Activities at North Park Care Home

To celebrate National Pet Day we invited staff, families and friends as well as the larger community to send in photos of their Fur-babies, Feathered Friends and Canny Critters.

We had an amazing response and the voting for the winners took two days. It was such a hard decision and as resident Kath said “oh I feel awful choosing as they are all lovely in their own ways.”

It was really close at the end but our residents did a great job, all winners received some treats and a certificate with their owners getting a bottle of wine.

Residents across our homes and hospitals had a fantastic time with vocal coach Dan Cooper from Biiah as he led an amazing sing-a-long session for residents to enjoy. Residents who joined the event were able to learn different techniques as they sang the famous ‘I Can See Clearly Now’ by Jimmy Cliff and ‘Here Comes the Sun’ by The Beatles. Across our homes there were smiles and laugher all around. The session was such a success and was great for the mind, body and soul.

North Park opened their doors to three lovely owls courtesy of Gosling Raptors. Residents, family and staff got together meet Milo the European Eagle Owl, Dusk the Black Barn Owl and Sky the Tropical Screech owl.

During the visit our residents had the opportunity to spend time with the lovely gentle and friendly animals, pet therapy has been proven to help reduce stress, anxiety and sense of isolation amongst all people. Residents, families and staff enjoyed not only getting up close to these beautiful birds of prey but learned about their habits, lives and personalities.

Staff, residents and their guests at North Park were celebrating the birth of baby chicks this week at the home. There was a lot of egg-citement at the home as 6 chicks hatched throughout the week. Residents were able to pet and feed the chicks as they found their footing in their new home.

General Manager Lisa said: “It was an eggs-cellent day when the eggs finally hatched! Residents at North Park as well as our team were all very excited about the new-borns, we’ve yet to name the chicks, but will be voting on names throughout the week. The Chicks have been a welcome addition to the home, and the residents are looking forward to watching them grow. For anyone who would like to come for a visit of our chicken coop and have a tour of our home our doors are always open.”

We had a brilliant time across our services with Harrogate Skills 4 Living as they took us on a wonderful virtual visit to their Harrogate Chocolate Factory.

Residents were thrilled to discover details about the chocolate-making process and the fascinating journey from bean to bar, all while enjoying some delicious sweet treats.

The Factory aims to employ people with learning disabilities and autism, involving them in all parts of the process, from sorting and roasting the beans to packaging and sales. The experience was truly enjoyed by all who joined this event.

We continue to celebrate a varied life enrichment programme and across our services we linked up with other Barchester care homes and hospitals up and down the country for some interactive Beat the Clock games.  

Our residents truly enjoyed solving word puzzles, conundrums and mathematical problems as part of Barchester’s very own game show series.

Everyone who joined had a fantastic time and enjoyed some friendly competition.