How to make group activities more meaningful

Before you start to plan any group activities, take a moment.

Choose an activity from your list of activities enjoyed by each resident before they came to live in their new forever home.

Your list will consist of activities you have learned about using my FACTs™ formular.

Now, let’s walk through an example together…

Let’s take travel as an interest

Travel can mean so many things:

• Holidays in the UK

• Trips abroad

• Places people have lived or worked

  
  

Don’t forget, living somewhere is just as important as visiting it.

Turning this into a group activity: Armchair Travel

Step 1: Make it FUN

Create an armchair travel group for residents who enjoyed travelling.

You might include:

• Photos or videos of destinations

• Music from different countries

• Food tastings

• Souvenirs or themed props

This is where the enjoyment comes in.

Step 2: Make it MEANINGFUL

Spend time finding out:

• Where residents have travelled

• Where they’ve lived

• Favourite holiday memories

Encourage storytelling:

“What did you love about that place?”

“Who did you go with?”

Now the activity connects to real life experiences.

Step 3: Make it PURPOSEFUL

Invite residents to help plan the sessions.

They become your experts by experience.

They might:

• Suggest destinations

• Share cultural insights

• Help choose music or food

• Lead parts of the session

  
  

This is where confidence and identity really shine through.

When it comes to documenting your activity…

Be intentional.

Make sure you clearly show:

• What made it fun

• What made it meaningful

• What gave it purpose

  
  

This helps demonstrate the true value of what you’re doing, not just that an activity took place, but how it supported wellbeing.