“She has been living in Farthing Court now since 2007 and for me and my sister it become another home and I have thanked everyone who works here for creating such a caring and happy atmosphere for its residents.  All the managers - Mihaela, Olivera, Helen, Yasmin, Farah and Anu – as well as all the cleaning and kitchen staff – have always been superb and I can’t think of a better environment for people in their golden years.”
 
Mrs Miller said to her son that the hardest part of getting to her current age is that there is not much to look forward to any more.  So, next year, it is in the diary, there is going to be an even bigger party than this year for her to look forward to.

A week later we celebrated the 90th Birthday of Renee Miller.
 
There were three parties held to make sure everyone was invited and had a chance to wish Renee a Happy Birthday.  Renee has kindly asked her guests not to bring gifts, but, if they are happy, to make a charity donation to Hatzola Edgware Emergency Services instead.  More than £200 was collected!

The fun part:

A traditional Wimbledon Tea and Quiz organised by our tennis experts, Sally and Belinda, ensured a good atmosphere and competitiveness.  The Reminisce Afternoon brought back precious memories while owners enjoyed having tea and cakes (a selection from the original menu) in our own replica of a Lyons Cornerhouse.  A selection of the late Mr Ivor Kaye’s favourite songs presented by Olivera (with a little help from our friends, Paul Kaye and Lisa) reminded all of us how much music brings people together.

More good time was ensured with, not one but two musical bingos!  The first was run by Frank, one of the Fab Boys, which we highly recommend.  The second one was conducted by Helen and was, as always, a great success.

About the charity work:

Traditionally we organise seasonal Charity Collections for BHF and never miss a yearly Macmillan Coffee Morning (around £3,000 collected over the years), while Yasmin had set up a stamp collection for Parkinson’s UK.  This year though, it went over our wildest expectations!

Thank to Belinda and Sally we got engaged in the Food Aid charity (packing bags of tea and sweets) and our volunteers managed to pass the 100,000 tea bags milestone in just a couple of months!  As you are aware there are so many sad and difficult news stories at the moment with the tough times across the world, so it’s important to celebrate moments of kindness more than ever.  The charity captured some pictures and film to use on social media and potentially engage local press to bring this story to life and create awareness of Food Bank Aid and encourage donations.  Click on the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0xrBInQPMw

By pure chance Yasmin found out about a charity called Driving Aid to Ukraine and their amazing work.  So far, we managed to collect two full vans of second-hand medical equipment, linen for hospital beds, 2,000 reusable face masks, and lots of warm clothing to name but a few items.  The best thing was to meet people, like Michael who is collecting the goods and delivering it personally to those in need.

The list is not ending here.

We donated a fair number of books from our ever-expanding library with some CDs and DVDs to a care home and made some people very happy!  They will refresh their collection of books and donate to a local charity shop the books they don’t need.
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Our one and only charity champion of the year Sally, who already took part in some amazing events, was an official RBL Poppy badges seller.  We are so proud of her!

​Coronation week proved to be very busy in Farthing Court.  Alongside delicious bank holiday lunches and a get together tea afternoon on the day of the coronation of HM King Charles III we were proud of taking part in two charity events as well.

The first one became a popular Monday afternoon activity.  Our Owners are having a good time while packing tea bags for Food Bank Aid.  We’ve bagged up 31900 teabags which will help 797 families.  Well done all!

The second event was Sally’s participation in a 5k Race for Life held in Regents Park for Cancer Research UK.  Our Owner Sally took part in memory of her sister Judy Kazarnovsky and a former Owner in Farthing Court.  Huge congratulations to Sally and Mirilee!

Olivera, Duty Manager at Farthing Court, had the pleasure to visit India in December last year and be a guest at the wedding of the daughter of Mary, one of our Housekeeping Assistants.  The wedding was in Mumbai.

Overwhelmed with the beauty of the country and the warm welcome of people there, she shared her experience and showed photos to convey the unforgettable memories created while on the trip.

To make the whole experience more tasteful the owners enjoyed an Indian High Tea.  Thank you Anu, Mary, Eugenia and Olivera for your effort and hard work on this event!

We had a very successful Chanukah Tea at Farthing Court featuring homemade fresh latkes, smoked salmon and cream cheese bridge rolls, egg and cress bridge rolls, doughnuts and fruit cake.  We received many compliments and messages, such as:
 
"Dear Mihaela and staff,
Thank you to all who were involved in yesterday's event.  You provided not just an excellent tea but the way the dining room was laid up all added to making it very special. 
Your chef also did an excellent job and his latkes were delicious!
Best wishes
Braham Fredman"
 
James, Farah, Anu, Toba, and Eugenia, your hard work definitely has not gone unnoticed!

We celebrated the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with music entertainment and a lot of fun.  We organised a buffet with a variety of delicious sandwiches, quiches, pizzas, sausage rolls and cakes.  Helen’s cupcakes were enjoyed by all.  It was great to get everyone together and to see a smile on everyone’s face.  Special thanks to all the staff members involved.

In the year when we are celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, we remember people who belong or used to belong to the same generation as Her Majesty.  To honour and preserve their life stories a book has been created.  This book is a collection of precious memories, extraordinary achievements and amazing stories shared by our dear Owners and their families.  We are happy to have some of the actors still around to share their stories with us.
 
It started with an email in 2019 from Mr Philip Brodie (son of Mrs Brodie, Farthing Court, Apt.54):
 
Dear Olivera,
It was lovely chatting with you last night and learning about your great interest in the residents who have incredible life histories, and the ambition that you all have to enhance the “people element” of your roles.
Following on from there, please find attached as promised the chapter in the book, produced in 2003 by our synagogue about members of my mother’s generation, with her piece written in the first person. I know this will be interesting to you, and perhaps a number of residents.
Kind regards to you all,
Philip.
 
Then Yasmin had an idea…
 
Dear Owner/Owners
I was reading a short autobiography last night, written by a previous Owner, that had been included in a book called “Book of Memories”.
I had a thought, why not compile a collection of short “life stories” of Farthing Court Owners and put them in a book for present and future Owners to read.
Yasmin
 
Please enjoy some fascinating stories and photos from our collection!

We had a great time at Farthing Court on Wednesday 22 September for the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning and raised £175.00 for Macmillan Cancer Research.  The owners played a game and had a cup of tea with some lovely cakes and scones donated by the staff.