Daily Community Life
Workshops
If you meet any of those who know Corbenic as home, and ask them to tell you about life in Corbenic, it is likely that the first thing you will hear about are the workshops. The workshops are a tried and tested part of Corbenic and over the years it has been clear that the opportunity to participate in workshops adds much to the sense of being part of the community, contributing to it, and in turn this can help promote the sense of self-worth, dignity and respect in the individual.
Each workshop is a fun-filled social space where teams enjoy finding new outlets for creative expression, energy, and an opportunity to participate in genuinely meaningful activities. And off course, at the heart of each workshop is the all-important ‘tea break’, when everyone gets to support the bakery team in finding an outlet for their work!
The workshops run from Monday to Friday, and include, Gardening, Horse Care and Riding, Farming, and Estate (Landscaping and grounds maintenance). There also a range of indoor workshops including the bakery, craft, pottery, woodwork, and Corbenic Shop.
Two people out to shovel snow.
Corbenic Shop & Café
The shop and café, situated in the heart of Dunkeld, is a workshop in itself, but it is also an outlet for many of the products made in Corbenic workshops. Open seven days per week, in this vibrant place you will find chopping boards and woodwork products, pots and bowls from the pottery, prints, cards and craft products and of course bakery products. Residents from Corbenic help run the shop, welcoming and serving customers, making teas and coffees, setting up the displays of unique gifts and sometimes even getting to sell a product that they themselves made in their workshop. In this way the shop adds a whole other layer of meaning to the work carried out in the Corbenic workshops. op.
Social, cultural and therapeutic activities
Corbenic take a wholistic approach to health and wellbeing, with an aim to offer the fullest possible range of life opportunities to those who are part of the day service, or residential home. To that end, a range of social, cultural and therapeutic activities are offered, and form an important part of the week in Corbenic. Mini-buses full of eager walkers will often be seen heading for the hills – whatever the weather. Or swimming groups to local pools and trips to local cinemas or a variety of other recreational activities. There is even a weekly in-house cinema club. There are also a range of weekly evening activities and interest groups that residents can choose to participate in. All of these activities and groups offer further social opportunities for residents from different houses to get together through shared interests. While many are run as group activities, Corbenic promotes and supports individuality and choice for each resident, as reflected in the individual support plans.
Meetings include a weekly ‘diary meeting’ and a monthly ‘Resident Voices’ meeting. These meetings provide opportunities for residents and day participant voices to be heard, and to have a say.
Corbenic Homes
Within each Corbenic house there is an emphasis is on homeliness. Care is taken to ensure that each residential care home feels like a genuine home for those who live within. This includes daily opportunities to sit together, as a house group, round the table and enjoy homecooked meals made with quality ingredients. Active participation in household tasks, and even small details like houseplants and artworks by residents tastefully framed and adorning the walls, are all intended to support people in feeling like a home in Corbenic is their home.
