News

The Kenwith Castle care home team enabled a resident to re-visit the children’s hospice she helped to found more than 30 years ago.

Eldey spoke to the care home team about her wish to go back to Little Bridge House with her husband Trevor. The facility in Barnstaple, which is operated by Children’s Hospice South West, provides hospice care and support for babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions and their families.

Eldey and her husband, Trevor, were founding members of Children’s Hospice South West, alongside their late friends, Jill and Eddie Farwell. 
After retiring, Eldey volunteered in the ‘Sibling Support Team’ at Little Bridge House, where she received the affectionate nickname of ‘SuperGran’ as she did activities and trips out with the siblings of children cared for at the hospice.

The team at Kenwith Castle arranged for Eldey and Trevor to tour Little Bridge House with their extended family and some fellow residents. The visit was led by Phil Morris, CEO of Children’s Hospice South West.

Afterwards, Eldey said: 

It was lovely. It felt like coming back ‘home’ again. A lot has changed but many things are still the same. I used to enjoy volunteering one day a week, playing games with the children. I’m amazed that a lot of the staff I remembered are still here.

Phil Morris, CEO of Children’s Hospice South West, said: 

It was a privilege to welcome Eldey, Trevor and their family to come back and visit Little Bridge House. Eldey’s kindness and dedication over the years have touched so many lives, and it was wonderful to see her and Trevor come back to the place that they helped to found 30 years ago.

The special visit was organised in response to Eldey’s request as part of the care home’s ‘Make a Wish’ initiative, which encourages residents to share hobbies, passions and places of interest they once enjoyed, but are unable to pursue without the home’s support. The dedicated team then brings the wish to life in a safe way to create meaningful and lasting memories.

Jo Passmore, Home Manager at Kenwith Castle, said: “We are so pleased that we could enable Eldey to revisit Little Bridge House and together with her family, they could reflect on their many memories of the hospice. Experiences like this are the reason why we created our ‘Make a Wish’ initiative so that we could enable our residents to reconnect with passions and places that hold a special place in their hearts.” 

Kenwith Castle care home, which is part of the not-for-profit charity, Care South, provides residential, respite, and dementia care. Residents benefit from a dedicated onsite activities team who organise a daily programme of events, and access to expansive landscaped grounds featuring a picturesque lake with countryside views.

For more information about the care services available at Kenwith Castle care home, go to care-south.co.uk or call 01237 879594 to speak to the team.