Care home residents have been given the chance to watch Town thanks to the generosity of a season ticket holder from South Africa.
Elderly patients and their carers have been treated to matchday seats at the John Smith’s Stadium after kind-hearted Town fan David North let them use his season card while he lives overseas.
Community psychiatric nurse Elena Sykes took the initiative after finding how important reminiscence is to dementia patients.
She contacted Town and was put in touch with Mr North who was keen to help.
Elena, who works for Locala Community Partnerships, said: “After attending a sporting reminiscence course, I realised the importance of this type of work with individuals with dementia as a way of engaging in conversation with them.
“A lot of the gentlemen I see used to enjoy watching and playing football, and some used to attend Town games when they were younger.
“This is a wonderful way of getting them out and doing something they enjoy. It also gets them talking about their memories as young men watching their favourite team.
“We’re so grateful to the season ticket holder for letting us use his tickets. It means such a lot.”
Among those Town fans enjoying a matchday outing was Derek McParland, who lives at Sun Woodhouse care home in Fartown.
The 86-year-old, who attended the derby game against Sheffield Wednesday, said: “I really enjoyed the game.
“I used to jump over the fence at the old ground when I was a lad to watch the match. I had a good time.”
He was accompanied by his carer Joanne Williams who said: “It was great to see Derek enjoying himself.
“He had a big grin on his face for the full 90 minutes. He absolutely loved it.”
Now further plans are in the pipeline to get care home residents involved in other reminiscence activities including ballroom dancing, table tennis and rugby.
