grateful we are one of very few groups [just 15 in Scotland] to receive it. She continued: “Since our inception in 2002, we have developed and grown, not only in the breadth and scope of our work, but also in our commitment to one another and to our very special audiences. |
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| L-r, Jim Smith (Harmony Secretary), Ann Smith (Harmony Treasurer), resident at Grange Hall Care Home, Laurie Wilson, Violet Baillie (Harmony Chairperson) and The Hon. Gerald Maitland-Carew. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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“We have, in fact, become a Harmony family and, like all families, we have had many happy and some sad times. There are some who are not with us today, but we remember them and their contribution and we acknowledge the outstanding work our musicians have done and are still doing. “We want to express our gratitude to all of those who have supported Harmony financially and, in particular, the Big Lottery which has provided substantial support over a long number of years.” Mrs Baillie said everyone at Harmony was committed to continuing its work in a sustainable away and she announced that a bid for £13,000 for the next three years to the national Robertson Trust had been successful.” Other recent grant boosts had included £2,500 from the Hayward Trust in Galashiels and £1,000 from Kelso-based Charity Begins at Home. Guests included Mrs Maitland-Carew, deputy Lieutenant Sheila Brookes, vice-Lord Lieutenant Sir Michael Strang Steel, Councillors Nicholas Watson, Alec Nicol and Frances Renton and Maureen McGinn, national committee member of the Big Lottery. Also there was charity patron the Countess of Haddington and Stella Everingham, Scottish Borders Council’s head of children’s services, representing social work director Andrew Lowe who, with Councillor Watson, had seconded Mr Morrison’s successful nomination. The entertainment was completed by folk band Schiehallion and guitar/fiddle duo Les Sneddon and Wattie Robson. |
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| Borderers prepare for royal celebration | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Clip from Article Published Southern Reporter on Saturday 30 April 2011 |
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Another community celebrating the Royal nuptials is the residents
of Grange Hall Care Home at Drygrange, who, with the help of art worker
Debi Noel, have produced a huge eight by six foot collage of the couple.
Senior carer James Douglas said: “It took four weeks to make
involving most of the residents and with some help from two or three
carers.
It is decorated with flowers and lace.
“It took a lot of work and will hang in our social centre. We are
also going to have a big party on Friday for the wedding and everyone is
very much looking forward to the occasion.” |
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Dementia course first for care home staff |
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Published Date: 15 April 2010: Southern Reporter: By Mark Entwistle |
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FIFTEEN staff from Grange Hall Care Home near Melrose are the first in the Borders to successfully complete a six-month dementia course accredited by the University of Stirling.
The staff learning was organised by the matron, Wendy Smith and staff
nurse Kirstie Gair, who had previously attended a residential training
course at the university’s specialist centre for dementia studies. |
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Grange Hall Staff
at the Presentation of their Dementia Training awards Within the Social Centre at Grange Hall |
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Residents show art's the way to do it
Published Date: 10 July 2008
An art exhibition at a Borders care home has raised nearly £400 for the
residents' social fund.
The show, organised by the art club at Grange Hall Care Home at Drygrange, with help from local artist Lucille Fenton, took place in the
Mary Bell Social Centre and featured around 100 pictures by a dozen
residents.
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It was the third show run by the Residents’ Art Club and this year
themes included wildlife and seascapes.
One watercolour, 'Bee on a Sunflower' by art club member Doreen Connolly, impressed staff at the care home so much it was bought by the owner and gifted back to the residents for display in Grange Hall. Manager Wendy Smith thanked relatives, staff and visitors for helping make the weekend such a success. The full article appeared in Southern Reporter newspaper. |
 Artist Lucille Fenton with Doreen Connolly and her painting, 'Bee on a Sunflower' |
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Cheers as oldest living Borderer celebrates 106 |
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Mary Bell Mary Bell, a resident at Grange Hall care home at Drygrange, raises a glass in anticipation of tomorrow's celebrations marking her 106th birthday. Mary, pictured with her key worker and senior carer Ania Maciaga, is believed to be the oldest resident in the Borders. Photograph: Alastair Watson The full article contains 54 words and appears in Southern Reporter newspaper. Southern Reporter 14 November 2007 |
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| Mary's in the news on 103rd birthday | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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MARY Bell has been a long-time reader of The Southern, and this week
finds herself grabbing the headlines on her 103rd birthday.
A resident of Grange Hall home at Drygrange, near Earlston, Mary's
birthday was on Tuesday when family and friends gathered for a special
party to mark the occasion.
Born in Jedburgh in 1901, she and her late husband, David, had four children and Mary is now a grandmother of 15 and a great-grandmother to the same number. Violet Bailie, social organiser at Grange Hall, commented: "Mrs Bell is very much 'on the ball' and keeps abreast of local news by reading The Southern every week." |
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| Prince Charles at Drygrange | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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It was a beautiful
Sunny June Day when Prince Charles arrived on a surprise visit to
Drygrange Grange Hall Residents and Staff were delighted to meet and chat with him, and he even received a marriage proposal from one of our 100 Year old residents, which he courteously declined |
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