Activities at North Park Care Home

This February, staff and residents at North Park were delighted to team up with Darlington Borough Council’s Housing Services, as part of a “Big Clean up” event around the Rise Carr area of Darlington. 

This initiative is hoped to strengthen the neighbourhood and reduce fly tipping within the area. Together, everyone joined forces to raise awareness of the increase in Fly Tipping and to tidy up the local area, uncovering all sorts of finds along the way. Despite the rain, Residents and staff got into the spirit of the day by donning their brightly coloured ponchos and really getting stuck in clearing everything from glass bottles to cans and wrappers to restore the area to its former glory.       

What an amazing morning we have had today, as we welcomed ZooLab to our home. Animal assisted therapy is recognised as an occupational therapy within psychology, suggesting animals bring people together.

ZooLab presenters are all “Dementia Friends” trained. This enables them to effectively offer high-quality, worthwhile experiences to those living with dementia.  Their therapy sessions build on the social and emotional benefits of animal engagement and the mental benefits of group activity. Their team helps lift the mood of the residents and staff and make their day better. Residents, staff and visitors enjoyed learning all about the animals and being able to touch, stroke or just see them.        

Our General Manager, Lisa has received a prestigious 10 Year Service Award in celebration of working at Barchester Healthcare for 10 years, alongside our Care Assistant, Editha who has worked at North Park for 15 years.

Lisa now General Manager started at Barchester in January 2016 and Editha MacDonald, Care Assistant started in 2011 have both have worked with residents and their relatives to ensure that their needs have been met over the years. 

Residents and colleagues of North Park held their popular annual Christmas Fayre, bringing together residents, families, and the community for festive celebrations. 

The event featured a selection of stalls hosting handmade gifts, crafts, and seasonal treats. It was a wonderful way to kick-start the home's Christmas festivities. 

This Valentine’s season residents expressed their love of creativity by creating love-themed masterpieces to display in the home, along with handmade with love Valentine’s cards, to bring joy to friends and family.    

This January at North Park, we welcomed the very talented Kev The Care Home Singer to the home for a very special performance on our Memory Lane community. The Dodds Family kindly collected some money for the funeral of their much-loved wife and mum, and asked for this to be used in her memory by the residents in our Memory Lane community. 

And so this was the first of many entertainers booked in her memory for our residents to enjoy as she would have. Everyone had such a fantastic afternoon, with lots of dancing, singing, laughter and smiles. On behalf of our residents, we would like to thank the Dodds family for their kind donation and Kev for pulling out all the stops to ensure that our residents had the best afternoon.   

Each year hospitality teams from Barchester homes and hospitals up and down the country compete for the coveted Christmas Cake of the Year title.  The competition is run by the central hospitality team and the bar is set very high. Many of Barchester’s chefs are trained in patisserie and the Christmas cake designs are very elaborate and highly technical.  Competition is fierce and only the very best recipes and designs will prevail.

The hospitality team at North Park put their heads together and donned their aprons to come up with the most amazing Christmas cake decorated to perfection.  Their fabulous cake is designed as a Christmas fire place and consists of a delicious homemade Fruit Christmas Cake. Annie came up with the idea as she felt that it embodied a cosy warm evening around the fire place. 

Staff swapped their uniforms for costumes on National Elf Day (Wednesday, December 3rd) in an effort to raise Christmas cheer as well as raise money for Alzheimer’s Society. Launched by the Alzheimer’s Society and delivered direct from the North Pole, Elf Day was created to sprinkle some festive cheer on fundraising towards finding a cure for dementia. From stripy socks to head-to-toe elf outfits, anything goes – there’s snow better way to raise money to help beat dementia.

On the day, residents and staff at North Park were able to enjoy elf-themed games, including best-dressed elf competition, Christmas quiz, and elf-bingo paired with a festive-themed spread as the team at the home donned their elfish apparel.  The Elves could be seen Elf'ing about the Wards at Darlington Memorial Hospital, spreading festive Joy to all, whilst delivering sweet bags and festive cheers to the Children’s wards and the frail elderly wards.

This February we had a flippin' good day as we held our annual Shrove Tuesday celebrations! Residents and the team enjoyed an array of traditional toppings including, sugar and lemon, treacle, honey, and golden syrup!

A wonderfully delicious day!    

At North Park, we love our monthly keep fit sessions, and to kick-start the new year, we extended a warm welcome to the local community to join us for the very first keep fit with Jerome session of 2026 at the end of January.

What a fantastic afternoon everyone had. There was so much energy and laughter, residents can’t wait for our next session in February.

Jerome is a firm favourite at North Park. He encourages everyone to take part, including staff, relatives, and visiting professionals.   

Residents of our care homes attended a very special festive treat!

Our residents enjoyed a recording of 2020’s OLD VIC: IN CAMERA – A Christmas Carol. Matthew Warchus’ big-hearted, smash-hit production of the Charles Dickens’ immortal classic, adapted for the stage by Jack Thorne.

A big thank you to The Old Vic theatre for sharing this unforgettable performance with us. We can’t wait to tune in. 
© A Christmas Carol image | Photo: Manuel Harlan