Activities at Hickathrift House Care Home
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.
Kat Colangelo
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.
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 Hickathrift House Care Home
Hickathrift House say Goodbye and Good Luck to Retiring Unit Manager
Hickathrift had a Cracking Easter
Staff and residents at Hickathrift celebrated Easter with lots of Easter crafts. Everyone enjoyed the eggs-tensive range of Easter activities!
Student Cross visits Hickathrift House
On Wednesday the 23rd March the Student Cross took a break from their pilgrimage to Walsingham and popped in to see us. They enjoyed some well deserved hot cross buns and some refreshments. We were lucky enough to get our hot cross buns donated by Tesco. Mallissa Russell, The Community Champion for the Wisbech Store delivered them personally and stayed to help us get everything ready, she also took the time to draw our Easter Raffle. A massive thank you to Mallissa and everyone at Tesco in Wisbech.
Student Cross is a pilgrimage organised by and for students, young adults, and pilgrims of all ages, which has been running since 1948. Pilgrims experience Holy Week and the joy of the Resurrection as a living reality. It's a chance to celebrate Easter in a unique way. Eleven different groups, known as Legs, walk from different parts of the country across Norfolk to Walsingham. Kind-hearted parishes provide food and accommodation along the way. Each Leg carries a large wooden cross as a witness to the people they pass. To find out more about the different routes, please visit the Legs pages. The climax of the week is in Walsingham, a centre of pilgrimage for many centuries. This is where all the Legs meet up to celebrate the Easter liturgies together over the Easter weekend, including a vibrant Paschal Party after the Easter vigil on Saturday evening.
Barchester Care Awards 2016 - Nominations are now open!
The Care Awards celebrate excellence in the quality of care we provide by recognizing those individuals who go the extra mile to make a difference to the lives of those we support.
The awards categories this year are:
• Activities Coordinator of the Year
• Apprentice / Learner of the Year
• Barchester’s Charitable Foundation Champion
• Carer / Support Worker of the Year
• Home Administration Champion
• Home Trainer of the Year
• Hospitality Champion
• Maintenance Champion
• Memory Lane Champion
• Registered Nurse of the Year
• Volunteer of the Year
• Chef of the Year
Nominations are now open and can be placed via the Barchester website. Hard copies of the nomination form will available from Hickathrift House so that families, friends and volunteers have the chance to nominate as well.
So if you know a staff member at the home that you feel deserves recognition, please place your nomination now!
The closing date for entries is 29th April. We look forward to receiving your nominations.
Sweets Treats at Hickathrift House
Residents Win Christmas Cake Competition
The residents at Hickathrift House are celebrating having won the annual Barchester Christmas cake competition with their amazing culinary creation, which wowed judges with its display of skill and originality. The cake secured first place in the residents entry category of the competition, which was open to entries from all Barchester care homes throughout the Eastern division.
After many discussions over many cups of tea and lots of biscuits the residents decided that they would create and decorate their entry as an igloo, complete with penguins, a snowman and an icy pond.
Sue Scarlett, General Manager at Hickathrift House said: “I’m thrilled for everyone at Hickathrift House who helped make the Christmas cake. Creating it was a real team effort and a lot of fun was had in its creation – it tasted great too!”
Thelma Palmer, age 82, said: “Smashing!!! It’s wonderful that we won” and Rose Humphreys, age 90, said “That is a lovely surprise that we won. It was worth all of the effort”
Upcoming events
Barchester's Big Quiz - Live Virtual Event
Calling all quizzers!
Join us for an exciting quiz to test your general knowledge and see who is the biggest brainbox of them all!
October
Hello October! As the leaves begin to fall we are looking forward to a fun filled month ahead. All welcome.
Community Events - October
We extend a warm invitation to our community friends to join us - come and make new friends!
Dementia Cafe - 3rd Friday of the month
We extend a warm invitation for you to join us at our monthly dementia cafe.
Knit and Natter - Bi-monthly
Do you enjoy knitting? Come along and make new friends at our bi monthly Knit and Natter group - all welcome.
Emergency Services - Take a break on us!
Calling all emergency personnel! Come and take a break on us - there may be a cake or two available!
Coffee Morning
We extend a warm invitation for you to join us at our monthly Coffee Morning - make new friends and enjoy a slice of homemade cake.
Volunteer Coffee Morning - every Tuesday
We recognise the special impact volunteers can have on the lives of our residents and we hope you can join us.