Some fresh meat (aka Amy and Jan ) joined for our monthly session at the Oaks. We started off with some easy parachute games to warm up the arms, and the competition.

It wasn’t long before we had multiple balls, of all sizes, thrown in all directions with the parachute and we were ready to test ourselves with a target game.

Ed blew up the inflatable target board and we began practising our ball throwing. Mrs Z got out there early with a high score of 6, whilst many of us struggled to even get 1. Different tactics were thrown about and soon we were ready to start the (now official) GoodGym vs. Hartrigg Oaks championships.

Round One - balls: a hopeful start for GG with 14 points on the board. However, our dreams were swiftly shattered when the Oaks scored 9 with their first 3 goes! The Oaks took the lead with 17-14.

Round Two - beanbags: it’s probably best to skip past this one as the Oaks won by an astounding amount. No one is really sure of just how much because there was some questionable maths happening in judges corner.

Round Three - football: we learnt that the Oaks can kick! We had the giant football flying in all directions and ended with a satisfying draw.

Final score: Oaks 3-1 GG.

We’ll be back next month after we’ve recovered our dignity and brushed up on our skills.

For this month's session at the Oaks we were greeted by a bumper turnout of residents who, as usual, didn't know quite what to expect from a GoodGym visit. Fortunately for them there was no fitness involved and instead this week's activities included playing with a giant inflatable pink ball, followed by a very quick go with some oversized tennis rackets.

The old faithful parachute soon came out and we attempted a game of trying to get the ball over the edge of the other side of the parachute. When that got a bit one-sided we moved onto the a beanbag target game followed by shooting some hoops

Throughout the task a white board displayed an anagram for the residents with the clue being 'nature'. The letter were HAMPER TOES. 5 GG points for anyone who can guess the correct answer

Ed, Lucy and I met at Hartrigg Oaks to see the lovely residents for an hour of ball-throwing fun. We'd had a brief hiatus as they have recently switched activity coordinators, but the residents all remembered us and were keen to get stuck in with some fun.

It didn't take long before Lucy dived straight into the cupboard of fun and found us a parachute to play with. After some practice, we split into two teams competing to get the ball thrown off the parachute on the other teams side. Ed and his team were very in sync and mastered the game quickly winning with an envious 10-5!

Then came out the basket ball net where we each took it in turns to shoot. We soon learnt who the previous netball players were amongst the residents!

It wasn't long before it was time for squash and goodbyes! We'll get back to our regular monthly visits now and can't wait to back for another parachute challenge.

For tonight's session at the Oaks Amy went for a chat with Mrs C and talked about her geordie upbringing and why she moved to York. Laura went to play dominoes with Mrs J.And Abigail, Lucy and Ed stayed in the main room and played various games with the rest of the residents, starting off with keeping a giant pink balloon up in the air until it burst. Fortunately quackers the emu was on hand to keep spirits up!

Tonight's visit to Hartrigg Oaks saw us make the most of the dry weather and last of the lighter evenings by heading out for a walk around the bungalows that surround the Centre

Lucy, Amy and Ed were each allocated a resident in a wheelchair and we were also joined by a few other residents who were more stable on their feet. In total 8 Oakers, 3 GGers and taskowner Nicola made up the sizeable walking group as we ventured off towards the back of the bungalows and over to the beck to see the water levels before meandering back to the Centre.

As we made our way back we were joined by a black cat who followed us all the way to the front door and also reappeared as we were leaving. I'm pretty certain it would have happily come home with us if Lucy or Amy had let it into their cars.

We'll be back to the Oaks on 13th Nov, potentially for a game of bingo!

For this month's visit to the Oaks we welcomed newcomer Grace who was doing her first ever GoodGym task 👋. Grace also happened to let on that she was a physio, so I'm sure will be made to feel very welcome at GoodGym!

The Oak's Activity Coordinator, Nicola, was on hand to welcome us and get us set up for the evening's fun. And as we're starting to get back into the swing of things we were now allowed to take residents for a walk outside of the centre, so Ed was chosen to accompany one resident for an evening stroll.

Grace stayed in the conservatory to play games with a group of residents, whilst Amy and Lucy were whisked away to for individual one to one conversations with a couple of the chattier residents.

After walking a lap of the area surrounding the centre, Ed and Mrs Z returned to find Grace leading a very competitive game of bean bag toss. Not to be outdone by the residents, Ed and Grace made sure they had a go as well!

Amy and Lucy returned from their chats just in time to find Ed stroking a fake cat that made real purring noises and even rolled over to have its belly stroked! We then said our goodbyes and headed to the stag for a group photo.

We'll be back next month for more fun and games at the Oaks