Activities at Wykeham House Care Home
Our activities team are great at building the activities programme around the likes and interests of the people we care for. Ensuring that our social events offer fun and adventure is part of the ethos of our home; it’s important that those we support can enjoy an active and social lifestyle. Of course, there will always be those who prefer peace and quiet, and in these instances, a cup of tea and a chat are always welcomed.
Rachel Stevens
I joined Wykeham House in October 2022 but I have worked doing activities in care homes since I left College, I began volunteering in a local home when I was 15 years old and then took on my first job in a care home when I was 18. I have enjoyed extending my knowledge to improve my work and have a Level 2 in Dementia Awareness, Domestic Abuse Awareness and Mental Health Awareness. I have also attended courses on End-Of-Life Activities as well as Dementia focused Activities. I love what I do and for me it is important that every day is a new day for our residents with new opportunities and a smiling face to come with it.
Activities and Events Partnerships
As part of our bespoke life-enrichment programmes, we host a number of live virtual events in the home on a regular basis through a number of partnerships with places of interest and world class performance companies
Life at Wykeham House Care Home
Jeans Wish Tree
Jean used to bake at home for her family every Sunday. Her children and grandchildren all remember popping round to Nans for a gorgeous cake or crumble. Her granddaughter remembers the Sunday smell of walking in to Nans home bakes. We decided to recreate the Sunday's the family remember by inviting them over for afternoon tea. Jean spent the morning with Shannon baking lots of wonderful sweet treats for her family to enjoy.
First Taste of Christmas
Our residents enjoyed a trip to the local garden centre to look at the Christmas displays. Residents from across the home enjoy regular trips out in the bus and with Christmas just around the corner we took a trip to Haskins at Snow hill to get some inspiration for our trees. We particularly loved their display of Christmas figurines, there was plenty to look at. All finished off with a slice of cake!
Fireworks Night
Residents took a trip on the minibus to the Horley Lions Firework Night at Horley Recreation Ground! Residents enjoyed a bus trip round to watch the fireworks and bonfire display. The Horley Lions Group made it possible for our residents to attend this community event by allowing a space in the carpark where residents could watch the display from the bus and enjoy a lovely hot chocolate!
Pick Your Own Pumpkin
Whilst we don't celebrate Halloween with Spooky Parties our residents still love a good Pumpkin. Residents took a trip to a local Pick Your Own Pumpkin patch, at Tulleys Farm and got involved in selecting the pumpkins that they will then create floral decorations in on Halloween. The residents enjoyed watching the children picking the biggest pumpkins for their parents to carry home and then picked their own smaller and more unusual pumpkins. We really did see it all… for those who thought pumpkins were all orange you couldn’t be more mistaken there was a huge range black pumpkins, red pumpkins, white pumpkins, pumpkins with warts and all different shapes and sizes!
A Visit from Joey
Residents at Wykeham House were overjoyed to meet Joey who is Rachel the activities lead’s cat. Joey came in to see a resident in her room as her wish from our resident wish tree which can be found in our reception area. Joyce’s wish was to see a cat. Joyce loved her visit from Joey and he was so well behaved he took a trip around the rest of the home. Joey loves cuddles and a bit of attention so he was more than happy to meet our residents.
Deputy Manager Skydives for Charity
A carer at Wykeham House in Horley put the ‘fun’ into ‘fundraising’ with doing a charity skydive to raise money for The Royal Marsden.
Peng Li-Poole is the deputy manager at Wykeham House and has been worked for Barchester for 8 years.
Peng skydived on the 22nd October 2023 in Salisbury. This was Peng’s first time skydiving, and they raised a total of £410 for the charity which is “a world leader in cancer care, pioneering treatment and ground-breaking research.”
