Silver medallists!
The elderly are busy competing in their retirement, says Fred Redwood
THe spirit of competition, they say, burns brightest in the young. Well, try saying that to the people sitting excitedly in front of a computer at Audley’s Chalfont Dene retirement village in Buckinghamshire.
Surrounded by their 25 supporters, this elderly team is taking part in Audley’s inter-village quiz, and the opponents are on screen. For this game is being run by live video-link.
‘We have played two, won two and had one draw, so we could be topping the league soon,’ says team captain Anne Foster, 76. ‘That’ll put us in the play-offs for the finals!’ Sometimes, Anne jokes, contestants get a little overenthusiastic. ‘ Their language is indescribable,’ she says.
These quizzes are just one of the scores of similar competitions run in retirement villages across the country. Senior citizens do battle in everything from Scrabble to short tennis.
As well as being good fun, the games benefit the residents’ physical and mental health. Loneliness, for example, is known to be a major problem for the elderly, with one in ten over-65s saying they often feel lonely.
Lucky, then, that the monthly skittles matches organised by Katie Mills, 80, at the pub near Grove Place retirement village in Hampshire, foster a spirit of inclusivity so nobody should feel lonely.
‘We love it,’ says Katie. ‘At our age, a lot of us have lost loved ones and this is a great way of meeting new people.’
There are also darts and snooker tournaments, croquet (with Pimm’s and cream teas) and a golf range. Laser clay pigeon shooting is the latest favourite.
‘I go to newcomers’ houses to tell them about events when they move in,’ says Katie. ‘They are a great way of breaking the ice.’
It has long been known that endorphin-generating activities can help elderly people who are prone to depression. New research from the American Academy of Neurology shows that exercise may also benefit those who already have memory and thinking problems.
Certainly, the members of the boules team at Blagdon Village, near Taunton, Somerset, are young at heart. ‘It’s good fun and taken quite seriously,’ says Mike Pettet, 82, who helps run the matches in the park every Wednesday. ‘The games instil a sense of camaraderie for the village, which comes to the fore when we play other teams.’
The latest development for Blagdon is an annual match against their twin town of Lisieux in Normandy. The tournaments are played home and away in alternate years and involve plenty of entente cordiale.
AT CASTLe Village in Berkhamsted, residents hold their own version of the Olympics.
‘There are individual challenge events in everything from croquet and putting to tennis and bowls between April and July,’ says organiser Ian Alexander, 75. ‘Then we have our summer games finals in a marquee for prizes of silver salvers, on which the winners have their names engraved.’
Perhaps the most ambitious competitive event this year was run by the superannuated football stars of Bishopstoke Park retirement village in Hampshire. The team’s one concession to old age is a major one: they walk, instead of run. Their enthusiasm, however, is undimmed.
For opposition, they played their local National League team, eastleigh FC. They even enlisted a group of ladies at the retirement village to be cheerleaders, complete with short sparkly dresses and twirling batons.