Care homes bring Tokyo Olympics to South East England

The spirit of the Tokyo Olympics was ignited when care homes in Cambridgeshire, Bedford, Essex and Kent united to create a fun series of sporting events.

The care homes owned by the group RCH Care Homes brought residents and staff together to take up the baton and rise to the challenge of making the campaign a gold-winning success and to mark the RCH Olympians a place in history.

Staff and residents at Orchard House Care Home in Wisbech were honoured to be asked if they could mark the beginning of the RCH Olympic Games with an opening ceremony.

Taking their route around the outside of the care home, staff and residents were cheered on by onlookers as they recreated the athletes’ procession with each carrying a flag which representing diversity and nationality of the staff and residents.

Orchard House manager, Maxine Bain, said: “As part of the celebration of the Olympics, residents and staff wanted to host their version of an opening ceremony. It provided a wonderful lead in to the following two weeks.

“Spirits were high and there was lots of laughter and cheer throughout the day. The flags used during the parade represented the diverse nationalities within the home of residents and staff alike.”

Following the opening ceremony, a calendar of sporting and active events was held throughout the homes and included, wheelchair badminton and tennis, basketball, virtual shooting range, bowling and various chair-based exercises, all of which showcased the active lifestyle promoted within each care home.

'This was a great way to lift everyone’s spirits'

A particularly special moment came when Withens Nursing Home in Gravesend took part in a dry land synchronised swim.

The video, featuring residents and staff, was choreographed by the home’s activity coordinator Sara.

Sara said: “Team Withens' synchronised swim brought fun and lots of laughter for both our residents and staff. The RCH Olympians campaign has been a great way of enabling residents to have some much-needed fun and we are doing our very best to bring joy and laughter into their lives.

“The Withens Team are a great bunch. I feel very lucky because, no matter what crazy task I ask them to do, they are always up for anything to make our residents happy.”

Residents Eileen and Mavis who were part of the synchronised swim team said: “Today has been lots of fun. We’ve had a lovely day together.”

Romford Nursing Care Centre and Brentwood Care Centre took part in a Great Olympic Bake Off. Chefs Pauline, Adam and Claudia designed outstanding and 'Olympic-themed cakes'. The residents judged these and the cakes were devoured in quick succession.

Interest in sporting stories was also uncovered during the campaign and staff helped residents form a book of sporting heroes. From a secret wish to be a boxer to discovering a former professional wrestler, the breadth of talent and love of different sports was apparent throughout.

Residents also had photoshoots to recreate their sporting heroes. One resident's hero was Jessica Ennis-Hill who recreated the image of the 2012 Olympic gold medalist holding the Union Jack flag.

Residents and staff had immense fun dressing up and posing for photoshoots of famous Olympians who have already made their mark on history – poses such as the ‘Mobot’ and ‘Lightning Bolt’ were just the tip of the iceberg of what was created during the two-week campaign.

At the end of the two-week sporting event, RCH’s Olympians were determined to have an equally memorable alternative closing ceremony to wrap up the campaign and enjoyed creating a virtual team relay race between the homes.

Laundry assistant, Janet, said: “This was a great way to lift everyone’s spirits. We had so much fun creating our own entertainment, the residents thoroughly enjoyed it.”

This was echoed by resident Doris who said: “I’ve loved it!”

click here for more details or to contact RCH Care Homes Ltd