Akari Care has joined forces with Equal Arts to provide creative opportunities to their residents.  

The Birmingham-based company Equal Arts manages the HenPower project which has been introduced at a number of Akari Care’s 39 homes.

Residents at Akari’s Tyneside and Stockton homes have benefited from the project, setting up the hen keeping and looking after the creatures independently.

Funded through the BIG Lottery Fund Silver Dreams programme, volunteers from HenPower, which is based in Gateshead, regularly visit the homes to support resident’s interactions with the animals.

Lynn Fearn, deputy CEO at Akari Care, said: “The HenPower initiative has worked wonders at our participating homes in the North East, with excellent feedback coming from residents and staff. The project has helped rekindle some old memories for residents and given them a little bit more independence and responsibility.

“As a company, we are always keen to implement further enjoyable activities and schemes into our care homes, and the collaboration with HenPower is something that has been very educational and worthwhile. We are looking at rolling out this initiative, or similar ones, to further Akari Care homes, so they, like our homes in the North East, can reap in the rewards too.”