Newton Lodge bowled over by sports week success

With major tournaments like the World Cup and Wimbledon making for a sizzling summer

of sport, staff and service users at Newton Lodge in Wakefield have been getting into the sporting spirit.

In July, staff and service users at the medium secure unit kicked off their annual week packed full of team sports, physical challenges, and a fun-filled activity afternoon. The seven days of sport finished off with an inter-ward pool tournament, coffee afternoon and celebration of achievements before the final whistle blew.

Monday’s match of the day was a cricket challenge, followed by a bout of basketball. On Tuesday, the service served up games of volleyball and badminton.

Wednesday morning brought the hospital’s hotly-contested annual football tournament, where four teams from across the wards tackled it out to be crowned this year’s champions.

Thursday was the main event, with tug of war, welly wanging, and a range of both just-for-fun and competitive activities. One service user taking part in the welly wanging blasted his boot the full length of the building and into the car park!

On Friday, the winner of the inter-ward pool tournament was decided.

For service users who enjoy spectating more than scoring, a quiet hour and board games were on offer.

Throughout the whole event, points were awarded to each ward for a service user attending, participating and winning. These were added up at the end of the week to find out which ward came out on top overall.

All the winners of each activity were presented with a certificate, with medals awarded to the ‘Man of the match’ for each of the team sports and to the winners of the individual activities. The winning ward with the top points were given a prize of biscuits and coffee to share and a ward certificate.

The winners of the football tournament were presented with a trophy set to be engraved with the team’s name, which they’ll proudly keep until next year’s event. All service users in the team also received a congratulatory certificate.

Sue Threadgold, director of forensic and learning disability services, said: “There were some very competitive moments, but all undertaken with fun. Everyone had a great time and enjoyed each other’s company. The whole event went really well and there has been a lot of positive feedback from both service users and staff – we hope it will be just as well attended next year.”