30 April, 2025
A local badminton centre in the north of England is excited to expand a new badminton scheme aimed at care home residents.
Tyneside Badminton Centre (TBC), based in Newcastle, launched their Sit & Hit initiative earlier this year and after a successful pilot at Eothen Homes in Gosforth, now want to roll out the program to six more care homes.
The scheme will see up to three TBC staff go into the living facilities for an hour every week, for six weeks, to oversee residents using badminton racquets and balloons to get active and to socialise.
Joe Robinson, development officer for both TBC and Northumberland Badminton Association, and one of the scheme’s founders, explained his happiness at the project’s progress and what sparked him to push it into fruition.
He said: “I am very proud with how far it has come.
“Myself, Amy [Kirsopp] and Sarah [Burtenshaw], we have all said it is the most heartwarming hour of our week because every time we go in, we see people smiling who maybe do not smile that often and having a good time.
“A lot of them sit in their rooms or chairs with very few visits from family members so the scheme is about giving them an environment to enjoy.
“We went in with the intention of it not being competitive, for it just to be fun and social but it can get quite intense, some people like to hit the balloons really hard!
“The scheme came about through conversations with colleagues who had family members in care homes and how unfulfilling their lives had become and that they were looking for something to do.
“It is a bit of a sad story, so I just wanted to make a difference in people’s lives.
“It gives them the opportunity to spend time with others outside of the four walls of their room.
“We have residents tell us that it has helped ease their arthritis in their hands so that is just some of the positive news we like to hear.”
TBC have also secured funding to the tune of £500 from a local charity which will go towards buying equipment packs to leave in the care homes once the six-week program has finished.
The aim is that residents can then continue to play badminton as they will have access to the racquets and balloons required to play.
Facility manager at TBC, Amy Kirsopp, who is part of the group, alongside Joe and Sarah Burtenshaw, who goes into the care homes, explained how the scheme could also benefit residents not just physically but mentally too – highlighting links between sport helping with regressive illnesses such as dementia.
She said: “There are so many links that you hear about between sport and dementia, and because we have the ability to deliver sport to older people, it helps with that element too.
“Because whether or not we know the participant has it, we are still potentially helping somebody through sport, so that is what sparked the initiative for us.
“Sometimes, people see others as not physically able to do sport and often that is not the case, so it is nice to prove that people do not need to be written off.
“From our point of view, it is lovely to see people doing something they otherwise would not be doing if it was not for us putting it in front of them.
“The reaction from the residents and their family members has been great. On a couple of occasions, visitors have had to wait for them to finish the session because they were enjoying it so much!”
