Ridgeway Rise Residents take a trip out to celebrate National Alzheimers Day 2020

The Coronavirus pandemic has been hard on all of us. But perhaps it has been hardest on the elderly in our community and those working in the care industry more than anyone else.

Now, after months without access to the outside world, the team at Swindon’s Ridgeway Rise residential home were delighted to mark International Alzheimer’s Day 2020 by taking some of their residents on an off-site trip for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

With the country forced into national lockdown on March 23rd, care homes around the country were forced to reduce non-essential visits and cocoon residents inside. So after remaining COVID free for the 6 month running, with no cases to date, Ridgeway Rise were able to take some of their residents on a special off-site trip around Swindon and the surrounding areas.

With some of those on the trip Swindon born-and-bred, it was a special moment for many as they were taken for a trip down memory lane into some of Swindon’s oldest areas with residents given pictures of past buildings as they compared them to present day with many left amazed at how much had changed over the years.

When they were taken to the Swindon Town centre, it was clear to see the differences between present day and six months ago as guests pointed out the commonplace of masks on many outside, along with noticing there was less traffic and lots of posters and signs placed around areas focusing on COVID.

Following COVID safety precautions, residents were unable to leave the mini bus, but that didn’t stop those on-board having fun as they were taken on a tour around Swindon, Purton, Chiseldon, and into Tadpole Village, which many were seeing for the first time since the area had been developed.

Despite the ongoing pandemic, residents commented that the world outside looked so peaceful and serene, admitting that it was hard to believe that the World was sitting on tenterhooks as governments race for solutions to solve the Coronavirus crisis.

This was a fantastic trip outdoors for everyone involved, and certainly raised the spirits of Ridgeway Rise’s residents with resident Val joking: ‘Let’s see if my house aged as well as I did.’

To find out more about Ridgeway Rise click here.