It's panto time at a Haslemere care home – oh not it isn’t! Oh yes it is! 

At Friends of the Elderly’s Redcot Care Home residents have been enjoying a wonderful, thigh slapping tradition – a festive pantomime performance of Dick Whittington.

Jan Daly, the registered manager at Redcot said: “Every member of the care team at Redcot loves to make sure that all our residents have a joyful Christmas and we always thoroughly enjoy engaging with them in a wide range of yuletide activities.

“This year, to get the festive season started in a holly, jolly way, we wanted to treat our residents to a classic Christmas tradition – a pantomime performance of Dick Whittington. It was a great success; all our residents absolutely loved it.” 

The panto was designed and performed by The Carousel Theatre Company. 

“The Carousel Theatre Company is wonderful,” said Staci Abernethy, Redcot’s deputy manager. “All the actors are seasoned professionals, many of whom have worked in the West End. The performance is created to be as visually and mentally stimulating as possible and written especially for people living in care homes or visiting day care centres, which is ideal for our residents.” 

She added: “It got us all in the Christmas spirit. The residents got totally involved and loved the gags and heckling the actors. It was wonderful to see all the residents enjoying themselves, it was a real Christmas treat for everyone.”