Local care home make resident’s wish come true

Staff at Bayleaf Care Home in Huntingdon made the wish of one of their residents come true when they visited their local Fire Station for a guided tour.

Resident Freda Smith, who recently celebrated her 102nd birthday, had previously shared with staff at Bayleaf Care Home about how her late father used to be a Fireman and how she would love the chance to go to a Fire Station again.

As part of her birthday celebrations, staff at the home decided to contact Huntingdon Fire Station to see if it would be possible to bring Freda to the Fire Station and they were very happy to oblige so along with the activities team at Bayleaf and Freda’s daughters, Freda was taken to the Fire Station where she was shown all of the equipment that is used before being treated to a special tour of one of the fire engines. After the tour Freda sat down with the firefighters for tea and cake and had the opportunity to ask any questions that she had. There was time for a final photo beside the fire engine before they headed back to Bayleaf.

Bayleaf Care Home General Manger, Katie Wilkinson, said: “As soon as we found out that Freda had such a strong connection to the Fire Brigade and a wish to visit a Fire Station, we had to make it happen and to link it to Freda’s 102nd birthday celebrations was an added bonus. We are so grateful to everybody at Huntingdon Fire Station for helping us make this happen for Freda.”

Bayleaf Care Home is run by Barchester Healthcare, one of the UK’s largest care providers, which is committed to delivering personalised care across its care homes and hospitals. Bayleaf Care Home provides residential care and dementia care for 53 residents from short-term respite care through to longer term stays.