Heathlands Village care home is a residential care home for the Jewish Community, which accommodates 180 residents and provides daycare support as well. The site has a wide range of people from the Community visiting family and friends, which was one of the reasons why the care home were recently successful in being donated 2 tables from the ITV I AM Team GB event.

Lucy Edwards, The Trusts, Foundations and Bids Fundraiser has been delighted with having received the tables and has really seen the benefits of having had the tables. Lucy comments

“The table tennis tables are in permanent use and left out so that anyone can play at any time. Many staff are playing table tennis informally during lunch breaks etc. Further table tennis sessions are planned for November.

We have had an average of 10 residents playing; all participants were over 16 with an average of 3 people using wheelchairs at any one session.

We have also started an evening ‘Gentlemen’s Club’ which will be held monthly. The first session took place on 13^th October. Male residents are able to play table tennis, pool or board games. The table tennis proved very popular with 8 residents playing. The evening was manned by staff and male volunteers who reported that residents did not want to stop playing. They had to repeat a few times that the session was over!

We have applied for funding from a local trust to enable us to buy a table tennis robot so that residents can play table tennis in the evenings at Heathlands Village when there are fewer staff on duty and less in the way of organised activities.”

This project has clearly demonstrated how having access to table tennis tables has made a real impact on improving the lives of the residents, brought the staff closer together with the residents and generally created a feel good factor amongst everyone who visits, works and lives at the Heathlands Village.