Care home residents playing darts to stay sharp

Residents at Heatherton House in Littleover have been getting competitive with darts

Residents at a care home in Derby say they are enjoying playing darts to keep themselves active and thinking.

The lounge at Heatherton House care home in Littleover was transformed into a friendly darts competition, which has now become a monthly event.

Stella Hindle, 88, was crowned darts champion of the first event, and told BBC Radio Derby she was amazed to have won.

"I was absolutely gobsmacked. It was a bloomin' miracle. I was delighted to win. If my husband was here, he'd have fainted."

Ann was the darts champion for August

The game involves people throwing a dart, with different topics around the board to land on, including history, faces and places.

The player then has to answer a question to gain points.

Kate Day, 44, the general manager of the home, said: "We always look for activities that are stimulating and fun, and darts ticks every box.

"Residents are practising coordination and even strategy, all while having a laugh with each other."

Researchers have previously used darts to study the mental health of older people, and found a link between cognitive decline and someone's balance when throwing a dart.

Ann Ward, 91, who won one of the events, said she was surprised to have done so well.

"I didn't think that I could ever do this. I've never done it before. I did enjoy it.

"I feel shocked and amazed. I'm going to treasure my trophy."

Residents compete by throwing darts at topics before answering a trivia question

Marjorie Tucker, 94, added: "It was really enjoyable. Someone said 'Are you coming to play darts?' and I thought, 'No way'.

"I thought it would be a good giggle if nothing else and a bit of exercise and I've really enjoyed it, it's been fun. You don't realise you're doing exercise."

The care home staff say playing darts has multiple benefits for the residents, including physical coordination and emotional wellbeing.

Magnifique Masamba, 24, a care assistant at the home, said: "It's brilliant to see the residents getting involved and having fun.

"To see them compete with each other is wonderful. People think they just sit and do nothing. It's nice to see them do things and they speak about it throughout the day."

Ms Day added: "It benefits both physical and psychological because they're up and moving around. Even when they don't think they can do it, they manage to do it and it brings back memories from many years ago for them.

"These residents are still living. They deserve to have fun and be happy."