Family takes steps to show appreciation of Redwalls Nursing Home

The relatives of 95-year-old Vera Gibson were so pleased with the care she has received that they wanted to take steps – literally – to support her nursing home. The family group, which included five of Vera’s great-grandchildren, the youngest six-year-old Amelia Chesterson, walked the 12 miles from Chester to Redwalls Nursing Home in Sandiway.

Their sponsored trek through torrential rain on Sunday raised £4,000 towards their £5,000 target to buy a touch-screen activities table for the home.

Among the sponsors was Tony Clark, of TC Motion Repairs Limited, who set the ball rolling with a donation of £1,250. 

Jodie Solaiman, Redwalls’ activities coordinator, who completed the walk alongside the family, said: “It was such a lovely thing for the family to do for the home. The activities table will be really good for residents, you can do so many things on it, including interactive games.

“The table is height adjustable so you can use it with bed-bound residents and the large screen is good for people with poor eyesight.”

On the justgiving page set up for the fund-raiser, Vera’s daughter Dolly Chesterson writes that her “amazing mum” originally came to stay at Redwalls in March to recover from Covid. However, she failed to recover her strength and tests showed she was also developing dementia.

She writes: “The reason for sharing this is we want everyone to know, far and wide, what an amazing experience it has been for my mum at Redwalls.

“She has never felt loneliness since her arrival; the staff are the best I have ever witnessed, they treat their residents like their own family showing them love and empathy, especially during the pandemic.”

She said they wanted to give something back by doing the walk and an activities table would bring residents endless entertainment as well as allowing them to Facetime family from its huge screen.

Sumi Thayan, co-founder of Kingsley Healthcare which runs Redwalls, immediately pledged to make up any shortfall once all sponsorship had been collected. 

She said: “It’s been an amazing effort by Vera’s family and I would also like to thank all the kind-hearted sponsors.”

The justgiving page, see link below, is still open for donations - Click here

Find out more about Redwalls nursing home
Author: Stephen Pullinger