Local children join together for cycling challenge

Throughout the summer and autumn, Linwood care home in Thames Ditton has been taking part in a national cycling challenge – Get Set, Cycle.

We launched the Get Set Cycle challenge with the aim to provide an accessible and inclusive way to keep up positive fitness habits, whilst uniting people through a shared passion following a year of social restrictions. Residents and colleagues in our care homes across the country have been cycling the distance between the care home locations while also smashing their target to cycle 24,901 miles – the circumference of the Earth.
 
Linwood care home has clocked some of the most miles in the organisation with over 4,000 miles cycled. As a virtual baton was passed to the Linwood care home, members of the local community, including children from Busy Bees nursery and Thames Ditton school on Mercer Close, helped the home reach current top place by joining in the cycling. Involving the community in the Get Set, Cycle challenge has also given residents the opportunity to reconnect with the local children.

Eleanor Lyons, Manager at Linwood care home, said:

Although we’ve been unable to have children from the local schools and nurseries come to the home to engage in intergenerational activities with residents, we thought the Get Set, Cycle challenge would be a good opportunity to foster these connections in a new way while encouraging wellbeing. 

It was amazing to see the children get involved in the cycling challenge. At Anchor, we believe physical activity is important for everyone no matter their age. The children loved cycling and taking part in the competition. As a thank you for participating, we awarded the children certificates and medals.

Clare Bell, Nursery Nurse from Busy Bees nursery on Mercer Close, said:

Children from the nursery have always enjoyed participating in activities with the home and we’re thrilled to have taken part in the Get Set, Cycle challenge. We’re all rooting for them to come out on top at the end of the competition in December!

Residents of all abilities at Linwood care home have been able to participate in the challenge using special equipment including flood pedals and Memoride – a virtual cycling platform for older people which uses Google Maps to project images of towns and paths onto a screen. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, we ramped up the use of this technology to help residents stay active while taking virtual trips to familiar places.

Rocchina Morris, 88, resident of Linwood care home, said:

I’ve really enjoyed the Get Set, Cycle challenge and it was great to see the local children getting involved too. Residents and the care team have all cycled. I’m really hoping we have cycled the most miles and can win the competition!

The public are encouraged to join in the challenge and share how many miles they’ve cycled on social media by using the hashtag #GetSetCycle. Find out more here.