Activities at Wheatlands 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.
Katie Macey
Hi, my name is Katie, and I have a passion for travel and have been lucky enough to spend a year in India and South East Asia. I’m also a real foodie and very family-orientated. If I’m not at work, I’m at my daughter’s dance studio!
I started working at Wheatlands back in 2018 part-time within the housekeeping team after relocating from London to Much Wenlock with my husband and young daughter. My grandparents were from Much Wenlock. The town and the greater community are extremely important to me and has always had a place in my heart.
In 2022, I took over as the Activities Coordinator. Having a background in the hospitality industry, I wished to have a change of career due to having a young family. I now use those transferable skills on a daily basis here at Wheatlands. I have always had a passion for going above and beyond, which in turn allows me to enrich the lives of our residents through ensuring tailored person-centred activities, be it on a one-to-one basis or in group activities, giving our residents a sense of purpose and belonging. I thrive to ensure all our residents' lives are enriched through a varied activities programme, ensuring friends, family and our local community are involved on a regular basis.
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 Wheatlands Care Home
The Trolley of Joy
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?
Pony visit
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.
Frivolous Fridays
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!
Flower Arranging!
Here at Wheatlands Care Home, person-centred activities are of the utmost importance whether our residents here are permanent or here on a respite stay.
As soon as we heard that our newest respite resident was an avid flower arranger, we added it in to our weekly activity schedule. Other residents across the home also enjoyed this activity.
There's something about having fresh flowers that just brightens up the dullest of days and makes everyone smile.
Nutrition and Hydration Week
Here at Wheatlands we have enjoyed a whole host of events throughout the week, focusing on the importance of good nutrition and ensuring both our residents and staff stay hydrated.
We held a ladies that lunch event in our cafe. It was a chance to bring people together to enjoy a delicious and nutritious 3-course meal cooked by our fabulous chefs.
Barbara said, "What a treat it feels like we have gone to a real restaurant!"
We decided to end the week today with a wine and cheese afternoon. Residents across both our communities and those in their bedrooms enjoyed a selection of cheese and cured meats and se carefully paired wines.
Music Therapy
Music is so important in all our lives. It manages to spark lots of memories and always brings so much joy and happiness. That's why music therapy is so important to all our residents, especially those on our memory lane unit. Residents enjoyed another incredible music therapy session from our friends at Kiddleydivey Shropshire, Mid Wales & Wolverhampton - Adults.
It was another interactive and lively music session. Each and every song took us down memory lane as we sang and danced the morning away. The room was full of so much joy and happiness it truly was magical to be apart of. The session evoked many conversations which carried on long after the session had finished over a cuppa and a delicious homemade cake.
