SIX YEARS of creativity challenges have come to an end for elderly residents at a North Yorkshire care home.
Residents at Hazelgrove Court Care Home, on Randolph Street, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, have taken part in their last January Challenge, set by social enterprise 64 Million Artists.
The care home has been participating in the nationwide initiative since 2021, during the COVID-19 lockdown, with several residents having taken part every year since.
The residents even had the opportunity to set one of the daily challenges in 2024, having been named Creative Champion by the enterprise.
64 Million Artists has decided to close their public programme, however, with 31st January 2026 marking the very last day of the challenge – which grew to over 600,000 participants in schools, workplaces, and care homes around the UK at its height.
The final challenge, named “Creativity for Change”, asked participants to reflect and share a story about how creativity has made a change in their lives.
Joyce Baxtrem, 95, and Joyce Tibbett, 92, both residents at Hazelgrove Court Care Home, agreed their Knitting Nannas knitting group had given them purpose in their later years.
The group has produced blankets for orphaned rhinos and enrichment toys for rescued monkeys in South Africa, and jumpers for penguins affected by oil slicks in Australia, among other initiatives.
Both Joyces also took part in the very first January Challenge, in 2021, called “A conversation you might have with an inanimate object”.
Joyce Baxtrem, who was 90 at the time, had a conversation with a lavender bag, remarking on how good it smelled. While Joyce Tibbett, who was 87, asked a can of juice about its preference for consumption.
Fellow resident Judith Pearson, 81, reflected on her favourite challenge over the years, which was to build a blanket fort. She said: “I loved seeing my grandson William play in it.”
While Ellen Else, 92, said her favourite was making pictures of surrounding objects. She said: “I loved the butterfly we made.”
Sharon Lewis, activities coordinator at Hazelgrove Court Care Home, said: “I will miss the January challenge, as it’s an activities coordinator’s dream to get 31 free activities sent to your inbox, with ideas you would never think of doing.
“My favourite was to build a tower and see how high we could make it.”
Yashoda Rodgers, public programmes manager at 64 Million Artists, said: “Hazelgrove Court Care Home has been a cornerstone of our creative community since 2021.
“Over the years, Sharon and the residents have brought so much enthusiasm, joy and creative inspiration to the team at 64 Million Artists and the community that takes part nationwide.
“We came to visit back in 2023 – it was wonderful to get creative alongside the residents – and they designed a creative prompt that was part of the January Challenge 2024.
“Since Hazelgrove Court became part of the community, we have developed multiple tailored resources over the years to support more care homes across the UK to take part. We couldn’t have done it without them.”