Burnside Care Home Residents Took On the Race for Life and Won!
Would you like to be still walking 5Ks in your older years? May and Alice, residents at Burnside Care Home, did and loved it!
The Race For Life was held on the 22nd of June this year in Aberdeen. Emma Steel at Burnside Care Home in Laurencekirk wrote this blog post about it to let us know how two of their residents took part.
‘There are always lots of people I know very interested in supporting Cancer Research, including residents where I work. The two ladies at Burnside, May and Alice, who took part in the Race For Life this year had supported many charities throughout their lives and their families continue to do so now.
In the run up to the Race For Life training was important for the ladies. We practised walking, beginning with short distances and week by week walking further. We also did some physiotherapy exercises to strengthen our joints. May says “I loved doing that” and also “It’s good to give people something to achieve and to find all the different ways of doing it for different people”. Alice said that “keeping fit is 99.5% important to me, all the little things add up…even reaching up to comb my own hair, you know”.
The ladies enjoyed their day in Aberdeen supporting this worthwhile cause. Alice said on the day “I think it’s great we’re doing this” and May said, as she walked across the finish line “I’m bursting with pride”.
It was an amazing day. The other staff who supported us, Lynn and Gemma, also enjoyed it so much, saying “We’ll do this again next year!”
Alice hit the nail on the head (so to speak) when she said “all the little things add up”. Staying active is different for everyone, whether it be because of preference or ability but what is important is the sense achievement and independence as well as good health.
Supporting people to stay active and participate in everyday life is vital to self-esteem. In Burnside we aim to support people to stay active through participation. It could be in the garden, setting up for a meal time, delivering newspapers or any other aspect of daily living. Breaking tasks into achievable goals for each person is something we put a lot of time into.
We also have armchair exercise groups and we are now supporting charities with aim of hosting a “Macmillan Woodland Walk” too. As well as knowing it increases a person’s confidence and supports them to feel good and stay well…..it is a lot of fun!
K&M Communities 