Tis the sea-sun! Newbury care home surprises resident with a trip to the beach

A care home in Newbury made waves with a very special trip to the seaside.

Margaret Cox, aged 82 and a resident at Care UK’s Winchcombe Place, on Maple Crescent, wished to visit the seaside and wanted to enjoy fish and chips on the beach front – so the team organised a special trip to Bournemouth.

Along with five fellow residents at the home, Margaret, who visited the seaside regularly in her younger years, was able to walk along the pier with an ice cream and even dip her toes in the sea, before sitting and watching a game of beach volleyball with team members. 

To top things off, residents and the home team enjoyed a much-awaited fish and chip lunch with a view of the sea front.  

Margaret said: "I thoroughly enjoyed the whole day out, I particularly liked looking at the scenery on the trip down. It's too hard to pick my favourite moment as it was all so lovely!”

Vicki Lambourne, Customer Relations Manager at Winchcombe Place, said: “Our day trip to Bournemouth was one for the books, and there’s no doubt we’ll still be talking about it for weeks to come.

“Margaret loves the seaside and has shared countless stories from her beach holidays over the years – so when she made a wish to be near to the sea once more to relive her happy childhood memories, we knew we had to make it happen.

“It was incredibly rewarding for the team to see just how happy she was to be near the sea again – her smile said it all. It was a lovely day for the ladies to enjoy and we are delighted we were able to make Margaret’s wish come true!”

The trip was part of the home’s ‘Wishing Tree’ Initiative, which encourages residents to put wishes forward, allowing them to reconnect with a past hobby or try something completely new – from flying on a plane to enjoying a fish and chip supper, no wish is too big or small.

Winchcombe Place is a state-of-the-art care home which provides full-time residential, nursing, dementia and short-term respite care. The care home incorporates space for hobby and leisure activities and includes its own cinema, hair salon and café.

To find out more about Winchcombe Place, call Customer Relations Manager, Vicki Lambourne, on 0333 321 1923, or email vicki.lambourne@careuk.com.

For more general information, visit careuk.com/winchcombe-place.