Activities at Wheatlands Care Home

Dementia action week saw various activities throughout our memory lane community from gardening and sowing our forget me not seeds a symbol used by the alzheimer’s society to a morning of sport including table tennis and air hockey. We also enjoyed a fantastic 1950’s reminiscence session over a coffee and a slice of homemade cake. The topic of conversation was the hate of getting into a cold tin bath in front of the fire on a Sunday afternoon and ensuring you weren’t naughty otherwise you would be the last child to use the bath.

Val has always had a love and passion for gardening but has been unable to enjoy for some time due to not being able to get down low enough to weed and prune. She now has a beautiful raised flower bed that she can stand and tend to and watch bloom and flourish from her bedroom window. She’s now looking forward to getting her hanging baskets ‘Flowers put a smile on everyone’s faces and makes a dull day so much brighter’ val told us over a cuppa in our sensory garden.

We run a gentleman’s club monthly here at Wheatlands but no matter how much we tried one gentleman never wished join in. He has fond love of making things and tinkering so this month we took a different approach and brought some airfix models that Martin used to love to make. Martin then led the club for the morning showing fellow residents how to build the airfix model sharing his expertise and knowledge.

To celebrate Nutrition and Hydration week, our residents enjoyed lots of delicious and tasty treats and snacks ranging from Crudités and dips to water infused with cucumber and mint to increase hydration.

A highlight of the week was fresh fruit kebabs made by Jan one of our residents here at Wheatlands. Once she had assembled them she then served them to all our residents and staff. She enjoyed a chat with each and every person as she handed them out.

Jan said it reminded her of when she worked in a pub when she was younger and really enjoyed her day socialising.

We certainly didn’t let the snow stop us having fun! In fact, there were smiles all round! We spent the days drinking hot chocolates with baileys topped with whipped cream whilst reminiscing of snow days, particularly the big freeze of 1963 which lasted months. Some residents even braved the cold for a walk in the snow. There is nothing quite like being the first person to crunch through the fresh snow! We even had a snow ball fight. Jan said she hadn't laughed so much for years.

When Una came to live at Wheatlands, we sat down for a coffee to get to know her a little better and discovered one of her passions was art and particularly water colour painting, be it still art or copying a picture. We ensured we had the right materials so she could pursue her passion; she now paints at least once a week. Person centred care is at the forefront of what we do here at Wheatlands and we will do everything in our power for our residents to continue to pursue their hobbies and interests.