Schoolgirl plans live stream exercise class for 100 care homes across the world

A nine-year-old schoolgirl from Scotland is giving fitness guru Joe Wicks a run for his money as she aims to get 100 care homes across the world taking part in a live social media exercise class in June for the ‘Captain Tom 100’ Challenge.

With aspirations to be the Joe Wicks for the older generation, Heather Bryson, who lives in Kirkintilloch, Scotland wanted to engage with older people, particularly those with dementia, and in care homes globally through exercise.

She decided to take part in a special challenge to honour Captain Tom Moore by arranging a live Zoom exercise session with 100 care providers on 11 June.

Heather lost her grandmother to Covid-19 last year and has struggled with lockdown, but the project has given her a new lease of life with her mum Deborah Bryson describing her as ‘a mini whirlwind of energy.'

Heather’s grandmother lived in a care home and whilst visiting, Heather would do chair exercises as well as sing to everyone.

Mrs Bryson said: “Gary and I are so proud of Heather and everything she is achieving. Lockdowns and the loss of her grandmother really hit her hard, but we’ve now got our bright and bubbly daughter back and she’s also making a real difference to the lives of people in care homes or caring at home for a loved one.”

“As a family, we are learning new things every day through this project but there’s are two really important things; treating people with dementia with love and respect and Captain Tom’s mantra that there is always hope and tomorrow will be better.”

'Heather is determined to learn more about older people'

Heather has already signed up a number of care homes in the UK, US, India, New Zealand and Australia and will be holding three classes on her You Tube channel to cater for the different time zones – 7am, 4pm and 7pm.

In May, Heather released a nine-minute-long chair exercise video, specifically developed by physiotherapists, for people living with dementia and in care homes.

With Heather staring in the video, mum and dad also learnt new skills to support Heather with mum managing social media and emailing care homes to get involved and dad Gary Bryson filming and editing the sessions.

The video has reached viewers in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Singapore. They have also been shown in care homes in England. and collected more than 1,000 views within an hour of being uploaded.

Staff and residents at The Manor House Gosforth are planning to take part in the chair-based classes and have signed up for the challenge.

Suzanne Mason, home manager at The Manor House Gosforth, said: “As soon as I heard from Deborah, I knew this was something we had to get involved with in. Heather is a fantastic girl who is determined to learn more about older people, dementia and bridging the generation gap.

“Our residents will love the online class and will undoubtedly fall in love with Heather. I’d encourage other homes to contact Deborah and join us on 11th June and have a lot of fun!”

For more information on how your care home can get involved, click here

click here for more details or to contact The Manor House Gosforth