Students jump through hoops to connect with older generation

Croquet may seem a rather rarified sport but a group of Plymouth students have been learning the finer points of the game as part of a pioneering US project to reconnect Alzheimer’s patients with the world around them.

James Creasey and his brother Andrew from 'Through Hoops To Hope' came to Stoke Damerel Community College on Tuesday (15 October 2013) to teach students how to play before hosting an intergenerational match between 21 Year 7 students and a team of elderly visitors.

Through Hoops to Hope was born when the Creaseys’ father, Maxwell, was diagnosed with dementia and James began to search for an enjoyable way for them to spend time together.

“When golf was gone because it was too precise, when ping pong was too fast, when cards, scrabble and chess were all too complicated, what were we left with?” said James - who has travelled from his home in Denver to launch the project in the UK.

The College is now going to hold monthly croquet games between students and groups of older people and Annie Hammond, a resident at Manor Court in Plymouth, said she “can’t wait” to come back for a return game.

“I’ve had a lovely morning – I’ve never played croquet before - I think I did pretty well!” said Annie.

“I certainly enjoyed it and can’t wait to come back, the students have just been lovely.”

The College was one of 21 UK schools selected to take part in the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia to create dementia-friendly schools and James said he’d had a “stunning” morning.

“The students were amazing, their leadership and social skills are just stellar,” he said.

“What we are doing with this project is educating people about the condition, raising awareness and tackling the stigma associated with this illness.

“I’m so impressed with the work going on at this school and I think what we’ve done today is to give Stoke Damerel Community College another tool for their Dementia-friendly school toolkit.

“I go away a happy man.”

Stoke Damerel is the first South West school to be invited to join the croquet project and teacher Darren Towers, who leads the College’s dementia project, says it is testament to all the work the College has done in the past year to embed dementia education in the curriculum:

“We’re really excited to be involved with such an innovative approach to raising awareness of dementia and breaking down divisions between the generations.

“It was a fantastic event, to see the students playing with older people and showing such care for them was truly amazing,” said Mr Towers.

 “The students even taught me how to play croquet and we are all looking forward to our next match with students and senior guests.”

The Dementia-Friendly Schools initiative - which was launched at Stoke Damerel in 2012 by television presenter Angela Rippon - saw students spend time with residents at the city’s Waypoints dementia care home, write and film their own campaign films for the Alzheimer’s Society, create a banner for Lord Mayor’s Day, run a community drumming workshop and produce artwork and creative writing around the subject - all earning praise from the Prime Minister himself.

“I think playing croquet is good because it’s quite easy for people with dementia to remember,” said Kailah Burley, a Year 7 student.

“It can be a struggle for them to do activities but playing croquet makes life more fun for them and it was fun for us too.”