Shropshire Council

Daycare services

Cycling at Abbots WoodWe offer three service areas: building-based, community and digital. The following is a selection of what we presently offer. Our aim is to provide our attendees with an array of choices. All our staff work in a person-centred manner and are flexible in providing tailor-made activities, which promote wellbeing, individual interest and the meeting of individual outcomes.

Independent living skills

Staff will plan pockets of time to support individual one-to-one learning to promote increased independence and meet individual outcomes, whether this is in areas of finance, cooking, personal hygiene or recreational/vocational activities. We operate a keyworker system.

Shop and cook

Abbots Wood bakingOur attendees have the choice to decide on the meal they'd like to prepare, and with support visit the shop to get the ingredients they require, and return to prepare the meal, thus developing various skills towards achieving greater independence.

Walking group

We're part of the “Walking for Health” national scheme - many of our attendees enjoy our weekly local walks, and at other times we walk to the local bird hide to watch the wildlife. The all-ability walking path near the hide and the river includes a picnic area.

Bikes

Abbots Wood bikesWe have a variety of different bikes to meet various abilities, along with the necessary safety equipment. We have several trikes, a tandem, a front loader for wheelchair users to enjoy, and a hand bike which is pedalled with your hands rather than legs. We use these outside in our car park area. We offer training, and with the confidence that comes from that training can take rides in the immediate local community.

Arts and crafts

Abbots Wood arts and craftsWe make and create many arts and crafts pieces, from small individual pieces, cards, knitting and hand crafts, to larger group projects including decoupage, a large wooden storage box, bottle top Christmas tree, and stone snake creations, along with other seasonal crafts and artwork for display or to advertise our fetes, fairs, BBQs and discos.

Gardening

Abbots Wood gardenOur gardening group takes place in the summer months, where service users are encouraged to plant and create in our own garden areas and local allotment. We plant tomatoes, salad leaf, spring onions, radish and beetroot, not forgetting our bedding plants and flowers.

In our local allotment we grow potatoes, runner beans, courgettes, onions, cucumber, sprouts, cauliflower, purple broccoli, gooseberries, raspberries, rhubarb and blackcurrants. We're very busy and our attendees, especially those with green fingers, love participating in growing these items, and hopefully eating them later!   

Gym

Abbots Wood gymWe've begun to develop our mini gym, which includes exercises bikes that you ride as bicycles and that you recline on to pedal. Soon we're to include a treadmill, rowing machine and a seated walking machine, and a couple of portable mini-pedal machines to use from any chair. All of these will encourage individuals to be active in order to promote a healthy lifestyle.

Community

Due to recent Covid-related restrictions, we can meet any service users in their homes to go out for walks local to them, and visit shops or places of interest.

We have a garden allotment locally that we visit weekly to further encourage those who enjoy gardening. We also have a weekly local walking group to promote good health.

During the pandemic we initially provided weekly activity packs, and as we've opened up the building we've reduced this to fortnightly. These are filled with various items, depending on the service user's personal interests. Examples include arts and crafts, word searches, DVDs, music, cooking ideas and recipes, or gardening ideas and seeds, delivered to our attendees’ doorsteps.

Digital services

We have a service Facebook account, and are developing a Facebook portal. You'll find our fun Makachat singalong songs online, and we're always looking at ways to expand our digital uses. We've recently started offering online cooking/baking opportunities for attendees who can interact online and follow instruction, with staff monitoring the process to create various recipes. We have Zoom conversations and are always experimenting with digital opportunities.

Abbots Wood is a progressive and forward thinking service. We aim to continue to provide what we presently do, but continue to expand our services and offer multiple activities in response to our changing lifestyles post-pandemic.  

Should you require further information or wish to visit Abbots Wood please contact us using the details on this page.