What types of care does Hickathrift House Care Home offer?

Hickathrift House Care Home offers Residential care, Dementia care, Respite / Short stay.

Activities at Hickathrift House Care Home

We have two Activities Coordinators here at Hickathrift House. We have a wide range of activities within the home, including musical entertainment, arts & crafts, clubs for like-minded people, such as flower arranging and gardening, board games, baking (where the best bit is the eating afterwards!), and we celebrate special events throughout the year. We also have trips out on a regular basis using our own minibus, where we find out places of interest each person would like to visit.

It is important to us that each individual who we support can get as much from these activities as possible, so we try our best to arrange activities that reflect their interests and capabilities, and encourage them to participate in any way they can. We also encourage relatives to join in with activities and events as often as they can.

For the less mobile residents, we unique one-to-one session, such as simple chats over a cup of tea, reading or listening to music. Activities are some of the most important aspects of a care home, so it is essential that our team are dedicated to ensuring that residents are entertained, and that life at Hickathrift House is fun and active.

Watch our video on life enrichment in our homes.

Kat Colangelo

Activities Lead

Hello, my name is Kat and I am the Activities Lead here at Hickathrift House.

Since 2017 I have been working in the field of well-being and I am passionate and enthusiastic about enriching all our of residents' quality of life.

As the Activities Lead at Hickathrift House, my focus is learning about each of our resident's likes and dislikes and supporting them to remain receptive and active in addition to supporting them to engage with our local community friends.

I organise activities to stimulate the mind, body and soul in an enjoyable, comfortable way. My aim is to diversify and increase activities ensuring that there is something for everyone - from Wine and Cheese events, excursions on our home Mini Bus as well as individual bespoke person-centered activities.

Read our brochure 'Life-enriching activities' for more information about life in our care homes.
Read our brochure

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 Hickathrift House Care Home

Harrogate Chocolate Factory

We had a brilliant time across our services with Harrogate Skills 4 Living as they took us on a wonderful virtual visit to their Harrogate Chocolate Factory.

Residents were thrilled to discover details about the chocolate-making process and the fascinating journey from bean to bar, all while enjoying some delicious sweet treats.

The Factory aims to employ people with learning disabilities and autism, involving them in all parts of the process, from sorting and roasting the beans to packaging and sales. The experience was truly enjoyed by all who joined this event.

Beat The Clock

We continue to celebrate a varied life enrichment programme and across our services we linked up with other Barchester care homes and hospitals up and down the country for some interactive Beat the Clock games.

Our residents truly enjoyed solving word puzzles, conundrums and mathematical problems as part of Barchester’s very own game show series.

Everyone who joined had a fantastic time and enjoyed some friendly competition.

Resident's dream comes true

Avice, a resident at Barchester’s Hickathrift House Care Home, has been knitting teddy bears for children at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for over a decade. Avice had always wanted to take a trip to Queen Elizabeth Hospital to drop these teddies off herself, so the staff at the home made her wish a reality.

Avice originally started knitting teddy bears after answering the call during the 2004 tsunami and since then donated to numerous charities and causes, one being the Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s Rudham Ward. Over the years, she’s estimated to have donated thousands of teddies to the hospital and her daughter would drop these off for her.

Marie Curie Daffodil Appeal

This month residents chose Marie Curie and the Daffodil Appeal as their Charity of the Month. On the Day of Reflection, we themed our painting club to create vibrant paintings of daffodils as well as abstract pieces of artwork. These lovely, impactful paintings are on display in the reception below our Marie Curie fundraising tin.

This wonderful cause was chosen by residents and during the activity we were reflecting on our own lives and losses. It was a meaningful activity that brought residents closer and helped us all feel there was a strong purpose for our painting club this month.

Ray, a new resident said, "I haven't painted in years. But this is a great cause it made me feel like I had to pick up my paint brushes again. With a bit more practice I'll help make even more artwork to raise awareness I hope".

Mother's Day

Mother’s Day is a day to show love, gratitude and appreciation to all the wonderful mums and caregivers everywhere.
Residents and staff were spoilt with beautiful charms from volunteer Aidan and his mum in the morning. Residents reminisced about their roles as mothers and what their favourite part about being a mum is while receiving these lovely gifts. We can't thank them enough for their kindness and for bringing so much joy to our home.

Many loved ones joined their mums for a scrumptious Mothering Sunday Roast Lunch and then spent the afternoon singing, laughing and dancing away to the residents' favourite musical entertainers KJ & the Catt.

World Book Day

WOW what a page-turner of a day. In the morning we had the pleasure of visiting Wisbech Library and loved exploring the stories available. At Hickathrift, staff dressed up as their favourite book characters including Willy Wonka, Oompa Loompas, Queen of Hearts, the Cheshire Cat, Ariel and Mary Poppins which filled the home with laughter and joy. Our monthly book trolley launched and the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland handed out an assortment of books from romance to history. We were then busy making personal bookmarks and taking part in a famous novels quiz, which we successfully scored an impressive 12 out of 15.

Resident Brian told us his favourite genre of book is historic adventures and we found the perfect audiobook for him at the library that he can't wait to start!