The Care Home Legends pilot was a product of a meeting between Tees Active, Stockton Councils Transformation Manager Julie Nisbet and the Physical Activity Care Co-ordinators based at Stockton Care homes. The idea of a multi physical activity event with different care homes bringing teams made up of their residents was discussed and a decision was made to deliver a pilot event to gain feedback to discover whether this type of event was feasible.
6 care homes formed teams to participate - Ayresome Aces, Beeches Braves, Hadrian’s Park Harriers, Ingleby Incredibles, Mandale Marvels and Whitehouse Warriors at the event on 2nd December 2022
Participants started the day with a Funky4life warm up and were joined by the children and staff from Treetops nursery
Participants and care home staff took part in events that included Balloon Keepy Up, Curling, Golf putting, Magnetic darts, Table Tennis, Archery, Netball Penalty shoot out
Year 11 pupils from St Michaels RC Academy acted as volunteers to assist in the smooth running of the event
Tees Active's marketing streamed the event to the care homes that were competing so their fellow residents could watch the action and support their teams
The event created some media interest and Tees Active's Community Engagement Manager was interviewed on Radio Tees
The Care Home Legends pilot was a collaboration between Tees Active and a number of local partner organisations. This includes Tees Active, Stockton Council, St Michaels RC Academy, Hillcare, SSL Healthcare Ltd, Funky Feet and Treetops Nursery.
The event was a resounding success and has proved that this type of event could be scaled up to include more homes and therefore more care home residents
Tees Active's marketing team have now proved that the streaming of a live event via a private link to You Tube is achievable. It should be noted that relations of residents and Treetops children accessed the live stream
Ben Brown from White House produced a video of the event which perfectly demonstrates to all care homes in the borough the joy of their residents in attending the event and is a superb promotional asset
Staff from St Michael's have reported on the positive feedback received from their pupils as regards their experience on the day
Tees Active and their fellow partners are now planning to stage a larger event(s). The Physical Activity Care Coordinators will be holding their next meeting at Billingham Forum with an Ice Skating session so co-ordinators can discover the practicalities of enabling wheelchair users to ‘skate’ on the ice. Care Homes are much more aware of the possibilities of their residents engaging in physical activity at Tees Active venues . Hadrian’s Park were invited to attend the NE Opens Figure Skating Championship as VIP guests and were interviewed on Radio BBC Tees.
Find out more about how Tees Active are working with partners to drive positive change in the community.
