“The only time we got Dad back from his dementia was when we talked about sport,” says Alastair Hignell. Reunited by the power of sporting memories, father and son had plenty to talk about, writes Bill Randall.
Alastair played rugby union for Bristol and England and county cricket for Gloucestershire. Dad Anthony was a national javelin champion and also played for Gloucestershire.
Alastair discovered others were unlocking the power of sporting reminiscences on a wider scale when he heard about an event organised at his old cricket club by the Sporting Memories Foundation (SMF).
By then living in Brighton, he introduced SMF founder Chris Wilkins to Sussex County Cricket Club, which created and funded a network of clubs across the county through its community foundation.
The Kemptown Club is the latest addition to the county network. Set up in July 2021 by Alistair and Thurstine Basset, it joins 180 local clubs at home and abroad that have used the power of sport, fun and friendship since 2011 to help tackle dementia, depression and loneliness by bringing together men and women over 50 and their partners and carers in a safe and structured way.
“About ten people a week come to our sessions, mostly blokes, who sometimes don’t find it easy to meet and talk,” says Alastair, who is an SMF patron.
“But bring them together and they will almost always talk about sport. Very few of us are without sporting memories and stories. It is all great fun and keeps the neural processes going.”
Thurstine and Alastair are among more than 260 volunteers trained by Sporting Memories to lead the sessions using a wide range of reminiscence resources developed specifically to help jog memories and prompt conversation and discussion.
“The training has proved very helpful, particularly when it comes to bringing people into the conversation,” says Thurstine, who has a lifetime of playing, watching and talking about sport.
One nice sporting touch: the Foundation supplied the Kemptown group with a rugby ball, which is passed to the group member whose turn it is to speak in the sessions.
Meetings are free and begin with simple physical exercises. Discussions centre on the contents of the Sporting Pink, a weekly newspaper produced by SMF, with echoes of Saturday night local paper sport specials (“Get the results first here”).
It runs articles about past cup finals, test matches and other sporting landmarks, carries a weekly quiz and a spot-the-ball competition.
The quizzes are tough and hard-fought, as I found out at the recent meeting I attended. I didn’t get many questions right. Where I knew the answers, I was inevitably beaten to the punch, but always in a friendly fashion.
Indeed, the Kemptown group is extremely friendly and welcoming. “I get so much from coming here,” one member told me.
It’s a model that certainly works for many people, and academic research confirms its positive benefits. Sporting Memories groups meet regularly in England, Scotland, Wales, Australia and New Zealand and have nearly 60,000 attendances a year.
People who come through the doors or take part online wherever they live all have one thing in common: a love of sport.
The Kemptown club is interested in engagement with other organisations working with older people, says Alastair, not least to get more people with dementia at the sessions, adding: “I know from my own experience the difference talking sport can make to their lives and those of their families and carers.”
The Kemptown Club meets on Mondays from 10am to 11.30am at St George’s Church, St George’s Road, Brighton, BN2 1ED.
The Hove Club meets on Tuesdays from 10.30am to noon at Sussex County Cricket Club, The 1st Central County Ground, Eaton Road, Hove, BN3 3AN. The Hove Club is full at the moment.
Sussex Sporting Memories on Zoom every Friday from 10am to 11.30am.
For details about the Kemptown Club, to be added to the Hove waiting list, for more Zoom details and information about clubs in Crawley, Polegate and Worthing contact Emma Brooke on 01273 827104 or 07718 492529 emma.brooke@sussexcricket.co.uk.
