Care Homes Table Tennis
Glen Arun Ping It!
12 residents at the Glen Arun Care Home in Athelstan Way, Horsham recently enjoyed a table tennis session provided by Horsham District Council's Leisure Link team as part of its Sport England funded Silver Pingers project.
Loretta, the home's activity coordinator, raved about the session, "It was just great to see so many of our residents engaged by the activity and visibly enjoying it. Some of the participants don't normally do physical activity."
Owen was the star player of the afternoon. He had all the shots and was keen to profess that in his time he'd played quite a bit.
Doreen is a wheelchair user and normally watches fellow residents do activity sessions but once she got a bat in her hand she didn't want to put it down. Indeed she was one of the star performers against the TT robot when it came into play.
There were two Joans in the session and both did well, particularly enjoying the batskills section when the leaders brought out some sport themed targets for the players to aim at and score points such as an archery target with a centre hole, a basketball post/net and cricket wickets.
Bella was another dab hand. She displayed strong hand-eye coordination and scored heavily on the target games.
Lucy, Mary and Phyllis also applied themselves in great fashion and with smiles on their faces. Like everyone in the session they all improved as it went on.
Verbal group feedback that the leaders solicited at the end of the session suggested that everybody had had great fun and got a good physical workout from it.
The care staff keenly asked for another visit and such was the enthusiasm it was agreed to leave one of the tables at the home so residents could play under their own steam.
Next homes on the schedule for Silver Ping visits are the Henfield Day Centre and Valerie Court in Upper Beeding
.
Age Proves No Barrier to TT Enjoyment!
Elderly visitors to the Henfield Day Centre recently proved that you are never too old to enjoy the benefits of table tennis.Coaches and helpers from Horsham Table Tennis Club supported by Horsham District Council's sports development team ran a pilot session of table tennis activity for 11 of the centre's clients in an exercise that proved highly successful.
The players ranged from 65-92 years of age were initially given instruction in the basics of grip and ball control before moving on to rally play, target games and undertaking the robot challenge. Some played from a standing position, some chose to play seated but whatever the stance the common thread was that all were actively and enjoyably engaged.
Cathy typified the 'have-a-go' spirit scoring 25 points on the archery target challenge, scoring two bullseyes from her three attempts and suggesting she had not been so active for years.
John who has a learning disability was slightly nervous about picking up a bat but once he did so did not want to put it down and attended to all the challenges with great enthusiasm.
Cliff demonstrated the skills which proved he once played the game at a good level and still had the touch.
Day Centre supervisor Julie Moore declared, "The session was fantastically received by the whole group. Indeed we had our two clients with Alzheimer's Disease really got into it. I'm amazed that in 90 minutes we didn't have one person drop-out and they were all going strong at the end! We're looking forward to the next instalment!"
Horsham District Council's Community Recreation Officer, Paul Taylor, was equally delighted, "The session exceeded our expectations and certainly we will be looking how to build on the success by running more sessions in the Horsham District. In the context of an aging population we're always keen to explore new ways of keeping our older residents active and happy and table tennis fits the bill well as an inclusive activity for players of all age and most physical capability levels."
The coaches also learned one or two useful lessons from the experience too. For example, Eva who has spinal problems couldn't quite lift her elbow high enough from a sitting position and had to adapt by pushing the ball with the leading edge of her bat – a challenge they will be ready to address next time it happens.
For further information about the provision of table tennis sessions for older people in the Horsham District contact Paul Taylor on paul.taylor@horsham.gov.uk or 07764-146339
