Residents from local residential home were the first to try out new beach wheelchairs on Exmouth Beach.
Carers and residents from Pinewood Residential Home in Budleigh Salterton were given the opportunity to test drive Exmouth new beach friendly wheelchairs recently.
The new wheelchairs have been by purchased Exmouth Town Council and through generous funding by The Chiefs Foundation, the Clare Milne Trust, the Devon Super Team, plus crowdfunding community donations, of which Pinewood has been a big sponsor.
Four of Pinewood’s residents were lucky enough to access and enjoy the beach whilst trying out Exmouth’s new beach wheelchairs over the Easter holidays. They were joined by the Lord Mayor of Exmouth Councillor Steve Gazzard, Councillor Pauline Stott who has been instrumental in this amazing initiative for Exmouth, plus members of the team from Pinewood.
The Town Council initiative aims to provide disabled people with greater access to the beach through the provision of specially adapted, all-terrain wheelchairs which will be hired out free of charge from their new premises on the beach front.
Philip Sadeghi, Managing Director at Pinewood Residential Home said “Our residents have thoroughly enjoyed being out and about on the beach again today. It’s great to be able to offer people with accessibility requirements access to the beach in Exmouth, the beach should be for everyone to enjoy.
“We are proud to have been a sponsor and supporter of this fantastic initiative and are looking forward to going back in the summer when the weather is warmer and having a proper dip in the sea with the beach wheelchairs”.
Whenever we could, we took the opportunity to enjoy the warmer weather and the sunshine at Pinewood, and if that meant taking the board games outside, that’s just what we did! The lure of ice cream was just the ticket for enjoyable times too.
Friday’s are all about film club. We love to choose and watch a different film each week over a cuppa and a piece of cake.
‘Just Bowl’ is a Sports England funded project to research ‘Active Aging’. By offering regular ‘Just Bowl’ activities within care homes settings, they have found significant improvements in physical, mental and social well-being. 
We are very pleased that 5 members of our team will be delivering this 12 week program within Pinewood Residential Home. They will commence their training in early June. The activities will run for 12 weeks, with at least two 30 minute sessions per week. 
At 2 p.m. on Saturday 16th May, we are having a Spring Fête. Sharandy’s Birds Of Prey will be coming over to feature as one of the main attractions, along with a BBQ combined with a cake stall, cream tea with scones and jam, a bring and buy sale and let’s not to forget the obligatory raffle!
For the fourth year running, Pinewood will be lighting up Budleigh Salterton’s night sky with a colourful array of fireworks. All proceeds collected will go to the Budleigh Salterton Lions Club who distribute to worthwhile causes in the local area.
A BBQ will provide hot dogs and other delicious warm food/drink to residents and visitors alike (weather permitting).
The firework display that took place at Pinewood on Saturday 6th November will be a difficult one for us to beat next year. There was a fantastic turnout and in the short space of just under an hour, £160 was raised for the Budleigh Salterton Lions Club – a charity that distributes money to various causes within the local area.