Galloping to Glory at Derby Heights
Hay! Sometimes our homes love to do something extra special for staff and residents to join in with, especially if it involves some friendly competition! With the Grand National coming up on 6th April, Derby Heights Care Home certainly didn’t rein it in, and with unbridled enthusiasm, staff set about a staging a series of races in some rather interesting costumes, all for the entertainment of our residents.
Taking a twist on the traditional horse race, Derby Heights made a spur of the moment decision to organise a race every day in the week before the Grand National to get the whole home involved. The winner from each day’s race was then put forward for the mane event – the final race, which would take place in the home’s gardens just before the official Grand National on Saturday. However, our competitors were encouraged to make a foal of themselves, dressing in inflatable costumes in order to compete, with a choice of either a donkey, horse, unicorn or fairy sumo wrestler.
The competition was fierce and throughout the week staff trotted about the garden as they tried to gain a spot in the home’s final race. There was, unfortunately, a lot of foul play in one of our races on Friday, where Home Manager Lance got tripped up by another racer!
However, after plenty of horsing around all week, our final line-up was decided! Our jockeys were: Sophie (Care Assistant), Sian (Care Assistant), Jett (Housekeeper), and Louise (Care Assistant).
With everyone outside and cheering, it was a fantastic final, with our winner Sian the Sumo galloping to the finish post to collect the well-deserved trophy, a box of chocolates and a bottle of prosecco, presented to him by two of our residents Vera and Barbara, as seen in the image below from our Derby Heights Facebook page.
The week was a huge success, with staff displaying fantastic team spirit entertaining our residents who came into the garden and onto the balcony to watch, laugh and cheer on the jockeys each day. Thank you to everyone who got involved and horsed around!
