Baptistcare Riverside Salter Point Keeping Seniors Fit and Active

A new bowling green recently opened for retirement living residents at Baptistcare Riverside Salter Point, with a special barbecue attended by residents, family, friends and Baptistcare staff. Everyone had the opportunity to try their hand at a friendly game of bowls at the event.

Lawn bowls is popular across a range of age groups as a low-impact, therapeutic and social exercise that can improve fitness and coordination. Baptistcare Riverside Salter Point’s full-size green comprises four rinks where residents, their friends and families can play rounds of lawn bowls at their leisure and enjoy being outdoors.

“Playing lawn bowls is a fun way for residents to socialise and be active,” Baptistcare Manager Retirement Living Lidia Dawkins said.

“It provides fun, gentle exercise, social interaction, relaxation and enjoyment for them as well as family and friends in the open air. It’s an important facility for our residents.”

Residents have been making the most of the new facilities and good weather to keep fit and get social, with plans to hold an annual team tournament.

“The bowling green is part of the retirement village’s community centre which is a meeting point for social interaction and community lifestyle,” Lidia explained.

The community centre has facilities which the residents can utilise to stay active such as an indoor heated swimming pool, fitness gym, function areas, movie theatre, library, barbecue area and other communal spaces.

“It’s fabulous. It’s much more than just a bowling green, it’s a whole precinct of leisure, it’s great,” Riverside Salter Point resident John Andrew said.

Baptistcare’s retirement villages also offer residents a variety of wellbeing activities that provide physical, social and mental stimulation, including painting, woodwork, aqua aerobics and social nights.

“Keeping active has many benefits for our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. For seniors, increased leisure time during retirement presents an opportune time to discover new ways of being active, including participating in low-impact exercise, pursuing interests and trying new hobbies,” Lidia said.

“Engaging in these activities is shown to improve health and assists with lowering the risk of disease later in life, such as heart disease and dementia, while also enabling valuable social community interaction.”

Find out more about Baptistcare.