Scunthorpe residents living with dementia benefit from exercise sessions

We have teamed up with Scunthorpe United’s Iron Foundation Trust to offer fun activity sessions for residents at Myos House, living with dementia.

Myos House, located on Warwick Road in Scunthorpe, opened in September 2021, bringing much needed specialist support to the area. It is made up of 25 two-bedroom apartments and complies with the ‘Housing our Ageing Population Panel for Innovation’ (HAPPI) principles.

Two sessions a week will be held for nine months, aimed at getting residents active, engaged and reducing social isolation.

The activities range from skittles, soft darts, table tennis, bingo, bean bag throwing to giant jenga and connect four.

Colin Nicholson, a resident at Myos House said: “I really enjoy the sessions, I look forward to them actually. They are brilliant and get us all involved, I’m usually the competitive one when we play the games.

“I would much rather come down here and take part than look at my four walls, it’s important to get out. I find it lovely here at Myos, there’s good company and always things to do.”

The sessions have been running since June this year, with hugely positive feedback and results.

Jaime Ture from The Iron Foundation Trust commented: “We strive to connect with the community and build a strong relationship with people of all ages.

“It is our mission to raise the participation levels in physical activity so we decided that Myos House would strongly benefit from us coming in and delivering fun activities.

“The session consist of light movements such as throwing. This is really good for those taking part as it can have a positive impact on their mental and physical wellbeing.

“We are very happy to help residents in being more active and having lots of laughs along the way.”

Denise Ford, Myos House Dementia Scheme Officer at Ongo said: “It has been a delight to help organise and then to watch these sessions take place. Our residents have such a great time and it is the highlight of their week for some of them.

“The benefits of them socialising, enjoying themselves and also being more physically active has been fantastic, and I must say staff from the Iron Foundation Trust do a fantastic job.”

To find out more about The Iron Foundation Trust, go to: www.scunthorpeunited-cset.co.uk.

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