We all have hopes and dreams, and these women prove that age isn’t a barrier to making them come true
With her blue ice skates laced up, Doreen Barber takes to the ice. She can’t stop smiling as she glides effortlessly around the rink, bringing happy childhood memories rushing back.
Behind her is her carer, who’s pushing her in her wheelchair because Doreen
is 97.
‘Imagine being my age and being on the ice!’ she says.
Doreen’s dream to get her skates on again was made possible by Wishing Tree, an initiative by Care UK, a care home provider.
As part of the scheme, nursing homes install an artificial tree in one of the communal areas and residents are invited to
hang their written wishes
on the tree.
Team members will then
do their best to make their dreams come true.
Doreen on the ice
‘These people still have aspirations,’ says Chris Hopkinson, Operations Director of Care UK South. ‘I’m really proud of the work
our teams do supporting residents to deliver on
their wishes.’
Doreen had been 12 the first time her dad took her to the local ice rink and she’d only stopped skating when the Second World War had broken out.
When she’d got married and started a family, Doreen had taken her own kids ice skating. And even in her later years, she loved watching Dancing on Ice on telly.
So, a visit to the ice rink was an obvious choice for her Wishing Tree request.
'I feel like a celebrity'
Doreen spent the day reminiscing about the tricks she used to do as a youngster.
And to top it all, her care team even arranged for Dancing on Ice judges Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean to send her a personalised video message.
‘I felt like a celebrity!’ says Doreen.
Returning to an old love is a common theme for residents’ wishes.
Shirley Coomber, 89, from Sevenoaks, Kent, always hoped to revisit her childhood school. It was the school her family had attended for generations.
When her care team learnt she hadn’t been back since her leavers do, they reached out
to the school to arrange a visit.
‘I wasn’t very good at lessons,’ says Shirley. ‘We used to run away to visit the nearby boys’ school! But I made some very good friends.’
Current students took her on a VIP tour, even digging out an old register featuring names of Shirley’s relatives.
Another resident whose wish took her on a stroll down memory lane was 92-year-old Betty Dunns in Glastonbury, Somerset.
She’d worked as a hairdresser for 10 years and wanted to do one last haircut, so one of her carers agreed to have a chop.
‘I had so much fun,’ Betty says. ‘The best part was chatting and seeing that
I could still cut hair.’
But while some residents revisit old experiences, others are looking for something totally new.
Kate Corfield Reid, 78, had always wanted to meet an alpaca because she’d heard their wool was exceptionally soft to the touch.
So her care team reached out to the Cotswolds Vale Alpaca experience, and arranged a visit from Cosmo and Nigel.
Kate had the opportunity to feed the alpacas and chat to the keepers.
‘They were everything I expected and more!’ she says.
Animal experiences aren’t an uncommon request on Care UK Wishing Trees.
Christine Jones, 78, used her wish to get back in the saddle after enjoying riding a horse in Hyde Park
when she was in her 20s.
‘I always loved the total freedom of being on a horse,’ she says.
Her care home organised a visit to Trent Park in London, where she got to ride a mare named Bella.
‘I loved every
bit,’ Christine
says. ‘Being on a horse again was a dream come true.’
For Care UK, the Wishing Tree scheme has done everything it set out to do and more.
‘Coming into a care home is about keeping things as normal as when you lived at home,’ says Phillip Steyn, Operations Director for East and Midlands. ‘So sometimes, the small wishes are just
as important.’
Pictures Care UK, Andrew H Williams, Jack Boskett Media