Ex pupils entertain locals

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St Bartholomew’s Court is situated at the top of Rye Hill in Rye Foreign (on the left of Rye Hill as you leave Rye), a purpose built development providing apartments and communal facilities for the over 60s and “designed to offer comfort, independence and peace of mind”.

St Bartholemews Court, part of Sanctuary Retirement Living for the over 60’s.

In these uncertain times many concerts and indoor events have had to be cancelled nationally, but at St Bartholomew’s entertainment is always on the agenda. So last week on Wednesday, April 22 residents were treated to an outdoor entertainment roadshow by local ‘lad’ Richard Stoodley (aka Ritchie Lee) and his brother Andy Stoodley, former residents of Rye and pupils at Thomas Peacocke School.

Ritchie is a full time professional entertainer with over twenty years experience behind him, and I called him (as I’m in lockdown) to speak about his performance, which is part of a series of outdoor concerts – the intention being to bring a smile to the staff and residents of residential and care homes in the local area.

Ritchie’s life has recently been turned upside down as his business “has been turned off like a tap” due to the coronavirus. The majority of his bookings (many of which were indoors) had to be cancelled and so, to make ends meet, he became a delivery driver for Iceland frozen foods.

Diversification is the name of the game and so a radical change of direction was needed, but performing is what they do and, given the glorious weather, outdoor concerts offered a real alternative and a lifeline.

Ritchie Lee, professional entertainer and ex Thomas Peacock pupil.

He and his brother recently performed an outdoor ‘gig’ in the gardens at Hastings Court on The Ridge in Hastings, and footage on YouTube shows the staff boogying at six feet distances and residents dancing in their rooms to a great selection of classics and modern day pop ‘numbers’. It was obvious that a good time was had by all and since then other residential homes have been in contact for more of the same.

Many care homes have an entertainment budget which covers the costs, and the outdoor concerts breaks the monotony for those residents in lockdown or isolation.

I twice contacted Sanctuary Housing asking for a press release and photographs taken by some of the staff, but met a stone wall with no response from their PR department, so unfortunately I am unable to publish pictures taken at the time proving how well the gig at St Bartholomew’s Court went.

The weather was kind and it was a great success in achieving the objective of bringing a little light relief to the residents and staff who hope there will be repeat performances in the future.

Ritchie is delighted to be able to perform for care homes in the area and would be delighted to be able to put on additional outdoor shows. If you work at a home or know of a home locally who want to be entertained in this lovely sunshine, please contact Ritchie on 07824 469523 or email info@ritchielee.com. His website has all the details.

Image Credits: Sanctuary Retirement Living , Fitzgerald Photographic-475 .

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