Every month, Balhousie Willowbank in Carnoustie, welcomes a very special visitor to run an activities session with the residents.
In fact, she’s more than special – she’s a VIP! Meet Lesley Ritchie. She’s a volunteer with the local dementia group, a Beaver Leader and an expert at running music and dance activities with older people. That’s just a few of the ways she helps in the local community.
It’s no surprise really that she’s Carnoustie Citizen of the Year!
When she comes for her monthly session at Willowbank, just five minutes in Lesley’s company and you can see and hear why she’s so popular and well-loved in the local area. Her activities sessions are an absolute joy.
Starting off with a warm up, Lesley gets the residents moving throwing a toy roast chicken to each other, then they go into singing along to a range of songs accompanied by lots of gentle chair exercises.
The music is perfectly chosen to suit the residents from Do-Re-Mi from The Sound of Music to the William Tell Overture. And then there’s the props! Vibrant scarves, paper plates, balloons – all with sensory benefits and loads of fun.
The results are plain to see by the level of engagement and the sheer joy on the residents’ faces. There are often members of staff who find excuses to come along and join in too!
Mandy Grant, Activities Coordinator at Balhousie Willowbank, said:
“It’s always positive when Lesley comes in because you can see how much fun the residents have. Myself too! You can’t help but join in. Everyone always ends up singing along and having a laugh. It’s brilliant.”
Lesley’s love for working with older people began when she was a volunteering in a local shop. Lesley said:
“One day I was singing to myself in the shop and one of the ladies in there said ‘oh they’d love you along at the dementia group at the church as they love singing.’ That was in 2017 when I went along to the group run by Alzheimer Scotland. That’s how it all started.”
Since then, Lesley has completed courses about safe movement for the elderly and loves nothing more than going around visiting care homes and various dementia groups doing music and movement sessions. Lesley added:
“I really enjoy it! I like coming up with new things and then observe what the residents enjoy. I’m very busy so the only thing that suffers is my house because I’ve never got time to tidy!”
Never mind Carnoustie Citizen of the year – Lesley could be Care Home Citizen of the Year!
