Promoting the spirit of active ageing
Engaging in physical activities may help reduce the risk of diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure.
Senior citizens clubs are designated as community focal points that are not only providing helpful resources to the senior citizens but serve the entire community with information on ageing.
It also helps with support for family caregivers and the development of innovative approaches to aging issues.
Thutukani Senior Citizens Club has been operating for over a decade at the Nike Football Centre.
The club has since been teaching lifelong recreational skills to senior citizens in Pimville.
The recreational skills play a critical role in the lives of older adults by contributing to an improved quality of life.
Each one of them is good at something, thus, for recreation, they choose activities at which they feel comfortable at and are likely to be successful at.
For instance, musicians lose themselves in music, crafts create and observers appreciate the efforts of others.
Physical recreation is especially the most important for them. Engaging in physical activities may help reduce the risk of diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. It also improves mental health.
According to Cathy Huis, one of the members, they do exercises in the mornings to keep them active throughout the day.
One of the most effective exercises they all do is walking to and from the centre.
“We all prefer walking as this is considered part of exercising. It doesn’t even bother us anymore, we are used to it. As old as we are, walking longer distances has become a norm because we are fit,” said Huis.
Peter Thutsoane, who has been taking good care of the senior citizens at the Nike Training Centre said working with adults is a blessing and that he has been working with them since 2007 and until now, they have never given him problems.
To generate money to run the club, they sell the beautiful crafts they have created, beadwork, dolls, pillows and much more.
However, they said the amount of income they get is not enough and therefore, any form of assistance would be appreciated, be it sponsorships or donations.
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