Residents Enjoy An ‘Ace’ Time At ‘Malvern-don’
To get into the Wimbledon spirit, the care teams at charity, Friends of the Elderly’s Malvern-based Davenham, Perrins House and Bradbury Court, the residential, nursing and dementia care homes which are collectively known as Friends of the Elderly Malvern, hosted an inclusive, tennis’esque day for all the residents to enjoy.
Selena Whittaker, the Activities Coordinator at Perrins House said: “Together with my colleagues Tina Ellenton, the Activities Coordinator at Davenham and Laura Smith, the Activities Coordinator at Bradbury Court, we decided to host a fun Wimbledon Tennis-orientated afternoon for all the residents.
“As the residents enjoy watching the live action from Wimbledon, we thought we’d bring a touch of The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club to them. We affectionately named the day ‘Malvern-don’, and to get everyone in the summer Tennis spirit, Tina, Laura and I dressed in style in sporty attire, which I’m sure Wimbledon would have approved of,” continued Selena.
Selena, Tina and Laura put together a fun and inclusive activities programme for the day, which included Balloon Tennis and Basket Throw Balls competitions. “The residents thoroughly enjoyed getting involved in the different games,” said Tina. “The Basket Ball Throw game was a huge success. The residents sat in their chairs and had to throw – or should I say ‘serve’ – a ball into a basket. The person who scores the most buckets, wins.
“It was hilarious, there was plenty of laughing and cheering going on as Laura, Selena and I became the unofficial Ball Girls – but we did have a lot of help from Josie Hill, who has been a resident at Davenham since February this year.
“I have a sneaky suspicion that, for a cheeky laugh, the residents enjoyed seeing us running all over the place so much picking up the missed balls, that they missed a few basket shots on purpose.”
In keeping with the time-honoured Wimbledon tradition, after all the games had come to an end, the residents tucked into delicious strawberries and cream, complete with a glass of Pimm’s.
“Strawberries and cream, with a glass of Pimm’s, is as iconic as Wimbledon itself,” added Laura. “The tasty treat has been part of the Wimbledon experience since 1877. I read that every year around 7,000 litres of cream and 27 tons of strawberries are consumed during the Wimbledon fortnight. We didn’t eat that many at ‘Malvern-don’, but I’m sure we could give it a good try – the residents adore that particular traditional, English summer treat.”
“‘Malvern-don’ was a huge success,” added Jo Bennett, the General Manager at Friends of the Elderly Malvern. “We are dedicated to providing an interesting and diverse range of appealing, engaging, motivating and inspiring meaningful activities for our residents to participate in and tailor each one to their likes, hobbies, preferences and favourite pastimes.
“Our Activities Calendar includes a wide range of different pursuits such as arts and craft sessions, quizzes and light chair-based exercise classes. The activities also include reminiscence sessions where the residents share their memories, which is also a great way for us to learn more about them.
“At Friends of the Elderly Malvern, we pay attention to our residents, listen to what they like to do, when they like to do it. The feedback we received on the ‘Malvern-don’ day was so positive, that we’ll definitely host ‘Malvern-don Part II’ next year.”
