On Monday, Sky Blues in the Community's Coventry Dementia Active participants enjoyed a stadium tour of our home ground - the Coventry Building Society Arena.
As part of their experience, they received a welcome presentation, followed by stadium history, private box viewing, a tour of the changing rooms and seeing the manager’s office.
They also took the iconic walk out of the tunnel to sit pitch side in the dugouts - every CCFC fans dream!
A few of our participants described their experience:
Andy, DA participant commented: “One of the best experiences of my life. It’s up there with my wedding day.”
Barry, a carer to one of our participants said: “I drive past here every day, it’s amazing to be able to see everything up close. The tour guide was great.”
The stadium tour was arranged by Sky Blues in the Community as a thank you to our Dementia Active participants regular attendees, which contributed to SBitC achieving participation figures of over 1,000 in 2023 across our sessions delivered in Coventry, Nuneaton & Warwick.
Nicola, Occupational Therapist for the NHS also added: “The Dementia Active participants were raving about their tour experience. Many were enjoying reminiscing and recalling meaningful life events, prompted by the tour. Thank you for the opportunity to remember together and share some fun, we all felt very spoilt.”
For those unaware of the Dementia Active project, it’s a FREE 2-hour weekly session for those with a dementia diagnosis or memory loss concerns. The session consists of 1 hour's exercise, taking part in sports such as; badminton, soft tennis, archery, football, table tennis, basketball, darts, boules and much more! All of which can be adapted by qualified coaches to suit individual needs and can be played at any pace.
The tour was conducted expertly and engagingly by Mark O'Shea, the Catering & Experience Director at the Arena. In the 2nd hour, our participants enjoy a much more relaxed and social environment, including refreshments, chatting and some fun team trivia/general knowledge quizzes presented by SBitC staff.
Our current Dementia Active sessions are available in:
- Coventry - MON 10am-12pm @ The AT7 Centre
- Nuneaton - MON 2:30-4:30pm @ The Jubilee Sports Centre
- Warwick - FRI 10-11:30am @ St Nicholas Park Leisure Centre
If you believe this could benefit you or someone you know, please contact us on shakeil.barrett@sbitc.org.uk or 02476 786 349