Activities at Wheatlands Care Home

Residents here at Wheatlands love to keep fit through regular exercise. This not only helps maintain their physical health but also supports their mental wellbeing. On Saturday 21st June, it was international yoga day, so we decided to celebrate and learn something new, the art of laughter yoga, as you’re never too old to learn!  We invited Caroline Coulman yoga instructor, in for the morning, to teach us the art of laughter yoga otherwise known as hasya yoga. 

It is a practice that combines laughter, exercises with yoga and breathing techniques. It’s a form of exercise designed to stimulate laughter, along with deep breathing. Laughter yoga not only offers physical benefits but also helps reduce stress, improve mood and enhance wellbeing. 

From the moment Caroline started, the room was filled with so much laughter. We haven’t belly laughed that in so long Joan, 102, said ‘It’s so nice to be silly and see everyone having so much fun’. None of us knew what to expect, but we all loved every single moment of the session, from the residents to the staff.

It's true what they say: laughter really is the best medicine!

Elsie was beaming from ear to ear when she found out her son Peter’s special news. He was awarded an MBE in the King’s New Year’s Honours list. In May, he made the trip down to Windsor Castle to receive his MBE from the Prince of Wales. We invited Peter Gibbons MBE to Wheatlands for a special celebration and a prosecco reception where Elsie could join in and share in her son's joy.

Peter gave a talk to our residents and, of course, Elsie about his time at Windsor Castle and receiving such an honour and how nervous he felt about meeting Prince William and ensuring he bowed at the correct time. He said ‘I needn’t have bothered, as he was lovely and so down-to-earth. We spoke about my work in Ukraine.’ 

Peter is the Chief Security Officer for Network Rail. He delivered the UK’s £10m aid programme to Ukrainian Railways. He secured funding from the Foreign Offices overseas development aid budget and work closely with technical engineers to ensure equipment was suitable for Ukraine’s railways.

To celebrate D-Day we invited friends and family to join us for our D-Day street party. We enjoyed a delicious afternoon tea prepared by our talented kitchen team, but in true British style the heavens opened up so we had to move the party inside to our memory lane unit where the super-talented Bertie Blighty sang hits from the 1940's as residents, family and friends danced and sang the afternoon away in true Wheatlands Care Home style! 

We were delighted to be joined by our very special guests and friends from Field House Care Home - Barchester Healthcare, our sister care home.

Residents enjoyed the arranging of VE celebrations across the week in both our residential and memory lane communities. Residents enjoyed sharing memories together. There was a lot of joy and laughter in and around the home with a few sombre moments as we remembered the sacrifices that were made.

Albert attended our church service with his medals as he wanted to represent all those that couldn’t be with us and the Fallon soldiers. Carolyn from Kiddletdivey music therapy treated us to the best of British morning residents and the staff danced and sang the morning away together in true Wheatlands style! It really was a week not to be missed. 

As part of our make a wish initiative, Joan wanted to go somewhere special as part of her 102nd birthday celebrations. She chose a trip to Blist Hill Victorian museum where she met her niece, who enjoyed the day with her and fellow resident Mary.  

It really did feel like we had all stepped back in time, walking through the streets of a Victorian town, visiting the local shops and taking in all the tights and sounds of yesteryear. Joan especially enjoyed a trip to the general store and reminiscing about all the old brands ‘Tate and Lyle’ brought lots of memories flooding back, as Joan’s dad and Grandfather used to work at its Liverpool factory. She said they were the backbone of the business. 

Joan and Mary then enjoyed a trip to the New Inn Pub where they sang Happy Birthday to Joan and everyone in the pub enjoyed a good old-fashioned sing-song around the piano enjoying old Victorian songs. One of Joan’s favourites was ‘boiled beef and carrots’, a traditional Victorian song played around the piano. We finished the day off with traditional fish and chips cooked in beef dripping and a good old-fashioned cuppa!  

We are so lucky to live in an area stooped in history. Our residents enjoy having guest speakers, and we were delighted to welcome Chris from the Wenlock Olympian Society for the morning. 

The Wenlock Olympic Games date back to 1850 and was founded by Dr William Penny Brookes to provide annual competitions in sports and the arts and continues to be held yearly.

The Wenlock Olympic Games inspired the modern Olympic Games. Did you know one of the mascots of London 2012 was named Wenlock? Residents enjoyed a fascinating talk and even got to hold an Olympic torch!

Here at Wheatlands Care Home we are always thinking of new ways to enrich the lives of our residents. We decided to upcycle an old meds trolley and turn it into a mobile tuck shop. This new venture quickly evolved before taking it on its maidan voyage around the home. 

After listening to our residents at a recent resident's meeting, we have added some extra items, including magazines and a selection of cards to Activity Co-Ordinator Kate's mini shop and mobile library, which will go all around the home on a weekly basis.

We are looking to improve our library, so if you have any books or old magazines you could donate, please give them to Kate or drop them off at our reception. Who can then pass them onto our new resident librarian?

Here at Wheatlands we are great animal lovers. Lots of our residents have farming backgrounds and or have grown up in the countryside. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to have some ponies in our home. Moomin and Lollipop from Lollipop Pony Parties visited our residents. Can you imagine their faces when two ponies walked into the lounge? It was priceless. 

They even visited those residents in their bedrooms and went in the lift, so everyone within the home had the opportunity to say hello and feed them a carrot or three! Pet therapy animals have a wonderful calming effect and our residents love to pet them. 

It brought so many memories back, especially for Racheal, as her husband used to be a VET who specialised in horses and was well known in the farming community.

Life enrichment here at Wheatlands Care Home is a whole-home approach, from our amazing kitchen team through to our fantastic carers. 

We have decided to lay down all tools each and every Friday afternoon,  so every member of staff within the building, including our office team, spends some quality time with our residents.

'Frivolous Fridays' was born a few weeks ago. These one-to-one or group activities are very person-centred.

Residents have enjoyed talks about girl guiding, the local Gorge Museums, pamper sessions, walks around the grounds and even feeding our fish!  Time on our Rainbow tablet for a cuppa and a good chinwag!