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

Our teams are trained to enrich the lives of residents through stimulating the mind, body and soul, and taking the time to learn about each person to ensure everyone receives support that adds enrichment to their life.

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.

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

Digital Rainbow Table

At Hickathrift our Digital Rainbow Table is our new favourite gadget! We've loved taking part in jigsaw puzzles and our newest resident, Fran, just had to have a go at the piano. The various games and apps mean there is something for everyone.

This table is full of wonderful benefits and here are just some of those:
-Positive effect upon well-being by improving mood, reducing apathy and restlessness, as well as increasing engagement levels, especially in the mid-to-late stages of dementia.
-Increased physical, social and cognitive activity.
-Increased positive emotions and reduction of withdrawal-like symptoms.
An added benefit of our mobile Rainbow Table is that the residents can utilise it anywhere in their home; lounges, coffee area, the garden or even bedrooms – the fun will come to them!

Home host charity breakfast club!

Hickathrift hosted its first community charity breakfast of the year on February 18th to raise awareness and funds for Woodgreen Pet Charity.

Described as a “delicious event”, the breakfast included a full English, porridge, freshly baked croissants or cereal as well as an assortment of flavoured teas and coffees for anyone who wanted to attend and show their support.

Staff at the care home went the extra mile by decorating the room with pet décor and turning it green, and the community who attended chatted with residents and shared stories of their favourite meals, life stories and local history.

Resident realises dream

Resident, Kim had a wish to try authentic Chinese cuisine, so staff at the home made her wish a reality by visiting the Oriental Palace in West Winch, King’s Lynn for a delicious meal.

Kim, originally from Singapore, adores oriental cuisine and use to cook lots of Chinese food at home for her family. She will often comment about her love of food, especially noodles. Staff at the home were delighted to be a part of making her dream come true, as they knew how much food is a huge part of Kim’s identity and life.

Home goes down under for Australia Day

Residents at Hickathrift House have been discovering all things Antipodean in celebration of Australia Day, which took place on Sunday 26 January.

Residents took part in Australian-themed activities throughout the day including a virtual trip down under including a tour of Sydney Opera House, throwing boomerangs, and learning about the aboriginal people which everyone really enjoyed. The favourite activity of the day was however a bush tucker trial tasting, themed on the gameshow ‘I’m a celebrity…get me out of here’, complete with exotic themed snacks. The tasting afternoon was hosted by the home’s newest Duke of Edinburgh volunteer, Olly, and Head of Activities, Kat Colangelo.

Happy New Year!

The residents and staff at Hickathrift House Care Home came together to bid farewell to 2024 in spectacular fashion. Residents watched countdowns on the TVs and as they all cheered 3...2...1 the team popped the cannons and danced together. Our night carers went above and beyond to help residents bid adieu to 2024 and started 2025 off with a bang!

It's moments like this that remind us of the magic our staff and residents create when we all come together. A particular thank you to all the staff for a fantastic celebration, particularly the night team and night senior Josie. What a spectacular new beginning!

As we step into 2025, we want to extend our heartfelt wishes for a year filled with joy, health, and new adventures. Thank you for being a part of our community; we appreciate each and every one of you!

Cheers to new beginnings and wonderful moments ahead!

Rock and Roll

What better way to celebrate the King of Rock and Roll's 90th birthday than with a fabulous themed party!

We were highly entertained by the wonderful Dan from KJ & the Catt! What a performance! The team leader, Sheena, went all out with her Elvis outfit and everyone was thrilled to have a photo with 'the King!'
We sang along to Elvis songs and got our blue suede shoes tapping away.

Everyone was up singing and dancing away to each song, filling the room with joy and laughter. We celebrated in style with lots of fun at the party and also learnt about his life prior to becoming the King and made vinyl record crafts together.

A huge thank you to all the staff and family members who make these parties amazing! A special thank you to Dan for his incredible performance as always.