Inclusive cricket group gives Fleet couple new lease of life

A man from Fleet is enjoying a new lease of life and making new friends thanks to Right at Home’s Inclusive Cricket group in Farnham. Mike Stavrinides, who is living with dementia, and his wife Maureen meet up with others to take part in the relaxed and informal cricket matches. Inclusive Cricket is just one of several community activities run by Right at Home.

Sara Woodley, Registered Manager at Right at Home GF says: “Inclusive Cricket is one of our regular community activities which is open to everyone and helps people get the most out of life regardless of age or disability. It is really popular with people who want to join in a sport that they enjoyed when they were younger or who want a new interest.

“Dementia and limited mobility caused by ageing can be terribly isolating but loneliness is completely avoidable with groups like ours. The hidden benefits are that activities like throwing or catching a ball, singing and moving around are also great for our brains, co-ordination and overall health.”

Mike’s wife Maureen has noticed the change in Mike since taking part in Inclusive Cricket. Despite not having played before, she joins in too: “Mike loves the cricket and I play too (though you can just watch if you want to). It offers a good workout for both of us and it’s something we can do together. When I first went with Mike, I couldn’t hit the ball but now I can. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t played before or it’s been a long time since you last played as nobody judges how good you are. One bats, one bowls and the others field. The batting and catching helps with coordination. People come who haven’t played cricket before and we all enjoy having a lot of fun together.”

Right at Home GF provides care for people in their own home, helping them stay independent for longer providing an alternative to nursing and care homes. It runs community groups too, such as the cricket and singing groups, to enhance its clients’ quality of life as well as that of their friends, family and others in the community.

“We want our clients’ lives to be fulfilled and for their friends and family to be able to enjoy fun, social events with them. For our community groups, it really is a case of the more the merrier, which is why we actively welcome anyone to come along,” says Sara. “Carers and volunteers are welcome too so please get in touch we would love to welcome you along to one of our groups.”

For Maureen and Mike, Inclusive Cricket has taken one other unexpected turn: they have been able to put one of the cricket group’s regular players back in touch with an old friend.  Maureen explains: “At cricket we got chatting to one of the other players, a lovely man called David. As we talked, we realised David and his wife used to be good friends with Mike’s brother, Peter and his wife Jean. David and his wife used to be regular customers at Mike and Jean’s restaurant in Woking and then followed them to their Farnham restaurant as they loved the Greek cuisine. I arranged for Peter to come along to a cricket game to meet with David. They were very happy to renew their acquaintance and are hoping to meet up again.”

Photo: Mike, David and Peter are reunited.