SPECTATORS BOWLED OVER BY CARE HOME RESIDENTS’ SKILLS

Care home residents and care teams from homes across the north of England have taken part in a ‘Just Bowl’ Inter-Home Championship event, held last week at The Granby in Harrogate.

The event, which is part of an initiative to increase participation in bowls in the community, adapts the traditional game of bowls to be played on carpet in a care home setting.

The event saw teams of residents and team members from The Granby and three other brighterkind care homes compete in a day of bowls-related fun, with the team from Henleigh Hall Care Home in Sheffield named as the overall champions. The other homes involved were Avery Mews Care Home, from Heckmondwike, and Scarborough Hall Care Home, from Scarborough.

It was hosted by brighterkind as part of the ongoing ‘Just Bowl’ programme led by the Bowls Development Alliance, which aims to increase participation in bowls in the community. The programme has also partnered with Sheffield Hallam University, to conduct research into the impact the activity has on participants’ mental and physical wellbeing.

Sally Harrison, responsible for identifying new opportunities to create magical and fun activities for residents living in a brighterkind home, said: “We are always looking for new ways to help our residents to love every day. Our partnership with Just Bowl is just one of many exciting and new activities we’ve introduced as part of our Magic Moments Club in 2019. It’s been such a success that we are looking forward to extending the Inter-Home Bowling Championship to our other homes during the autumn.

“Every brighterkind home now has a Magic Moments Club which provides a vast range of activities and fun things to do that are open to all of our residents. This provides them with the opportunity to love every day, by doing the things that they have always loved as well as trying new things along the way.

“Our partnership with Just Bowl offers our residents the opportunity to have some fun and a bit of healthy competition – offering them a great sense of achievement and chance to socialise with neighbouring homes.”

www.brighterkind.com