Activities at Thistle Hill Care Home

Residents at Thistle Hill home in Knaresborough virtually travelled to a location of their choice on Thursday 25th February.

Residents were asked which country they would like to visit this summer for a trip and chose Hawaii. Residents chose Hawaii because of the warm weather, the cuisine, and sandy beaches and to feel that they were on holiday.

Residents enjoyed touring and learning about the national monuments in Hawaii using google maps, the internet, and virtual tours on their tablets. They saw highlights of the country known for its white-sandy beaches and hula dancing, a pit-stop to Oahu, to see warships from World War II and then kicked back on the iconic white shores of Waikiki Beach from the comfort of their own armchairs.

‘G’day folks!’ The residents at the Thistle Hill Care Centre headed down under and embraced 'Australia Day'

After rustling up some Australian themed grub including fairy bread, vegemite sarnies, cheese twizzlers and some Australian pastry rolls.

Our residents then proceeded to enjoy a virtual walk around Sydney via our big screen projector.

Our residents at the Thistle Hill Care Centre enjoyed a themed day of good old fashioned fun at the pub, including a quiz, darts, dominoes and music.

There was a warm welcome at the "Barchester Arm's" as residents enjoyed a selection of the finest ales and spirits supplied by our head chef and brewery master Paul.

Our up and coming chef-in-training Katherine excelled herself by cooking up a fabulous selection of themed pub food including scampi & chips, beef & ale pie, pork pie & mushy peas and fish & chips which was thoroughly enjoyed by our residents.

“Gong hei choy” Happy new year!   The Thistle Hill care centre celebrated the Chinese New Year and welcomed in the year of the Ox with quizzes, trivia, and music and dancing dragon parades projected on to our big screen, everyone had a fun day.

Our fabulous team in the kitchen lead by head chef, Paul put on a fabulous Chinese banquet consisting of freshly made prawn crackers, vegetable dim sum, then there was a delicious main choice of a chicken chow mein or vegetable egg fried rice.

Thistle Hill Care Home in Knaresborough has recently brought a bit of magic to residents by providing a new ‘Magic Table 360 and the Happiness Programme’ as a way to improve residents’ quality of life.

Designed and manufactured in the UK, the Magic Table 360 uses interactive games to connect residents with staff and with each other, and research shows it improves the wellbeing of people living with dementia. Using interactive light projections, the Magic Table 360, which can be played independently or in a group, stimulates movement by inviting participants to take part in all sorts of different fun activities such as popping bubbles, playing the piano, colouring in pictures, sweeping leaves or interacting playfully with fish. Games are rich in colour, movement and detail, and allow people of all ages to play in a safe and comfortable environment.

The Magic Table 360 is portable so it can be used wherever residents feel most comfortable, it can be projected onto the floor, ceiling, walls, a whiteboard or even the bed. The Happiness Programme allows for a range of games that change seasonally and have country-specific versions covering 14 different categories, so there will always be something new for residents to try.

Residents and staff at the Thistle Hill care home were thrilled and delighted to receive our first Covid vaccination dose.    Staff and resident see this as our first step to being reunited with loved ones again.

We would like to thank the healthcare professionals who provided a seamless service, vaccinating over 150 people in under two hours, which was remarkable.   In the afternoon our residents took part in a vaccination party, with fun, laughter, food and drink we showed coved what we thought of it by beating it with a stick!

Our Covid piñata didn’t last long before it was rightfully destroyed by our residents.