Living sport - Barnabas Court, Milton

The class was originally established on Mondays from 10 to11am, but was moved back half an hour to accommodate the Tesco bus that the residents use. The class uses the communal lounge and achieves on average 10 participants a week, some from the local community. The residents pay £1 and the housing company pays an extra 50p to help encourage their residents to take part. To date we have seen our oldest client attend this class at the fantastic age of 100, showing you’re never too old to give it a go! We have also involved our partners from the falls team (NHS community services) to give a class in safety and confidence in getting up from the ground following a fall.

The housing company

Debbie, the scheme manager, says, ‘The tenants here started exercise classes through Living sport, back in January 2009. At first the tenants were a bit sceptical and negative, with comments such as, I’m too old for it to be of use now, or, I get my exercise from my daily walk, but I asked them to give it a go and they are starting to see the benefits. I get positive feedback from the tenants who take part. It gets the week off to a lively start and for me it’s certainly great to hear the chatter and laughter. It’s nice that any ability can join in; one lady comes down in her wheelchair, but doesn’t feel excluded. I and the tenants can honestly think of nothing negative about the classes.’

The teacher

Tansy Bruce is a level four qualified fitness teacher with a strong background in dance. ‘The group at Barnabas Court started as a chair-based class. For the first few months everything we did was done sitting. I gradually increased the standing work to the point where we now do most of the exercises standing, apart from the ball games and cool down. Overall the group has made big increases in stamina, strength, flexibility, co-ordination and most importantly confidence. The class has progressed from a chair-based class to more of a PSI (postural stability instructor) class. In the future I would like to see the group get used to getting up and down off the floor and performing more floor work. Most of the group are reticent about doing floor-based exercises. I would like to be able to improve their confidence in this area.’

Participants

Rose, 97, has arthritis and sciatica. ‘I enjoy coming along; it has definitely helped my knees and made it easier to walk and move, but it hasn’t helped with the pain. Socially, it is nice getting together, it’s interesting and fun, especially when we have to throw and catch the ball.’

Marjorie, 80, has osteoarthritis in her knees. ‘I enjoy going; I feel it has helped strengthen my leg muscles. It is socially enjoyable. I have learnt the importance of exercise, eg building up and maintaining muscle strength. I would be disappointed if it stopped.’

Ron 72 has bi-polar disorder. ‘We have a very good instructor who works us hard, but I find it enjoyable and helpful, and I definitely walk better since starting the exercises. I also find it mentally stimulating.’

Volunteer

We have one volunteer in place, who is also a participant. He does a fantastic job of the administration for the class – taking the registers, collecting the money and welcoming new people. He also works as a bridge between cover teachers when non-confidential information needs to be shared from class to class.