The residents of Hope House Care Home in Clayton-le-Moors, near Accrington, have been whisked away to a mystical land with a performance of the pantomime Aladdin.
The home, which has use of its own minibus, organises frequent trips for residents. There are many favourite destinations that residents like to visit, but the Hope House team are always happy to listen to new suggestions. During January, quite a few residents said that they would really like to see a pantomime. For many, trips to the theatre have formed a large part of their lives and provided many happy memories. With that in mind, we had to make their wishes come true!
With such a large contingent excited at the thought of watching a performance, we organised two trips to the Muni Theatre in Colne. This year’s pantomime was the classic Aladdin, with a star-studded cast of actors from a host of TV shows. The big star of the show this year was Bruce Jones, or Les Battersby, as fans of Coronation Street will know him. He played a devilishly good villain as Abanazar. Also in the cast this year were Kelsey Beth Crossley (Scarlett Nicholls from Emmerdale), and Sean Smith (from X Factor’s Same Difference).
The first trip saw residents John, Pat, Brenda, Evelyn, Kathleen, Dorothy and Christina enjoy the spectacle. While the second trip gave Jean, Barbara, Geoff, Kathleen, her husband Gordon, Kevin and Ernie the chance to rekindle their love of the theatre. As an extra surprise, during the interval break, everyone got a complimentary tub of ice cream and a drink.
All of our residents had a wonderful time and have not stopped talking about their trip to the theatre since. We are now regularly checking the theatre listings to plan our next big outing!
