501 is now the name of the game at a Beyond Housing sheltered accommodation scheme in Scarborough.
Seven lady tenants have stepped up to the oche with Resident Coastcall Responder Anuschka Faulding to form a new darts team and, while the group is only four weeks old, they’ve got their sights firmly set on the local leagues!
As a Resident Responder within the Coastcall 24-hour independent living support service Anuschka lives on the Beck Hole sheltered community site and has become firm friends with the residents.
The seven darts players are part of Beyond Housing’s thriving Beck Hole community, which enjoys a wide range of on and off site events and activities led by Anushka, with minibus trips and fish and chip suppers being firm favourites. “We have a wonderful group of residents here,” she said, “we share an excellent social life throughout the year and have a list of pursuits and pastimes to choose from but it was one of our residents, Carole DeCarteret, who came up with the novel idea of forming a darts team.”
A former local league player herself, Carole asked around to see if any of the other Beck Hole residents were interested, “I was surprised so many of the ladies wanted to play,” she said, “especially as a number of us have mobility problems, but the suggestion proved popular and now, after four weeks, we have a regular turn out for our Wednesday evening practice sessions in the community centre.”
Anuschka added: “It’s clear from the warm and friendly atmosphere at the centre the ladies thoroughly enjoy the social aspect of their sessions, but when they step out to the oche the competition begins. There’s lots of banter during our practice games but lots of encouragement too, and plenty of cheers when someone hits their winning double.
“Some of the ladies have played in pub league teams in the past and I think they’d like to do so again, so maybe if we practice hard for the rest of this year we might just be ready for the league in the new year.
“To quote the late, great Jim Bowen of TV darts show Bullseye, ‘super, smashing, great’.”