Someone special was visiting the care home I managed. And, boy, were we in for a treat! By Caroline Bowstead, 43
Glancing at the calendar, I realised that Valentine’s Day was coming up fast.
We’d better organise something special, I thought to myself.
I managed Astune Rise, a care home in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, and the previous year we’d run a Valentine’s event for residents, celebrating three married couples in the home.
It was going to be hard to beat.
Luckily, the following afternoon I had a call from a man named Max Hunter.
‘Do you think the ladies would be interested in something a bit different?’ he asked.
Max used to manage the entertainment at a nearby care home but, since then, he’d had a bit of a career change.
Now he was a performer with the show Dreamboys!
And he wanted to know if we’d like a private show at the home.
I was gobsmacked – but it sounded like so much fun.
It wasn’t my decision to make, though, so I held a meeting with the residents.
At first, they all thought I was joking.
But when I passed a picture of Max round the dining room, the vote was unanimous.
Yes please!
‘I went to see the Chippendales in the Eighties,’ someone said.
‘My boyfriend did a striptease for my birthday once,’ joked someone else.
We booked Max in during our regular knit-and-natter hour on Valentine’s Day.
The carers were all delighted too, and when the day of the performance arrived, I certainly wasn’t short of staff.
The living room was decked out with shimmery red curtains and we cracked open a bottle of prosecco and got ready for the show.
By a lucky coincidence, the hairdresser had been in earlier that morning, so everyone was looking their best, and the ladies had all brought their bras and knickers along to throw at the stage!
The buzz in the home was electric.
A male resident in his 90s peered round the door at the audience.
‘Should I go in and pretend it’s me?’ he chuckled.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from Max, but he turned out to be a total gentleman.
We had a quick chat about what would be appropriate and agreed he’d stop short of going the Full Monty.
Then he headed off to get changed.
A few minutes later he was back, this time wearing a policeman’s uniform.
Pretend police radio chatter played over the speakers.
‘Calling for backup, backup!’
A cheer went up and Max stormed into the living room.
‘I’ve heard you ladies are in a bit of trouble!’ he told them.
It’s probably a good job he doesn’t have handcuffs with him, I thought. They’d never let him leave!
Everyone went wild as Max shimmied and wheeled his truncheon.
He lavished attention on the giggliest audience members, and party girls Anne and Betty lathered him with oil.
After half an hour, the show drew to a close, but Max didn’t head straight out.
Instead, he came back, fully clothed, to have a chat with everyone.
He’d also brought along a selection of Dreamboys bags and mugs to hand out.
‘I just never wanted it to end,’ one lady said.
‘I loved his backside!’ piped up Betty.
Afterwards, it was all anyone could talk about.
‘We were on about it for three days before and we’ve been laughing for three days after,’ Anne told me.
The residents’ families were delighted to see everyone having such a good time.
I couldn’t be more grateful for Max’s visit.
It’s always been important to me to bring the residents new experiences, and not just leave them sitting around playing cards.
And it’s never too late to follow your Dream Boys!
Pix: c. Popular Care