Barry McGuigan a guest at Kingsley grand opening

Morethan100 visitors, including people from the Cinnamon Trust to establish ‘pets at homes’ policy town as well as special invited guests, had the opportunity to meet their boxing hero as well as look around the home in Friars Road, Hadleigh, Suffolk. Mr. McGuigan, former world featherweight champion and now a boxing promoter and commentator, said: “It is great to be here today in Hadleigh in such a strong community.

“When you look at our ageing population, you realise we are all likely to need a place like this. To find person centred care is the important thing and Kingsley Healthcare has a great reputation for that. Kingsley CEO Daya Thayan, who described himself as a lifelong boxing fan, thanked everyone for attending and made a special mention of the Mayor of Hadleigh, Yvonne Free and the Rev John Parr, from St Mary’s Church, who carried out a blessing. He said: “We are proud to have become part of the Hadleigh community by opening this much needed nursing home and my thanks go to operations director Debbie McGovern, operations manager Helen Gosling, home manager Emma Beckett and her team for their sterling efforts in making sure the home we took over has become such a great place for our residents.”  

He invited Ms. McGovern to unveil a commemorative plaque, paying tribute to her 18 years’ service to Kingsley “putting her heart and soul into health and social care”. Home manager Emma Beckett said as a local person she was determined to put the home at the heart of the community and she was therefore delighted to mark the opening by presenting a £1,000 cheque from Kingsley to the Porch Project, a “very worthwhile” Hadleigh youth charity.