At Little Bramingham Farm, the residents have been ‘Up to Tricks’ and ‘Banging the Drum’ celebrating this year’s National Bingo! Day. “Our regular Bingo! sessions are the most popular and favourite pastime on our wide and varied activities calendar – the residents are never late and never miss a game,” said Emma Lawrance, the Registered Manager at Little Bramingham Farm. “To celebrate the fifth anniversary of National Bingo! Day, we hosted an extra special Bingo! afternoon. The residents enjoyed lots of rounds of the game of chance, tasty refreshments and delicious cakes and had a ‘Bingo-tastic’ time.”
“Bingo! is a really entertaining and inclusive game,” added Karen Charity, Little Bramingham Farm’s Activity Coordinator. “The Bingo! sessions can get rather spirited, but they are always full of fun, giggles and laughter and fun.”
“Karen is a great Bingo! Caller,” said resident Bridget Brennan, who made Little Bramingham Farm her home in July 2025. “She speaks clearly – and nice and loudly – so we can all hear the numbers, and she always gives us enough time to check our scorecards before moving on to the next number.
“We all concentrate on making sure we mark off our numbers on the Bingo! scorecards, but occasionally I have found myself shushing my care home friends as they do like to chat and see what numbers we all have.”
“It’s great fun to take part in the regular Bingo! games,” added Resident, Rosemary McLeod, who moved to Little Bramingham Farm in November 2025. “I always have such a great time with everyone. There’s a fabulous atmosphere and a light-hearted, competitive camaraderie between us all.”
“For all our wide and inclusive activities, I always like to give the residents a couple of interesting and fun trivia facts about what we’re doing,” added Karen. “For this year’s National Bingo! Day, I dug up a few gems, which surprised even me.”
“Amazingly, Bingo! origins can be traced back to 1530, when a lottery known as ‘Lo Giuoco del Lotto D’Italia’ was a popular pastime. Fast forward to 1929 when Bingo! gets its name from an accidental slip of the tongue. It happened during a 1929 carnival game called ‘Beano’, when a player mistakenly shouted ‘Bingo!’ instead of ‘Beano’. Toy salesman Edwin S. Lowe overheard it, thought it sounded much catchier, and renamed the game.
“As it’s the World Cup year, I was also surprised to find out that many well-known footballers are avid Bingo! fans. Cristiano Ronaldo said in a 2016 interview that he found the game very exciting and that it even helped him improve his English skills when he first moved to Manchester United. David Beckham also enjoys playing Bingo! and has been spotted playing the game at various bingo halls in the UK and Petr Cech, a former Goalkeeper for Chelsea, played the game with his teammates, and even hosted a bingo night for charity in 2018. The residents were very impressed with what I’d found out.”
“Playing Bingo! is a great game and pastime for the residents to play, enjoy and get involved with,” continued Emma. “It’s not only a wonderfully social activity but also has many additional benefits. As the residents focus and listen to the numbers being called, it can stimulate mental agility, it can improve hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills as they mark off the numbers on their Bingo! scorecards and, of course, laughing, socialising and enjoying each other’s company is priceless.”
“We always have a variety of different Bingo! games in each session,” continued Karen. “One Line, Two Lines and, of course, the main attraction – A Full House. The residents have their own call for me too. They like to shout out ‘Shake up the balls’ when they think they are not getting their numbers called out quickly enough. It always makes me smile.”
The residents also have their own favourite Bingo! calls. “My best-loved call is ‘Two Fat Ladies’ for 88,” said Rosemary. “My favourite is good old ‘Legs Eleven’,” added Bridget.
The residents also like the wide selection and variety of Bingo! prizes they can win. “Our Bingo! prizes range from beautiful smellies and toiletries for both ladies and gentlemen, treats and chocolates, to small bottles of bubbly or wine and much more. When we do our themed Bingo! sessions for Christmas, Halloween or Easter, I make sure the prizes change to match the topic,” continued Karen.
“I’ve won quite a few times, and I always pick Maltesers™,” said Bridget. “I like to mix my prizes up a bit,” added Rosemary. “My last choice was a lovely pen, which I use to do my Crosswords.”
“The residents really enjoyed the National Bingo! Day activity, it was wonderful to see them all enjoying themselves and cheering each other on. There was so much laughter, joking around and happiness, it was, as a Bingo! Caller would say, totally ‘Tickety-boo’,” concluded Karen.
Find out more about Little Bramingham Farm care home by calling 01582 582 433 or emailing [email protected].