Care home residents will be able to enjoy days out, entertainment, and special events thanks to a fundraising bingo night.
Staff at Hickathrift House in Marshland St James, organised a community bingo night to raise money to pay for the treats.
The £1,424 raised will go towards 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 their hundreds. Donations were provided by residents, their families and staff from Hickathrift House as well as 16 great local businesses.
A number of companies donated prizes including Glamping with Llamas and Sunlounger Travel, Play 2 Day Wisbech Golf Adventure and Tesco Wisbech.
In addition to companies, Skylark Pre-school also donated several bottles of wine and Fountain Fresh Imports donated a range of vegetables and fruit to create several hampers for the full house prizes.
The majority of the businesses are local to Wisbech and King’s Lynn such as Blended Monkey Crafts in Upwell and the Majestic Cinema in King’s Lynn however the prizes stretched as far as Thetford with High Lodge donating three entry tickets. All the attendees were thrilled with what they could win and the winners were even more elated.
Staff from all departments at Hickathrift came out in force and volunteered throughout the night, set up the evening, were fabulous front-of-house hosts, and helped residents attend the event.
On the day of the event, residents helped make refreshments and buns for the night and helped in any way they could from folding raffle tickets to putting up posters.
Barrie, resident ambassador at Hickathrift House said: “It is always a genuine pleasure to see the staff shine their brightest and pull off a spectacular event for us. I can speak on behalf of my fellow residents, we had a fantastic night.
“It was delightful to see so many people attend and all the companies who donated. I loved meeting everyone, playing bingo and laughing the night away with the others and staff. We really can’t believe the dedication the staff have to us and the home, tremendous.”
Kat Colangelo, head of activities, said: “Taking part in the bingo fundraiser has been a huge amount of fun and everyone at the home and community has been behind us all the way. It’s for such an important cause, helping to make magical moments for every resident. I’m delighted to be able to do my bit to raise funds for the residents.”
Paula Colman, general manager, said, “This wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the local community, local businesses and the team at Hickathrift House. Thank you all ever so much for getting involved. I’d also like to thank all the residents and their families for their ongoing support with raffle tickets and donations.”
