Activities at North Park Care Home
Our home is always full of life, and we can thank our wonderful Activities Coordinators for this. Dedication to creating a unique and interesting activities programme is what sets us apart from other homes. We always take into consideration that some people would prefer to pursue their own interests, which is why our team strive to incorporative activities that cater to a wide range of tastes and hobbies. Our trips out are always fun and exciting as well, and residents are guaranteed to return with stories to tell their loved ones!
Claire Liddy
Hi, my name is Claire, and I am Lead Activities Coordinator at North Park. I have 15 years’ experience in the role, three years at North Park and absolutely love my job. I like to involve the local community in events within the home, so we have connections with local churches, schools and community groups. We have a PAT dog that visits weekly, so our residents can enjoy pet therapy, and lots of external entertainers, who come into the home regularly as well; in addition to fairs, monthly coffee morning and so much more.
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 North Park Care Home
Young volunteer aces training
Residents and colleagues at North Park Care Centre in Darlington were delighted when young 9 year old volunteer, Logan Taylor completed Barchester’s First Aid at Work practical training alongside other staff members at the home.
Delighted nine year old Logan, who is a pupil at Harrowgate Hill Primary School was presented with his certificate of completion and will enjoy a celebratory party before heading back to school.
Logan spends lots of time visiting residents at North Park Care Centre, especially in the school holidays bringing the residents feelings of joy, making them laugh, demonstrating the latest dance crazes and joining in activities.
Summer Fete brings community together
Staff, residents, relatives and the local community came together at North Park Care Centre in Darlington to enjoy a Summer Fete that was held in the home’s grounds on Saturday 20th August and opened by Darlington’s Mayor, Councilor Anne-Marie Curry.
North Park Care Centre hosted a variety of activities throughout the day, including putting the staff in the stocks, hook a duck, tombola and karaoke which were enjoyed by everyone who came to the event.
Staff at North Park Care Centre made everyone feel welcome and were delighted to see different generations having fun together. Visitors enjoyed plenty of refreshments, such as pulled pork buns, hotdogs and delicious home made coconut ice and chocolate fudge prepared by the catering team, who were hard at work making sure that a great time was had by all – it really was a team effort!
Music through the ages
Our homes had a brilliant time with curator Sarah Deters as she took us on a virtual ‘Music Through the Ages’ tour of St Cecilia’s Hall: Concert Room and Music Museum.
Our residents were thrilled to discover weird and wonderful musical instruments, hear their unusual sounds, and find out how instruments have changed over the last 500 years.
The virtual live event explored the world-renown collection of musical instruments on display at St Cecilia’s Hall, Scotland’s oldest concert hall.
A wish comes true
Staff from Barchester’s North Park Care Centre, in Darlington have been having a fantastic time granting residents wishes. Wishes have included having a paddle in the sea, going to Redcar for fish, chips and a lemon top and having a picnic in a park with Taylor’s hot pork pies.
Senior General Manager, Lisa Frame said: “We absolutely love being able to make our residents so happy, we have had some fantastic days providing residents with meaningful experiences and creating new memories for them to treasure and we’ve all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.”
Christine Todd resident at North Park Care Centre said: “We have all had the most wonderful time and enjoy being able to tell others about our wishes, and, listening to others about theirs. It is so lovely of the staff to do this for us I for one loved my paddle in the sea it was bliss.”
Opera delight
Our homes had a fabulous time with the talented soprano Astrid Joos from Street Theatre. Astrid spoke about a selection of famous operas and our residents were treated to performances of wonderful arias from operas well-known to all, such as ‘Giuditta’, ‘Don Giovanni’ and ‘Le Nozze di Figaro’.
It was a lovely experience, truly enjoyed by all.
The 'King' is in the building!
Residents were overjoyed when they welcomed the 'King' into the building to perform a medley of his famous hits. There was lots of singing and dancing as residents remembered Elvis, the performance left the ladies swooning and giggling as he presented them with flowers. It was a fun-filled afternoon for all and everyone is looking forward to the homes next live performance.
Upcoming events
Meeting Room for Hire
Are you looking for a venue? Look no further! North Park is also close to local amenities and not far from the A1.
Could you be a Volunteer?
We recognise the impact a Volunteer can make on the lives of our residents, do you have any spare time? For more information we'd love to hear from you.
Emergency Services - Take a break on us!
Calling all emergency services personnel - police, ambulance and fire services, district nurses - come and take a break on us, there maybe a cake or two available....
