An Ayrshire care home is offering a unique new fitness activity for its residents, which aims to keep them active both physically and socially.
Every week, a group of residents along with members of staff from Bupa’s Claremont care home, in Whitletts, Ayr, partake in a non-strenuous form of exercise – a walking netball class.
The class, which runs once a week at the John Pollock Centre, has proved to be very therapeutic for the residents, particularly those with limited mobility, and also encourages them to get out and about and socialise with one another.
Carol Barr, home manager at Claremont, helped to organise the walking netball class, alongside Brian McQuillan, community engagement officer for South Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership, and Brian Devlin, community builder for South Ayrshire, and is thrilled with the response it has received.
Carol Barr says: “Initially, we weren’t sure how popular the new class would be with our residents, but everyone is really enjoying themselves and they can’t wait to return each week.
“At Bupa, we strive to offer new and exciting opportunities which benefit the health and wellbeing of our residents and we believe that this is the perfect way for them to have fun while keeping active and getting out in the local community.”
Although the class has only currently been funded for eight weeks, Carol has high hopes for its continuation. A recent walking class proved to be so popular among residents and local members of the community that that Claremont took the initiative to keep it running after the initial funding ended.
Carol adds: “Our priority is our residents and Claremont care home is keen to continue any service that has proved to be a success with them.”
