00:00We're halfway through the Wimbledon Championships and Kent locals are having a ball,
00:04keeping up to date with the tournament and celebrating the season.
00:06I'm here in Staplehurst to celebrate Wimbledon 2026 with the staff and residents of Abbotsley
00:11Care Centre. Abbotsley holds an annual celebration for staff, residents and family to gather and
00:16enjoy the tennis as well as good company and themed activities. I spoke with Alina who helped
00:21us spearhead this event. This is our fifth anniversary, everything started back in 2022
00:27and it's a special event very close to our heart. We wanted to offer our residents and their loved
00:36ones an experience as close as possible to the original event. This is an opportunity for our
00:44residents and their families to build beautiful relationships with other people from the local
00:50community and residents and staff and family members of our sisterhood. Events like these
00:57highlight the importance of community and togetherness, especially for more vulnerable
01:00groups such as the elderly and the support it provides for not only residents but also loved ones.
01:05It's really important, we're really sociable animals and it's good for companionship,
01:12it's good for people to get together. We've got four homes here together now and for residents to
01:19see each other it's really really nice. I think it's a really great day, it's a nice thing to do,
01:25it gets all the residents outdoors, everyone's having a great time, the sun's shining, we've got
01:30tennis over there, couldn't be much better than that could it really. It's lovely, very nice, it's nice
01:36to see my husband outside for once. Oh it's a fantastic day, you know beautiful weather, everyone's having
01:42a great time, barbecue, food, really great day. Whether they're here for the gameplay or the strawberries
01:47and cream, I asked everyone about their favourite part of the celebration. Yeah great to see my dad here,
01:52but dad's a resident so it's great to come down and support the care home and what a fantastic
01:57occasion. The food. Just looking forward to strawberries and cream. So my favourite part of
02:06the day, obviously apart from dressing up as John McEnroe and looking this magnificent,
02:10is the community. We've got multi-generations of people, we have professional tennis players over there,
02:16so for me it's that sense of an opportunity for us all to get together and not be working and
02:21have
02:21a really good time together. Well it was certainly an ace of a day for residents here at Abbotsley.
02:25Chloe Smith for KMTV in Staplehurst.
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