Care home that’s truly going ‘Above & Beyond’

One care home in Finchampstead is literally going ‘above and beyond’ to make its residents feel special. Wild Acres Care Home has 26 bedrooms set in lovely grounds, offering individual care in a nurturing and engaging environment so that the residents can live happy and meaningful lives. My Wokingham met up at Wild Acres…

What is different about Wild Acres Care Home?

We are quite different as a home. We focus on care rather than profit. Many of our staff have been with us for many years and they are all part of the Wild Acres family. The residents are all dear to us and their relatives are our extended family. We are small enough to offer a family environment but big enough to provide excellent and professional care.

How do the residents use the space within the care home?

We involve the residents in every aspect of the home - it is their space to enjoy, we try to personalise it for everyone; even with their own paintings hung on the walls outside their bedrooms.

We are fortunate that we have space all around the home as well as inside. We are a single storey building which means that residents have more opportunity to enjoy the outdoors, whether it is sitting on the terrace with a friend, enjoying a cup of tea whilst overlooking fields, or gardening in the grounds. We are currently in the process of creating a Zen garden in which everyone is getting involved.

Inside, we have a large lounge, sunlounge, and dining area. That provides lots of space for the various activities and events that we have on a daily basis.

What is the ‘Above and Beyond Project’?

At Wild Acres we are passionate about making each residents life meaningful to them.

We have two activity ladies, as well as our carers, who take the time with every individual to understand what is important to them to enhance their wellbeing. We have a very engaging and stimulating activity programme which creates laughter, movement, music, arts and crafts, knit and chat, baking, gardening, outside entertainers and the list goes on. We like to have fun. Sometimes just a one-toone chat is needed, and we always welcome friends and relatives to visit.

What is special at Wild Acres is that we try to bring dreams alive. For example, one of our residents has always supported the Welsh Football Team so for her birthday we arranged for the current Welsh team to send a photograph which was signed by every team player. Another of our residents has always liked cycling so we hired a rickshaw and took him out in that – his other wish was to finish the day with a pint in a pub! Another gentleman liked painting but is now blind, so we hold his hand whilst he creates the brush strokes.

We want to make a difference for every resident. We have many projects underway!

How do you nourish their bodies as well as their minds?

We have a dedicated chef and assistants who prepare all the meals fresh, catering to everyone’s likes and dislikes, considering all dietary requirements. It is important to us that our residents eat varied, well-balanced nutritional meals and are stimulated by the food that they eat. We never buy in ready meals. Food can often conjure up days from the past and take them on a trip down memory lane.

What sort of relationship do you have with the local community?

Our door is always open, and we want local people to feel they can visit. We are part of that community. We have children from a nursery school visit which brings much joy. We have been really touched how many local companies have supported Wild Acres, donating gifts for the benefit of our residents and for our tombola at our recent summer party. Just recently Wokingham Men’s Shed made us a fabulous potting table for the residents to use and is spacious enough to accommodate a wheelchair.

Volunteers are always welcome! It’s remarkable how rewarding it can be to make a difference to someone elderly. If you would like to help in some way, we’d love to meet you. We understand that choosing a care home is an important decision and can be a daunting experience. We encourage people to spend time meeting with us at Wild Acres so that they are comfortable and confident in their choice of home.

Wild Acres Care Home

440 Finchampstead Rd

Finchampstead

Wokingham RG40 3RB

T: 0118 973 3670 E: manager@wildacrescarehome.co.uk