Silver Jubilee – 93-year-old Cheltenham care home resident revisits workplace 25 years later

A 93-year-old Cheltenham care home resident has revisited his old workplace 25 years after retiring.

When team members at Care UK’s Sandfields, on St George’s Road, learned that resident Reverend John Hawthorne wished to revisit St Marys’ Church in Tetbury, where he worked for 15 years, they were determined to make it happen.

John became a Vicar, aged 29, and preached at two churches before retiring. 

During his visit to St Marys’ Church, John met the current Reverend, Sarah Haywood, who is the third Vicar since John left in 2001. To make the visit even more special, John was able to reconnect with the Church Manager Nikki Ind, whose children he christened back in the 1990s.

Reflecting on his visit, John said: “I loved being back in the church, it felt like home. I have so many fond memories there, and I’m glad the spirit of the church is still strong. I loved working in the church and being able to help those in the community was a wonderful part of my role.”

John’s visit was part of the home’s Wishing Tree initiative, which encourages residents to put their hopes and dreams forward and allow them to reconnect with a past career or hobby or try something completely new.

Malaika Charles, Home Manager at Sandfields, said: “John often talks of the many wonderful memories he has of St Marys’ Church, the last church he worked in before his retirement, so we knew how much it would mean to him to see the church again. Church Manager Nikki Ind was instantly on board with the idea, so all we had to do was to get prepping.  

“Most people assume that moving into a care home means giving up on aspirations, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Our Wishing Tree initiative exists for that reason, and seeing the smile on John’s face when he saw old friends made all the planning so worth it.” 

Sandfields is a state-of-the-art care home which provides full-time residential, nursing, dementia and short-term respite care. The care home incorporates plenty of space for hobby and leisure activities and includes its own cinema, hair salon and café.