Monthly bingo mornings are a long-standing and much-loved tradition for the residents at Cleveland Manor. But when COVID-19 restrictions came into effect, residents were no longer able to get together to play.
This got resident Anne Ormerod thinking of new and creative ways in which residents could connect. It wasn’t long before she came up with the idea of a weekly game of ‘virtual hoy’. Hoy is a variation of bingo, but played with a deck of cards.
“People just need a pack of cards and access to email,” she explains. “I deal 10 cards and send an email outlining the cards I’ve dealt. Residents play along at home and deal their own set of 10. Every three or four minutes I send details of the next deal, and so on until we have a winner.”
In the initial stages of lockdown, Anne was giving prizes to the winners, handing out hard-to-find grocery items like toilet paper! Then, she started giving away culinary creations made by her husband Keith, like shortbread. “Now they can have the thrill of winning,” Anne laughs.
With restrictions easing, the group is able to get together afterwards for lunch, as long as they have fewer than 14 people in the barbecue area and order lunch in. Last week they had burgers, and today they enjoyed post-hoy pies.
This is one new tradition that might be a keeper.
