A Dose of Vitamin Sea: Care Resident Relives Memories by the Coast Thanks to Specialist Cambridgeshire Care Team

An 85-year-old care resident recently took a trip down memory lane when she made an emotional return to the coastal town where she spent many happy weekends as a child and thought she would never visit again – thanks to a specialist Cambridgeshire care team.

Brenda Wignall from Warboys, Cambridgeshire, was undergoing two weeks of respite care at Askham Hall, which forms part of Askham Village Community, a specialist family-run care and rehabilitation community, near Doddington, whilst her family were away on holiday.

After exchanging childhood stories, Mandy Ladds, part of Askham’s activities team, recognised Brenda’s desire to return to one of her favourite seaside towns in Norfolk and set about creating a surprise day trip. Brenda found herself indulging in some classic fish and chips, chancing her hand in the local arcade and reminiscing on her youth spent visiting the area.

Brenda always relished the opportunity to visit the seaside with her late husband — with Bournemouth being another of her favourite boltholes. In her older age, she has been unable to embark on trips like this, however, her care team were not deterred and took all the necessary precautions to make her time with Askham as memorable as possible.

Commenting on her recent trip to Hunstanton, Brenda said: “It was an absolute delight to visit the seaside again and I have a lot of fond memories of Hunstanton. My mother and father were both Sunday school teachers and they would often take us to visit the town for the day. It holds a special place in my heart and I haven’t been able to go in years. We went shopping in some of the amazing local shops and I even treated myself to a lovely pink cardigan and top. We then had fish and chips, which was wonderful, but I couldn’t quite believe how big the portions were!”

Mandy commented: “Brenda has been an absolute delight to have around and her fantastic sense of humour will be dearly missed. We always strive to create memorable experiences for our residents at Askham Village Community and this all starts with our amazing and dedicated team. We wanted to give Brenda the opportunity to relive her childhood and feel safe in the process — something we understand to be really important with our older residents.”