Residents at a Great Horkesley Manor Care Home near Colchester are counting their medals after hosting their own version of the Olympic Games.
During Tokyo 2020 the residents embraced the Olympian spirit with a variety of games. These included indoor badminton, egg and spoon races, chair ball, and a relay around the home. With gentle exercise and movement a fundamental part of the home’s vibrant activities programme, the contest element provided a wonderful new way for residents to engage.
Each day, the Great Horkesley Manor family took part in a different sport. This gave everyone the opportunity to try something new, or to rediscover events from school sports days. With the latter, many fond memories of school years were shared at the same time.
As with many things in life, a lot of the fun is in the build-up! In the week before the Olympics, the home’s arts and crafts sessions featured painting medals for competitors and recreating the Olympic rings.
Keen to recreate a stadium atmosphere in the lounges of the care home near Colchester, drums and tambourines were used to add to the ambience!
Alison Day, home manager at Great Horkesley Manor said: “All of us at Great Horkesley Manor are inspired by the performance of Team GB in Tokyo.
“We wanted to do our own games that everyone could get involved with. Our team made sure that even those who didn’t want to compete could have fun cheering everyone else on. It’s been great fun and we’re already thinking about what we can do for the winter Olympics!”
You can watch the video of the home’s Olympic-inspired relay below. With this event, the residents attempted to complete a lap of ‘The Manor’ in under 3 minutes.
