The people working in our homes have had a vast range of different careers before joining the Excelcare family. As a result, they have a wide and varied depth of knowledge that they are often eager to share with the people living in our homes.
Roger works at Winifred Dell Care Home in Brentwood and used to be a horse racing jockey. As this is such a unique job, he was enthusiastic about sharing his experience with the team and the people living at the home.
Roger was a trained horse racing jockey, racing in both Trinidad and the USA for over 25 years. During his time in the profession, he travelled across the world competing in a wide variety of races. After years of racing, his career finally took him to Yorkshire, where he finished out his term as a jockey.
He reminisced on his time with the Winifred Dell team, telling them all about the various facets of the job. He spoke of the strict dietary regime for both the horses and their riders, and the adding and subtracting of weight for the races.
After his talk with the team, he went on to share his experience with the people living at the home, as many have a large interest in racing. This got everybody talking about race days that they’d attended in the past, with Bobby mentioning that he “used to attend the track and have a cheeky bet or two of a few pence.” Other people also mentioned that they had bet on the Grand National before or popped into a bookie in the past to place a cheeky bet.
This was a great discussion with opportunity for reminiscence and cognitive stimulation. It just goes to show how any past experience can be utilised in care.