From the frontline - Jeni Moore
What’s it like to co-ordinate activities and entertainment at a retirement village? Jeni Moore from the ExtraCare Charitable Trust spills the beans
What does your job involve?
It’s my job to facilitate activities and entertain our residents and members of the local community at the newly opened 260-home Longbridge Retirement Village in Birmingham.
Most of the activities we run are open to the whole community, which is what is really special about the ExtraCare Charitable Trust’s retirement villages.
There’s line dancing, ballroom dancing, zumba, tai chi and art classes, and we’re about to start running jewellery-making classes. We’re also working on the launch of ‘stay and play’ sessions for zero to five-year-olds, which our residents will be able to take part in.
Bringing the generations together is a big part of our work here and it’s so important that Longbridge Village isn’t just for residents.
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How did you get into housing?
This is my first job in housing and I’ve been working for the ExtraCare Charitable Trust since the end of May, getting ready to open Longbridge Village. Residents began moving into the village in July, and it officially opened at the end of August.
I previously spent years working as a holiday park entertainer, travelling all over. Most recently, I was working on a cruise liner in Australia. Having spent a decade away from my friends and family in Birmingham, I wanted to be around them – but I didn’t want to leave entertainment behind completely.
What is a good day like for you?
Saturdays are my favourite day, and in particular, Saturday nights, when I host our weekly entertainment. There’s always bingo and a cabaret performance, and then there might be a game show or a quiz, comedy, a ventriloquist or karaoke. Every week, I crown a Mr and Mrs Longbridge.
Our work here is mostly about making people realise that just because they’re older, it doesn’t mean they can’t make friends. Some residents may be less able than they were in the past, but they’re still the same person. Our activities help people regain their sense of identity, which may have been missing for a while.
One of our residents recently told me that she’d never had many friends before moving to Longbridge Village. She now comes downstairs for the entertainment every Saturday, and she always has a core group of friends around her. She’s suffered from anxiety and depression, but now she’s thriving and it’s so nice to see.
My Saturday nights end with a late-night disco. If the crowd is still going for it at midnight I’ll carry on playing the music.
What about a bad day?
I have a sweet tooth, so for me it’s a bad day if the communal sweet bowl in the office is empty. That’s as bad as it’s got.
If you could be prime minister for a day, what would you do?
I’d want to do something that would have a lasting legacy; for example, I’d get the ball rolling on more investment for the NHS. I’d aim to achieve the maximum amount of impact in the short time I had available.
What’s the most private thing you’d be willing to admit to your colleagues?
Err… I’ve got an irrational fear of ducks. I also get really freaked out by baked beans. I can’t be in the same room as someone eating them. I don’t tend to tell people that – it’s a detail I leave out when I go on dates.
