A CARE home has joined forces with children from Thornton-le-Dale Primary School for a virtual Christmas party.

The Hall Residential Care Home, in Thornton-le-Dale, would normally mark the festive period with Christmas dinners and a visit from the carol singing school children,

but this year they have had to change their plans due to the pandemic.

Despite Covid-19 restrictions, the children were eager to celebrate the holidays with residents at the care home and organised a game of bingo and a tea party to be held online via Zoom.

“As a school we’re always keen to provide our children with the opportunity to develop links with our local community,” said Danielle Collins, a teacher at Thornton-le-Dale School.

“The children from Year 2 were very excited to catch up with their friends at The Hall and they can’t wait to see all the residents again.”

The Hall Residential Care Home is operated by Park Lane Healthcare, a family operated group, and is rated “good” by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Nicky Beach, manager at The Hall Residential Care Home, added: “We are all very excited about Christmas this year and we wanted to make sure that December was full of festivities for the residents.

“We would like to thank Thornton-le-Dale CE School’s Year 2 students for celebrating with us.

“The Zoom call with the children has really helped to get residents in the festive spirit.

“The tea party and game of bingo were enjoyed by everyone.”