Care homes across the UK house many of our country’s vulnerable adults and during the pandemic they shut their doors to protect their residents. As the world has started to reopen, care homes have had to adapt and reintroduce some of the valuable support they receive from external organisations for their residents and getting active is one of them.

Lincoln City Foundation, a registered charity based in Lincoln dedicated to creating healthier, happier and inspired communities, received £4,704 funding from Sport England Together Fund, distributed through Active Lincolnshire, to deliver their Extra Time Hub to care homes around the city. Their aim was to work with and support six local care homes with the delivery of regular seated chair classes, and low impact multisport sessions. The sessions are designed to improve physical activity levels, encourage social interaction, provide mental stimulation, and help enhance the overall quality of life for residents.

Throughout the project, they engaged with over 280 residents, giving them 45 minutes per week of physical activity.

Monson Street Care Home in Lincoln was one of the six Care Homes in the Lincoln area accessing physical activity sessions delivered by Lincoln City Foundation. Closely located to the LNER Stadium, where the Foundation is based, some of the participating care homes residents, have found a new independence and confidence, meaning that they now regularly attend football matches and other physical activity opportunities. Joanne Varey, Activities and Wellbeing Lead, Monson Care Home, commented:

“Thank you to the Foundation for supporting us, we enjoy our regular visits from the Foundation which provide our residents with great entertainment and a chance to spend some quality time with each other.”

Lincoln City Foundation have seen firsthand the value and impact that the sessions have provided and are currently developing Care Home delivery packages to support others across the county and ascertain interest in wider physical activity support.

Alice Carter, Head of Healthier Communities at Lincoln City Foundation says:

‘’We really value being able to support residents at Monson Care Home, which is located so close to the LNER Stadium. Alongside providing activities to help enhance residents’ health and wellbeing, it is fantastic to be able to connect them more to the football club - many have great memories of attending matches and supporting the Imps and enjoy keeping a track of the team’s progress still.”

The Together Fund has helped to support Lincoln City Foundation to deliver these sessions, improving the physical and mental wellness of some of the City’s vulnerable adults. The Care Home delivery will now become a chargeable service offered by the Foundation for care homes to access - all that have taken part in the programme so far have continued with the provision.

To find out more about the sessions that Lincoln City Foundation can provide to care homes, contact the team via their website.

Sport England’s Together Fund existed to help reduce the negative impact of coronavirus and help community groups working with target audiences to grow and help more people. The Fund was a continuation of the Tackling Inequalities Fund that was set up in April 2020, as part of the support package to help the sport and physical activity sector through the Covid-19 crisis. £20 million of National Lottery funding committed to helping groups that were being disproportionally affected by the pandemic and was significantly impacting their ability to physically active. This included lower socio-economic groups, culturally diverse communities, disabled people and people with long-term health conditions. Active Lincolnshire distributed the fund in Lincolnshire.