Activities at Thistle Hill Care Home

The Thistle Hill Care Centre in Knaresborough has been finding out the favourite stories of residents and staff and sharing them during National Storytelling Week.  Many of the residents at the Thistle Hill Care Centre have a knack of telling a great story or two, and National Storytelling Week is a perfect opportunity to experience the joy of storytelling.

Storytelling is one of the oldest art forms in the world so, to help keep the custom alive, residents have been reading their own favourite short stories, tales they were told as children to other residents, their families at home and local nursery children.

As part of Barchester Healthcare’s Book Club Corner series of virtual events, staff and residents at the Thistle Hill Care Centre in Knaresborough were treated to an hour in the fascinating company of Mark Piesing, author of ‘N-4 Down: The Hunt for the Artic Airship’.

Mark Piesing is a successful freelance technology and aviation journalist and author. He writes for titles such as BBC Future, The Guardian, Wired, and The Economist. N-4 Down is his first book.

The Thistle Hill Care Centre in Knaresborough prepared a traditional Burns Night Supper to the tune of bagpipes as the fun continued throughout the day.

Staff and residents at the home were involved in a number of activities including a stellar bagpipe performance courtesy of Mhairi from the Leeds Piping Band, sampling Scottish snacks and beverages, to poem readings and finally toasting the haggis, including giving the time-honoured address to the ‘Great chieftain O’ the pudding race’ to mark this great Scottish institution.

Ahead of National Storytelling Week which starts on January 30, staff and residents at Barchester’s Thistle Hill Care Centre in Knaresborough were treated to a fascinating session of sensory storytelling by Art Historian, Jon Sleigh, and the Historic Royal Palaces community team.

The Historic Royal Palaces are a charity who love and look after six of the most wonderful palaces in the world so that we can all enjoy them.  They tell the stories of monarchs we know, and the lives we don’t.  They let us explore these wonderful properties and set our minds racing.

Across our services our residents have enjoyed a wonderful live virtual talk about starlings, one of the UK’s most gregarious birds, hosted by Rachel Dowse from The Royal Parks London.

Rachel examined our long history with this bird and the importance of common species to our lives. Our residents had the opportunity to find out more about the great murmuration and why we need to pay special attention to these beauties before it's too late.

The virtual experience was truly enjoyed by all.

The Thistle Hill Care Centre in Knaresborough was transformed into an American Diner to mark what would have been Elvis Presley’s 87th birthday on 8 January.  It is estimated that Elvis has sold over one billion records worldwide so to honour the undisputed King of rock & roll, the staff and residents enjoyed a fantastic day of music, fun and dancing.

General Manager, Mandy Scott, said: “Lots of our residents are big Elvis fans and love his music.  We’ve had a fantastic day listening to all his hits, finding out about his early life and what influenced him and watching old Elvis movies, he was such an incredible talent.  This afternoon we had an Elvis Singer performing a selection of Elvis’s greatest hit and our activities team treated our residents to an American themed takeaway and diner experience!”