Nov 2019
Lake House gets competitive with conkers
Most of us can probably remember playground conker tournaments at school and residents of Lake House in Adderbury are no different. That is why the home organised the first Lake House Conker Tournament, enabling young-at-heart residents to play a competitive (yet safe) game of conkers, just like they did in their youths.
Conkers have been plentiful this year in the picturesque countryside in and around Adderbury. During a recent local outing, residents and the team collected a selection of the biggest and shiniest conkers they could find. A colleague’s husband then volunteered his time and power tools to drill holes and attach strings to each conker, ready for the games to begin.
Tournament tactics remembered from years ago began to resurface as the games started. Each game took just a couple of minutes as the competitors (wearing suitably protective goggles) made light work of destroying each other’s conkers. A surprising competitive streak came out in one or two residents as the tournament progressed, showing that you’re never too old to be invested in a game.
Activity Coordinator Micia Lydon said: “What a fun day. Many of the residents have not played conkers for years but it comes back so quickly. It was nice to see them relive their youth.”
Reminiscence such as this is known to be a therapeutic tool for those living with dementia and can have a positive effect on symptoms. Home Manager Alexandra Grindle comments: “Here at Lake House we are proud to be able to provide our residents with opportunities for ways to reminiscence and to relive their younger years as well as having a lot of fun in the process.”
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