Ashwood hosts its own Olympic Games

At Ashwood Residential Care Service, Crawford Lodge and Shaw House held their own Olympics, which coincided with the Olympic Games held in Paris, to celebrate the spirit of the Olympic Games and encouraging physical activity while providing lots of fun and entertainment for our residents.  

I am so proud of the Lifestyle and Physio teams who worked together to organise this event. They used expansive creativity, using pool noodles to make sports equipment like Javelin, hockey sticks and relay batons.  

We had a full complement of sports represented: Basketball, Javelin, Table Tennis, Hockey, Fencing, Bowling, Walking and Wheelchair races.  

Olympic ‘torches’ were made by the residents for the mini Opening Ceremony. 

The competitive spirit, enthusiasm and enjoyment was at an all-time high from the residents during the event. Having an almost 103-year-old female resident and a 101-year-old male resident participating taught us that age should not hold us back in participating in physical activity and having fun. 

One of the Crawford Lodge residents, Pat, originally from Scotland, performed amazingly in hockey as her daughter mentioned to us that she was a hockey player when she was younger. 

Chittemma was an all-rounder, smiling and enjoying every minute participating in all of events such as Fencing, Volleyball and Javelin. Not to mention Bruno, who played Table Tennis like a champion.  

In Shaw House, one of the residents, Sylvia, became emotional when she received her medal for winning first place in Javelin and Basketball. She mentioned that this was her first time winning a medal in her life. It was an emotional moment for staff and fellow residents. 

During the walking relay race one of the residents, Beryl, actually ran in excitement to win the race. We could see the competitive spirit in her and happiness on her face.  

During the wheelchair race two residents Philip and Ernest drove their wheelchair by themselves and Ernest won the race. Ernest was so proud of his achievement, he showed off his gold medal to his daughter on her visit.  

Our Kitchen team provided a wonderful French-style morning tea prior to the Olympics and an amazing Italian-style lunch following the medal ceremonies. 

We received a lot of positive feedback about how well it was organised and run. The invitation was also open to the resident’s family members, was a good opportunity for them to connect and participate with their loved ones in this fun event.  

We look forward to 2028 when the next Olympic games are held in USA, Canada and Mexico but more importantly here in Ashwood, Pendle Hill! 

By Anjee Seeckun

Manager of Residential Services, Ashwood Residential Care Service