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

It's Thyme to Garden at Hickathrift

We had the pleasure of visiting Baytree Hilgay for an outstanding Sunday morning out. We loved exploring the wonderful gifts and all enjoyed the homeware sections. Julie, a carer who joined us, said, "There's so much to see here and look how beautiful it is here".

We then ventured out to the gardens and enjoyed the vibrant colours, scents and various textures of the flowers. After we explored all the garden centre had to offer, we headed back to Hickathrift for a delicious Sunday roast dinner. As we were leaving the amazing staff came and gave us an assortment of seeds to plant in our gardens. We were blown away by their generosity and kindness and planted them that afternoon!

Home honour the brave on 80th anniversary

Residents and staff commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings by sharing personal memories and participating in community events.

To honour the largest combined land, air and naval operation in history, Hickathrift House Care Home marked the 80 years since the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944 - the start of the campaign to liberate Nazi-occupied north-west Europe - with a special tribute by lighting the lamp of peace. The 'Lamp Light Of Peace' is a traditional Oil Lantern. Its ruby red colouring represents the ultimate sacrifice made by brave men and women across the globe. As the General Manager, Paula Colman, lit the flame, the residents and staff took a moment to reflect on their bravery and honour. The light represents the ‘light of peace’ that emerged from the darkness of war.

The home was decorated in red, white and blue and residents and staff dressed up in their 1940s-inspired landgirl outfits and enjoyed a lovely afternoon reminiscing with memorabilia while singing along to Vera Lynn.

Eyes down for bingo fundraiser!

Hickathrift House organised a community bingo night to raise money for outings, entertainment and special events.The money raised is for the home's life-enrichment programme, it includes the ‘Post a Wish’ initiative where residents write down ‘wishes’ they’d like to have granted, from visiting Fakenham Racecourse to having one-to-one time with a pony.

The bingo night took place at Walsoken Village Hall and saw the entire community attend in the hundreds. Donations were provided by residents, their families and staff from Hickathrift House as well as 16 great local businesses. A selection of independent companies donated, such as Glamping with Llamas and Sunlounger Travel to bigger companies such as Play 2 Day Wisbech Golf Adventure and Tesco Wisbech

Wonders of the ocean

Residents across our services enjoyed a fantastic virtual tour of The Deep, an award-winning aquarium in Hull.

Our residents dived into the underwater world of some fascinating creatures such as sharks, turtles and stingrays.

It was a truly immersive and educational experience that brought the wonders of the ocean right to our screens.

Spalding Flower Festival

Residents had a magical day at the Spalding Flower Parade! Deck chairs were set up, refreshments provided, and programs browsed as residents enjoyed a relaxing wait for the parade to arrive. And we were not disappointed, thanks to the beautiful floats, uplifting music and the amazing dancers and entertainers.

Residents and staff loved cheering on the floats, drivers, entertainers, and musicians as they went by. We waved and expressed appreciation for all they had done to make this spectacular. In return, several floats gave the residents flowers and gifts, which added to the day's excitement.

Afterwards, we enjoyed scrumptious fish and chips at a nearby shop in the sunshine, sharing our favourite moments. This was Resident Kim's first outing with us, and she said, "It's been a fairy tale. So wonderful. Thank you so much for bringing me. I've really enjoyed myself".

Dementia Action Week

This month's Dementia Café took place during Dementia Action Week, so we made it extra special with a multisensory morning in the garden. We hosted our guests and the residents in our beautiful Sensory Garden, located in the Memory Lane Community. The delightful morning was spent discussing our gardens, singing songs, blowing bubbles and being ever so merry. The fabulous staff dressed in Blue to commemorate Dementia Action Week together with several residents.

Resident Margaret said, "It's been so nice to join the ladies, sitting in the sunshine, listening to the birds and the bees and smelling the lavender. What a gorgeous morning". Don't forget our next Dementia Cafe is on the 3rd Friday of the month and we hope to see you there.