Activities at Wheatlands Care Home

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.

Not only do our residents enjoy group activities but also person centred one to one activities. These are so important to our residents here Wheatlands where they get to continue and enjoy hobbies and pursuits. The bad weather didn't stop Duncan continuing with his. Duncan is in charge of topping up all the bird feeders here at Wheatlands something that he has done all his adult life he used to love refilling the ones at his old cottage. We weren't brave enough to be out in the bitter cold so we brought the feeders in and topped them up the warmth with a lovely filter coffee. Duncan told me how important it is to ensure we put food out especially at this time of year. Whilst we were topping them up we enjoyed some music as Duncan enjoyed learning how to us Amazon Alexa he was amazed that every song he choose was on there. We enjoyed everything from Dirty Old Town by The Pogues to Clyde Valley Stompers where we immersed ourselves into the world of Jazz.

The air was full of joy and happiness on valentine’s day. The fabulous Tom Bryne sang a collection of classic love songs and hits from over the decades. Residents sang and danced the afternoon away in true Wheatlands style we love nothing more than a party! Judy spent all afternoon on the dance floor spinning and twirling she told us how she used to love going to tea dances when she was younger. She enjoyed it so much she gave Tom her rose to thank him for such a special day and bringing so many memories back.

Our residents from memory lane visited the Butterfly Café in Bridgnorth run by the league of friends within the hospital grounds. The group is for people with memory loss and their careers. Our residents had a fantastic afternoon enjoying coffee and delicious homemade cake Jan said ‘the lemon drizzle cake was just like her mum used to make’. Geof was joined by his daughter Alison who has become a volunteer here at Wheatlands. After chatting away with some new friends everyone joined in with some group exercises and ball games which became very competitive indeed! There was even time for a group sing a long before making our way home driving through the beautiful Shropshire countryside.