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

Knit & Natter Poppy Project

Hickathrift House care home, in Marshland St James, Wisbech have invited residents, their loved ones, staff, locals and the wider community to join them to create a giant poppy display for Remembrance Day.

Volunteers had been knitting and crocheting over 1,500 poppies in around 6 weeks to fill an 8ft by 6ft mural at Hickathrift House. There are various shapes, textures and colours of red and purple, demonstrating the number of people involved in making this a unique piece, honouring those on Remembrance Day.

Pumpkin patch outing

Hickathrift House got in the Halloween spirit by visiting Worzals to see Rusty’s Great Pumpkin Patch for the third year in a row.

On the 27th of October, Hickathrift House Care home, while working with the team at Worzals, took a bus full of residents and 3 carers to the pumpkin patch. Residents and staff had a brilliant time exploring the various themed areas from Jurassic Park to Hocus Pocus. In additional to the beautiful themes the residents and staff loved seeing the various types of pumpkins available.

Resident dream comes true

Ray, a resident at Hickathrift House, had an incredible career in the Norfolk Police Force and always wanted to return to his favourite station, so staff at the home made his wish a reality by arranging a visit to Downham Market Police Station hosted by PCs Iain and Chris from the local policing team.

Ray has lived at Hickathrift House for almost a year and is beloved by staff and residents alike. Staff at the home were delighted to be a part of making his dream come true, as they knew how much it meant to him. Ray’s daughter and granddaughter also attended the trip as they wanted to be there to see the smile on Ray’s face when his dream was achieved.

Ford Classic Car Owners Make a Wish Come True

Several amazing Ford car owners made Arthur's Post A Wish come true! Arthur worked for Ford Motors for around 50 years and adores sharing stories of travelling the world with Ford. So, our team reached out to local Ford enthusiast groups and 5 wonderful car owners answered the call and created a delightful experience for all who attended.

The entire home was filled with joy as classic car enthusiasts gathered in the car park. Residents, their loved ones and staff grabbed their coats and headed out to chat to the owners and learn about these remarkable cars. We had an array of Ford cars from the 1950-1980s so it was just perfect discussing the variations and development of Ford Motors.

Guests were treated to refreshments while they shared stories of their stunning cars and residents reminisced about their own cars back in the day. Arthur was swapping stories all afternoon.

World Animal Day

To celebrate World Animal Day residents had a spectacular visit from ZooLab Animal Therapy. Residents and staff loved meeting all the different, beautiful animals especially Honey the Gecko! We also discussed some famous animal artwork, themed poetry and quizzes in the afternoon.

Everyone was filled with joy to see these unusual animals. It’s amazing to see the fantastic impact animals can have on us all, but especially those living with dementia. Everyone enjoyed learning about these fabulous animals, reminiscing about their own pets and experiencing a variety of sensory stimulations.

Resident Kathleen said, “I can’t believe I’ve held a cockroach! My daughter won’t believe me when she comes later. They do say to try everything once and I can happily say I can cross that off my list”.

Watatunga Wildlife Reserve

Residents and staff got up close with a number of animals during a majestic safari tour including the reserves top animals! We were thrilled to meet the King of Watatunga and not just one but all three bongos! The guide said this is the first time all year she’s hosted a tour and saw the best that Watatunga has to offer.

The residents particularly loved the variety of birds by the lake and learning all about the reserve from our incredible host.

Resident, Anne said, "They've all been such amazing animals. I've really enjoyed myself, thank you".

This was a very special trip, supporting residents to connect with nature and learn something new about these incredible animals. We can’t wait to come back soon.