Activities at Thistle Hill Care Home

The Thistle Hill Care Centre in Knaresborough marked the anniversary of Victory in Europe Day in style by throwing a 1940s tea party to remember.  The home was decorated in red, white and blue and staff dressed up in their 1940s-inspired glad rags and enjoyed an afternoon of big band music and dancing.

Home Chef Katherine whipped up a delicious selection of freshly-baked biscuits, sandwiches, cakes and pastries for the occasion, all washed down with pots of tea and a celebratory glass of fizz to mark the occasion. 

Our residents at Thistle Hill were treated to an hour in the company of Henry Slator, author of ‘Conversations at the Pond’, who shared his unusual writing journey with them all. Residents heard how Henry Slator, who lives in Cornwall and has been a part-time writer for 35+ years, is fascinated by nature and can be regularly found out and about with his most treasured possession - his binoculars. Getting lost in his imagination and looking for the bright side in life have always been hugely important to Henry. Residents were also treated to a special book reading of ‘Conversations at the Pond’ by our own beautiful pond, complete with our own animal friends.

On Thursday 21st April, the Queen celebrated her 96th Birthday. But there was an extra incentive to join in the festivities at Thistle Hill Care Centre in Knaresborough, as residents raised a glass and toasted her majesty’s birthday.

Residents were treated to a royalty themed garden tea party, complete with bar and music. Residents were thrilled by the appearance of three life size cut outs of the Queen from various stages of her reign.

Staff and residents at Barchester’s Thistle Hill Care Centre have been having fantastic fun hiding Easter eggs all over the place around our woodland trail Charlottes Way for our residents to find.  The staff and residents decided to challenge local children to find 12 Easter bunnies that have been hiding in all kinds of different locations all over town.  The children then had to write down the number of each bunny and where they had been found in order to take part in the Easter Bunny Hunt.

General Manager, Mandy Scott, said: “We’ve all had such fun first of all hiding the eggs around our beautiful woodland trail. Our residents have had a wonderful time looking for them all!”

Our residents came together to enjoy an exciting virtual talk courtesy of the team at National Trust Talks Service.  The illustrated talk took us closer to one of Cliveden’s most famous families, the Astors. Our residents were able to discover what motivated William Waldorf Astor, America’s richest man, to purchase Cliveden in 1893 and how the estate became the centre of high society in the 1920 s and 30 s thanks to his son Waldorf and daughter in law Nancy Astor.

We had a lovely time joining Holly and Marie-Therese from the Wallace Collection, for a virtual introduction to the Collection, followed by a sensory exploratory walk through one of the museum’s most famous landscape paintings.   The Collection ranges from Old Master paintings to 18th century French furniture, arms and armour.  We all had a wonderful time and cannot wait to put our creative skills to a test and paint some landscapes in the upcoming days.