CARE organisation, Belong Atherton, has partnered with award-winning social enterprise Oomph! to extend the wellbeing and activities programme in place across its villages.

The retirement community on Mealhouse Lane, will benefit from the programme, along with Belong's six other sites across the North West, which promote a more diverse and creative approach to activities.

Belong’s Chief Operating Officer, Stacey McCann, said: “Enabling people to lead the lives they choose is fundamental to our vision and we are always striving towards a more person-centred approach.

“At Belong, we promise a varied programme of activities and exercise for all our customers and recognised that we needed to get the whole team on board to deliver this, and to ensure our provision is adapted to each person’s choice and ability.

"Oomph!’s programme offers a refreshing approach that goes way beyond exercise and has given us the opportunity to enhance the way we involve all our colleagues in creating meaningful experiences for our customers.”

As well as training, the programme also includes a series of skills workshops, including Oomph! Create, which has been designed in partnership with The Lightbox Gallery, who provide specialist art programmes for older adults in three different artistic mediums - painting, collage and sculpture, while further workshops will focus on culture, nature and sport.

The name, Oomph, stands for ‘Our Organisation Makes People Happy,’ and reflects the mission of the social enterprise: to enhance the mental, physical and emotional wellbeing of older adults.