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

Walk for Dementia

Deputy Manager, Paula Colman, completed the Alzheimer’s Society Memory Walk on Sunday 16th September. The leisurely stroll took place at the Sandringham Estate, Norfolk, and started at the visitor centre. Paula thoroughly enjoyed the walk and is excited to see the final total of how much she raised.

Games Afternoon

Residents had a lovely afternoon on Tuesday 4th September playing games and puzzles. Snakes & Ladders did get very competitive!

10 Years of Service

Sue Pawszak, now a Team Leader, started at Barchester in September 2008 and has worked with residents and their relatives to ensure that their needs have been met every since.

Memory Walk

Deputy Manager, Paula Colman, is putting the ‘fun’ into ‘fundraising’ by taking part in the Memory Walk at Sandringham on 16th September to raise money for Alzheimer’s Society. Paula, along with dozens of other people expected to attend, will walk to raise money for the fight against dementia. She is hoping to raise £150 and you can donate towards this target by visiting her JustGiving page here.

The Memory Walk at Sandringham has two different lengths: a 1.5km and a 6.5km. Last year’s event raised £2600 for the Alzheimer’s Society, with a total of 74 people taking part. On the day, participants are advised to arrive at 10:30am for an 11:00am start.

Summer Fête

Staff, residents, relatives and the local community came together at Hickathrift House to enjoy a Summer Fête that was held in the home’s grounds on Saturday 18th August.

Hickthrift House hosted a variety of activities throughout the day, including crafts and jewellery stalls, live entertainment, a raffle with some fantastic prizes, which were donated by local businesses; and an amazing BBQ, courtesy of BrambleBee Farm. The Deputy Mayor, Peter Human, opened the fête, and everyone loved meeting him.

Staff at Hickathrift House made everyone feel welcome and were delighted to see different generations having fun together – it really was a team effort!

Rose Fair

Staff, volunteers and residents had a lovely time on 4th & 5th of July when they went to visit the Rose Fair, which is held every year in Wisbech.

We were lucky enough to have beautiful sunshine for the day and the ladies especially loved looking at all of the fantastic flower displays in St Peters Church. They also spent some time looking at the stalls and eating ice creams. We always enjoy our visits to the Rose Fair and can't wait until next year's.