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Posted 28.4.2022 in News

WGC2022 Legacy - Love to Move

As part of the World Gymnastics Championships Liverpool 2022 (WGC2022) legacy, we are delivering ‘Love to Move’ sessions in the Liverpool City region. ‘Love to Move’ is an age and dementia friendly chair-based gymnastics programme created by the British Gymnastics Foundation. The programme uses seated activities to help older people with their memory, balance, flexibility and finger dexterity. Sessions are delivered in care homes and community settings across the UK and have contributed to a marked improvement in many of their regular participants.

With the Love to Move programme being rolled out in care homes across Liverpool, we’re highlighting some of the incredible stories to date which showcase the impact the programme is having on those in the community. Jerry is a retired primary school headteacher living with vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s and is now a regular Love to Move participant.

Jerry and his daughter Rosemary attended their first Love to Move session in November 2021 with Rosemary commenting: “At first, I found it really difficult to see Dad in the group because as I watched him, I was remembering how he used to be in the past,” said Rosemary.

“However, as I saw him engage in the classes and watched how he connected with the other participants and with Nicole, I started to see how much he was enjoying himself and how much good it was doing him. Jerry has just had a check-up with his GP, and she told me that he is in great shape physically. I think that a significant part of the credit for that should go to Nicole and to Love to Move”

Jerry has severe visual impairment so Love to Move deliverer, Nicole, ensured that Jerry was next to her in the class, so he was able to follow the movements more easily.

“This proved to be a great success as it allowed him to copy and stay engaged and now it is his appointed place at every session,” says his daughter, Rosemary. “There has been a really positive and significant impact on Dad as a result of the sessions and all of the family (seven children, eighteen grandchildren and one great- granddaughter) have heard all about the fun he's had and his special role as Nicole's self- appointed sidekick!”

The British Gymnastics Foundation has helped 585 people to come through the Love to Move training course to deliver the programme to thousands of people living with dementia across the country. The WGC2022 Legacy initiative aims to train a minimum of 20 staff in seven care homes across Liverpool to deliver sessions to residents helping to enrich the lives of many of the city’s older residents, like Jerry, ensuring the event is inclusive and progressive.

Visit British Gymnastics Foundation for more information