House of fun: Residents see stars thanks to Newbury care home

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Sep 10, 2019

Four lucky residents at a Newbury care home saw their wishes come true recently, after each experiencing a day to remember.

The team at Care UK’s Winchcombe Place, on Maple Crescent, runs a Wishing Tree initiative to help make residents’ wishes come true. They recently decided to surprise four of the residents with a special day out for each of them to enjoy.

89-year-old music lover, Margaret East, saw the legendary Tom Jones live in concert, 54-year-old Madness superfan Joanne Panting met her chart-topper idols, 87-year-old former RAF engineer, Brian Williams, saw Cardiff RFC in action, and 93-year-old animal-lover, Patricia Yorke, visited a donkey sanctuary. 

Wolverton evacuee Margaret East was able to experience her lifelong wish of seeing pop superstar, Tom Jones, live on stage. When news spread that the much-admired singer was coming to Newbury Racecourse, team members at the care home knew it was the perfect opportunity to make Margaret’s dream come true.

The octogenarian, who has loved Tom Jones from a young age and often dances to his music at Winchcombe Place, not only thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Welsh wonder in action, but also went back to the green green grass of the care home with a big smile and a winning bet from the horse racing.

It must be love for Madness superfan, Joanne Panting, who was left star-struck after getting the chance to meet her pop idols in person. With the ska-band’s tunes often heard emanating from Joanne’s room at Winchcombe Place, team members put the wheels in motion for the music-loving resident to meet the band when they appeared at the town’s racecourse.

With the wish granted, Joanne was able to meet members of the band backstage, and returned to Winchcombe Place with great memories to treasure.

Rugby enthusiast, Brian Williams, who was born in Neath Glamorgan, has been an avid fan of the game since his youth. Having not been to a match for over fifty years, he longed to see his favourite club, Cardiff RFC, in action once again. 

The former aircraft fitter, who spent many years working for the RAF in Singapore, didn’t need to ‘try’ hard to enjoy the pre-season friendly against St Peters; it proved to be a real magic moment for the married father of one from the first kick. 

Completing the wealth of wishes is Gloucester-born Patricia Yorke, whose passion for donkeys prompted the Winchcombe Place team to treat her to a trip to a donkey sanctuary in Wallingford Having owned her own donkey sanctuary, it was Patricia’s wish was to once again be surrounded by the creatures very close to her heart. The nonagenarian, who proved she still had that special touch, had a wonderful day watching and patting the donkeys.

Home manager at Winchcombe Place, Patricia Jamieson, said: “Residents are at the heart of everything we do here, and we always like to go the extra mile to grant their wishes.

“It was so special to see the joy on each resident’s face as their individual wishes came true, and has certainly created a buzz about the care home since! I’m delighted that we were able to make Margaret, Joanne, Brian and Patricia so happy, and we can’t wait to grant even more wishes soon.” 

Winchcombe Place is a state-of-the-art care home which provides full-time residential, nursing, dementia and short-term respite care. The care home, which features 80 ensuite bedrooms incorporates space for hobby and leisure activities and includes its own cinema, hairdressing salon and café.

For more information about Winchcombe Place, please contact customer relations manager, Vicki Lambourne, on 0333 321 1923 or email vicki.lambourne@careuk.com or visit careuk.com