Mrs Kathleen Thompson celebrated her 100th birthday on 8 February at The Manor House care home in Barnard Castle.

The Mayor of Barnard Castle Councillor John Blisset presented Kathleen with a bouquet of flowers and friends and family enjoyed a special birthday afternoon tea.

Hadrian Healthcare Group has made a donation of £5000 to support the creation of the first dementia friendly garden in a public park in the UK at Springhead Park in Rothwell, Leeds.

Garden project leader and dementia awareness campaigner Peter Smith BEM said: “We’d like to thank Hadrian Healthcare for this very generous donation. The whole community has come together to support the project and we’re delighted to have raised the £35,000 we need to go ahead. We can’t wait to get started.”

A former headteacher at Haigh Road Infant School, Rothwell celebrated her 100th birthday on 29 November.

Miss Irene Atkin became headteacher at Haigh Road in 1952 bringing her particular expertise in teaching reading, writing and arithmetic, and retired 29 years later. After retiring Miss Atkin travelled extensively.

As the festive season draws closer Hadrian Healthcare homes are planning many special events to celebrate, from community carols to Christmas Fayres with gift stalls and tombolas.

“We’re delighted to welcome visitors from our local communities at this time as well as family and friends to join us for mince pies and other seasonal treats,” said Jas Gill, managing director of Hadrian Healthcare Group. “We wish everyone the very best for Christmas and the New Year.”

Wetherby Manor care home head chef Oliver Smith has taken part in a skydive to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society and The Food Chain.

Oliver is no stranger to extreme sports as he used to be a keen snowboarder but this was his first skydive. He was part of a five-strong team from the National Association of Care Catering (NACC) who each took a tandem skydive from 10,000ft including a 45 second free fall.