Hidden treasures – Woking care home makes resident's wish come true

A Woking care home resident has had her dream come true after wishing she could go digging for buried treasure.

Ruth Benfold, aged 93, a resident at Care UK’s Greenview Hall, on Streets Heath, enjoyed a special day hunting for hidden gems in the home’s garden using a metal detector – something she has always wanted to try her hand at.

When the team found out about Ruth’s dream, they wasted no time making it happen and recruited Keith Paris, a member of the community who owns a metal detector.

Keith kindly loaned the metal detector to the home for Ruth to try out around the home’s garden to search for any hidden treasure. After hunting for a couple of hours, Ruth and Keith were thrilled to find five coins dating from the 1800s.

Ruth, who was ‘over the moon’ with her finds, said: “The day was a dream come true. I never expected at my age to be able to go metal detecting. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for years. I was over the moon when it beeped, and we found the coins!”

Ruth’s afternoon with the metal detector was part of the home’s wishing tree initiative. When Greenview Hall became a Care UK care home in January 2022, the team installed a ‘Wishing Tree’, which allows residents to suggest ideas for new hobbies they’d like to try, places they’d like to visit and activities they’d like to do. This encourages residents to live fulfilling lives – from flying a plane to a fish and chip supper at the beach, no wish is too big or too small.

Meera Govindapillai, General Manager at Greenview Hall, said: “At Greenview Hall, we encourage residents to lead active and fulfilling lives and enjoy creating new experiences. Our wishing tree initiative allows residents to reconnect to their passions or try something new for the very first time.

“We are thrilled we could help Ruth complete her wish to use a metal detector and search for hidden treasures. Her face lit up when she found the treasure, and she hasn’t stopped smiling since. She was truly in her element.

“We would also like to thank Keith for sharing his equipment and spending the afternoon helping Ruth fulfil her dream. We can’t wait to fulfil many more wishes for residents in the future.”

Designed to enable residents to live active and fulfilled lives, while also promoting independence, Greenview Hall incorporates space for hobby and leisure activities. The home provides full-time residential care, nursing care, dementia care and respite care. The layout of the building is configured into a series of individual suites, each having a dedicated lounge/dining room to help facilitate the creation of close-knit communities.