Local care home resident fulfils lifelong wish

A team from a Church Crookham care home surprised an ABBA loving resident with a very special experience.

83-year-old, Janie Street, a life-long ABBA fan and resident at Care UK’s Bourley Grange, on Bourley Road, was excited to find that the team had organised a special trip to the ABBA Voyage concert in London. 

Abba Voyage is a virtual concert, and using avatars, the show depicts the group as they appeared in 1979 – complete with the originally-recorded vocals accompanied by a live instrumental band. 

The team knew that ABBA superfans, Janie, Caryl and Pauline, had never seen ABBA perform live – so set to work organising the memorable day to make her dream come true.

On the day, Janie was joined by Caryl and Pauline, her friends and the team at Bourley Grange, who all dressed up in true ABBA fashion for the occasion, wearing everything from bell-bottom flares to platform boots to the iconic disco jumpsuits.

Commenting on her wish, Janie said: “I have been listening to ABBA for over 30 years as I find them still to be the most exciting group. I was so excited when the team told me about this trip. My favourite part of the show was at the start when everyone started dancing and the music began playing – it was just a magical experience!”

The team at Bourley Grange have a ‘Wishing Tree’ initiative, which allows residents to suggest ideas for new hobbies they’d like to try, places they’d like to visit or even activities linked to past careers. This encourages residents to live fulfilling lives – from skiing to a fish and chip supper, no wish is too big or small.

Racquel Merdegia, General Manager at Bourley Grange, said: “Janie always speaks so fondly of the many years she spent listening to ABBA on her turntable. So when Janie said that she hadn’t seen ABBA live, the team at Bourley Grange knew they had to get to work to make her wish come true.

“Everyone had an ‘abba-solutely' fantastic evening dancing and singing along to all the fabulous music and enjoying soaking in the ecstatic atmosphere at the venue. It was also a wonderful opportunity for Janie and fellow residents and team members to reminisce and share happy memories of their favourite music growing up.

“We were delighted to make Janie, Pauline and Caryl’s wish come true – they really are Bourley Grange’s Dancing Queen!”

Designed to enable residents to live active and fulfilled lives, while also promoting independence, Bourley Grange, which remains open to potential residents, incorporates space for hobby and leisure activities. The home provides full-time residential, nursing and memory care in addition to 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.