a lively lockdown
Dance classes, wine tastings and online quizzes are keeping residents on their toes
yOunG people have found some ingenious ways to keep themselves amused and diverted over the past few months, but so have retirement villages, where the average age of residents tends to be 80-plus.
Inspired Villages ( inspiredvillages.co.uk), which has seven developments across the uK, is hosting outdoor dance classes and coffee mornings and delivering food and meals to residents’ doors.
It has also created a Virtual Village Centre Facebook page, which includes exercises, recipes, quizzes, tips on mindfulness and advice from Dr Dawn Harper, who co-hosted Channel 4’ s Embarrassing Bodies and wrote Live Well To 101.
‘We are delighted to be in our retirement village, particularly at this time,’ says Joan Fisher, 80, who lives with her husband at Inspired Villages’ Austin Heath village in Warwick.
‘ We can have a fresh meal delivered every day, as well as groceries from the village shop, so we don’t have to go out.’
The couple are also enjoying the various activities on offer. ‘We have coffee mornings outside, wine o’ clock at five, or dancing outside. People join in even if the weather is windy,’ says Joan.
The Retirement Village Group ( retirementvillages.co. uk) has created a Facebook page for residents in their 16 villages to share information, thoughts and support each other. A weekly newsletter is being delivered to all properties with a quiz, crossword and suggestions to aid wellbeing and health, including recipes.
The villages’ restaurants also deliver takeaway food to residents, which Keith Richardson, 77, who lives in Charters Village, East Grinstead, West Sussex, is making the most of. ‘I’ve got a bistro specials takeaway menu and my first order was fish chowder, which I loved. There’s still a great village spirit, which is important’.
At McCarthy & Stone’s 434 retirement developments ( mccarthy
andstone.co.uk), the firm has put in place a buddy system, in which every home- owner identifies a trusted friend or family member, or a member of staff if needed, to help them with obtaining essentials.
Rangeford Villages’ Wadswick Green in Wiltshire ( rangeford
villages. co. uk) has organised ‘ balcony exercise classes’, so residents can keep fit while maintaining social distancing, with a personal trainer leading the classes from the courtyard.
There are also photography competitions and poetry readings.
PLATInuM
Skies, which has three villages in Dorset and one in Wi l t s h i r e ( platinumskies.co.uk), has moved the weekly quizzes from the communal lounges to Zoom for residents’ iPads and mobiles.
‘Our managers have made sure that everyone is set up on all the tech platforms so they can keep in touch with families and friends,’ says Barbara Cox, head of Wellbeing.
And at PegasusLife’s Chapelwood village in Wilmslow ( pegasuslife.
co.uk), a pop-up shop has been set up, plus a local fisherman is visiting with owners being served one at a time, two metres apart.
The company also hosts virtual online events including a yoga class, Tai Chi, book club and quizzes.