Activities at Wheatlands Care Home

As part of our life enrichment programme here at Wheatlands our Resident’s enjoy trips out on our very own mini bus! Residents jumped at the chance to go to Chester Zoo and also enjoyed a visit to their own dementia café before entering the zoo. What a memorable and magical day we were lucky enough to see the zoo’s new arrival Edie the baby Giraffe! Shirley not only loved seeing all the animals but loved learning a little more about each and every one of them she was absolutely  fascinated by the Camel’s, She thought the fact that a single male Camel has to lead a group of up to 30 female and young camels was hilarious. The highlight of the trip was the butterfly house it was a unique and sensory experience enjoyed by  both our residential and memory lane community.

Husband and wife Arthur and Marie celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary with a tea party in out vintage café joined by fellow residents, family and friends head chef Martin baked a delicious cake Marie said ‘it was as delicious as the one they eat 66 years ago on their wedding day’.  Since moving into Wheatlands both Arthur and Marie continue to enjoy quality time together just the two of them! Be it a romantic meal for two in our vintage café, a stroll around the grounds or a cuppa and chat in our sensory garden. Marie and Arthur said the secret to a long and successful marriage is ‘ensuring you always set a side quality time for one another and never go to bed after crosswords’

The residents and children from are local community where very shocked when they had a visit from the Easter bunny himself! To everyone’s delight the Easter bunny set up an Easter egg hunt in and around the grounds of Wheatlands even visited residents in their rooms. The joy on the resident’s and children’s face was a truly magical moment enjoyed by all. Integrational activities are of the up most importance here at Wheatlands it is often said ‘Children keep us young at heart’ engaging with children has many benefits for our residents it encourages movement, promotes exercise most importantly it bring different generations together to enjoy one another’s company and brings joy and happiness throughout.

Our newest club here at Wheatlands is the very delicious and tasty pudding club, held on the 3 Tuesday of the month between 3.30pm and 4.30pm.

Pudding club is designed to evoke memories and conversation whilst eating some very tasty treats. Head Chef Martin spoke to residents the week before pudding club to gather family favourite recipes and decide on our first month's puddings.

A must have from the majority of the residents was rice pudding with the skin on just as there mums used to make. Jackie our pudding connoisseur enjoyed sharing her memories with Martin about baking coffee and walnut cake for her son every Sunday after church as it was his favourite it was a recipe passed down by her own mother . For those residents unable to join is the day we ensured we took pudding club to them so all our residents got to enjoy a delicious treat.

Person centred care is of the upmost Importance here at Wheatlands. When Mary moved in it was extremely important that she could still play her Piano Ash head of maintenance rearranged our conservatory on memory lane so we now have a piano room that Mary can play her beloved piano to her hearts content. Music evokes emotions and memories which is so important to residents on our memory lane unit, musical interventions  have been shown to decrease agitation and also delays cognitive decline. As soon as Mary begins to play residents and staff a like gather round the piano to admire the beautiful music and also can sometimes breakout into a sing song.

We welcomed our smallest of friends here at Wheatlands the youngest little one is just 10 weeks old Una enjoyed lots of new born cuddles with Vinnie. Jiggy Wrigglers Kidderminster, Ludlow and Bridgnorth runs a special vintage session designed especially for care settings.

The bond our residents and the children have made really is magical and we can't wait to see how much they have grown when we welcome them back in June.

Music and interaction with others can stimulate positive memories associated with happy moments in a person's life. Upbeat music promotes physical movement and general mobility along with the release of endorphins, leading to laughter, happiness and a feeling of positivity.

Intergenerational activities bring together people from different generations and has a positive impact on both our residents and also the children. The room was filled with joy, happiness and lots of bubbles! It was truly a magical morning for everyone.