Activities at Hickathrift House Care Home

As part of our International Women’s Day celebrations, Residents from across our services were thrilled to join tour guide, Mandy Morrow, for an exciting talk about some Legendary London Ladies.

Mandy shared the fascinating stories of eight ladies with us, from the one of the richest heiresses in the world to the original 'Roaring Girl'.

Everyone who participated truly enjoyed the experience and were delighted to take a walk down memory lane.

Staff and residents joined fellow keen dabbers from over 250 Barchester care homes and hospitals across the whole of the UK, including Wales, Scotland, Jersey and the Isle of Wight, to compete in the biggest game of bingo Barchester has ever seen!

General Manager, Paula Colman said: “We’ve got some real bingo fanatics at our home, we are very competitive - our residents love taking part in anything where winning is involved, you could hear a pin drop in here when we were all playing.”

Here at Hickathrift House residents and staff demonstrate they strongly support the right to be who you are with a range of events that raise awareness, understanding and support for the LGBTQ+ community. This month we have been providing information from the resident's chosen charity, Opening Doors. Opening Doors helps to connect LGBTQ+ people over 50 with activities, events, support and information. We themed our monthly dementia cafe with rainbow paintings and crafts and residents and staff wore colours to make up the rainbow. Additionally, we've been learning about prominent icons of the LGBTQ+ community with a memory-matching game and quizzes. Val, a resident at Hickathrift House was sharing her thoughts on Christine Jorgensen, the first trans woman, and said, "Oh she's so pretty. It's what she wants to be. As long as people are kind to each other that's all that matters".

What a wonderful time we've had celebrating Valentine's Day and all things about love and kindness with our local Primary School. We have to start off by saying a gigantic thank you to pupils in the Beech Class from Marshland St James VC Primary School and Nursery for their absolutely stunning and adorable cards. There were enough that every single resident received one. The beautiful comments inside made us all smile, some of our favourites were, "You're the best" and "I hope you have a great day, as you're great". Such kindness from these lovely children brought the residents and staff so much happiness. We proudly pinned up their lovely sign for all to see this February in reception. We can’t wait to visit them next month with some of our Easter-themed celebrations.

We've been busy celebrating Pancake Day, known as Shrove Tuesday, with a variety of delicious pancakes, themed games and a meaningful church service. Residents had a wonderful day starting off with the amazing Church Service from the local Methodist Church. We always have an incredible time, full of hymns, singing and prayers. A huge thank you to the fantastic volunteers who visit. At lunchtime, our bellies were filled with delicious pancakes by our Head Chef, Andy. The pancake games then began with a pancake memory game and a pancake flipping competition. Everyone was laughing and cheering each other on. There were several hilarious moments throughout but one that had the whole room laughing was the competition between Joan and her daughter Viv. Thankfully Violet ended the tense competition by "accidentally" knocking Viv's pancake out of the race. It was a flipping fun day, and it was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Across our homes we had a fantastic time joining, Kathryn Delve, Master Florist, for a Valentine’s-inspired live virtual flower arranging demonstration. Kathryn shared brilliant and creative ways to decorate our tables with beautiful flowers that are sure to make your heart swoon!

Those participating in this virtual event put their skills to the test and followed along with some amazing creations of their own.  Residents truly enjoyed the experience.