News

Club Update – Warm Weather

With upcoming temperatures set to rise across the United Kingdom, Sporting Memories is issuing the following advice to Clubs for any sessions taking place in the warm period ahead.

Assess Venue

Club facilitators and volunteers are to consider whether the venue of your Sporting Memories Club is a good place for older people and attendees to travel to and participate in sessions.

Things to consider include: 

• Does the venue require significant walking to get to, or is there public transport nearby?
• Is the venue a reasonable temperature or does it feel hot and stuffy?
• Is there an airflow, windows or air conditioning in the room which the Sporting Memories session will take place?
• Is the session room shielded from the sun?
• Is there access to drinking facilities e.g water taps, fountains, vending machines with drinks included?
• Does the venue have any support staff that can help in case of emergency?

Keeping everyone hydrated

During warm conditions it is important for everyone, but especially our members and volunteers, to stay hydrated during sessions. Club facilitators and volunteers should ensure that there is plenty of water and cold drinks available for all in attendance. It may be advisable to bring some bottles of water if there is no access to drinking water at the venue.

Adapting activities

Club facilitators and volunteers should also consider the activities that are normally run and whether they need to be adapted for the warm weather.

For example, if you run activities which require members to be active or move around, these should be reduced or adapted to ensure people do not get too hot or fatigued.  

Looking out for signs of heat exhaustion or stroke

It’s important to be aware of everyone’s wellbeing during Sporting Memories sessions and to keep an eye out for any potential health issues caused by the warm weather.

Older people and those living with long-term health conditions are likely to be more vulnerable to the heat according to the NHS, so please read the link on the NHS website below which indicates symptoms of heat exhaustion or heat stroke.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/heat-exhaustion-heatstroke/

Online Clubs

We also operate regular online sessions which all Sporting Memories members, Club facilitators and volunteers are welcome to join. These sessions may be a suitable alternative in the warm weather in replacement of your usual in-person sessions.

Online sessions and times can be found at the bottom of our ‘Find a Club’ page here: https://www.sportingmemories.uk/clubs/

Further information

If you feel any uncertainty around hosting a Sporting Memories session in the warm weather, postpone the session and rearrange for a cooler period. As mentioned above, all volunteers and members are welcome to join our online Clubs.

Please feel free to get in touch with us via contact@sportingmemories.uk for further guidance or advice.