A U.K. nursing home is feeling the heat after hiring pole dancers as entertainment for its elders. Local counselors deemed the choice “inappropriate,” but the managers over at Fairmile Grange care home are proud of the decision.
According to operations and quality director Izzy Nicholls, the “residents were given several choices of activity.” Turns out they chose the pole dancers to perform.
Katie Henry, owner of Pole Dance Factory, in Poole, said her dancers were just providing ‘another form of entertainment’. She said the care home asked for ‘something a bit different’, and added: ‘There are different styles of pole dancing, but the style performed at Fairmile Grange was gymnastic and to music with a 1950s and ’60s theme. ‘Pole dancing is a very popular sport which gives participants confidence and did not discriminate against anyone.’
Counselor Peter Hall says it’s inappropriate. “It’s not really the sort of entertainment I would have thought that the residents wanted or would have encouraged,” Hall said. Social media, on the other hand, is praising the home with many people saying residents should be able to enjoy themselves.