France - An exciting day at racecourse Fountainebleau
In October Barenbrug France employees spent a day with disabled elderly people. Together they played games, had a picnic and went to see an exciting horse race at race course Fountainebleau.
Meeting the elderly
The retirement home L’Orée du Bois welcomes elderly people who are physically or intellectually disabled (reduced mobility, blindness, Alzheimer's disease, ...). The staff cannot always take their residents out for both logistical and security reasons.
Employees of Barenbrug France therefore proposed to the animation team their helping hands to take the residents who wished to spend a day at the race course of Fontainebleau.
To get to know each other, the morning began with a team game consisting of a resident and a Barenbrug companion. The goal of the game was to guess a hobby or make an expression to the group. Both sides wanted to do well and to create a group cohesion for the day to be a great success.
Before we went to the race course, this activity was followed by a picnic. The picnic took place indoors because it was too cold to have it outside.
To the course!
Once arrived at the race course, the groups formed naturally, the visually impaired placed close to the tracks to feel the ground vibrate as the horses passed in front of them. The bettors took their chance and the conversations went well.
The management of the Fontainebleau Racing Society noticed the wheelchairs, walkers and yellow t-shirts with the text “Helping With Hands”. They were touched by the initiative and came to greet the group to let them know that residents from the retirement home are more than welcome at the race course in the future.
Residents and employees alike enjoyed this equestrian, joyful and friendly outing.
