Pupils make Barbara's wish come true
When retired children's nurse Barbara Doubtfire told the team at the nursing home where she lives in Wellington, Somerset, how much she'd like to see young people again, they were delighted by the reaction of the local primary school to their request for help.
The response from Year 5 pupils at St John’s C of E Primary was to send invitations to Barbara and other residents from Camelot House and Lodge to attend a special end-of-term tea party organised just for them.
Richard Dempslake, activities co-ordinator at Barbara’s dementia care home, said: “We asked our residents what they’d put on their bucket list – what would they like to do or experience again.
“Barbara’s wish was simple – she just wanted to enjoy some children’s company again.
“She spent her working life as a children's nurse in a hospital in Stockton-on-Tees, in the intensive care ward, and often talks about her experiences at the hospital, telling us how much she loved taking care of children, no matter how heartbreaking it sometimes was.
“We were really touched by her wish and wanted to bring some children into her life, so I emailed St John's school in Wellington and Sarah Brown, who teaches Lark Class, replied almost immediately with invitations from her class for Barbara to come to this special tea party at St John's Church.
“It was such a lovely event and the children worked really hard to make it a success.
“Everyone enjoyed themselves so much and Barbara was particularly happy. It was lovely to see.
“Huge thanks to Mrs Brown and Lark Class for making Barbara’s wish come true.”
Sarah Brown said: “An enjoyable afternoon was had by all in Lark class at our special pupil chaplain tea party.
“Elderly residents within our community joined us and we shared some of our favourite books, got creative and made bookmarks, were treated to performances from our pupil chaplains including singing, acting, playing the guitar and piano and finished with enjoying some tasty treats.
“A fantastic effort by all and what a wonderful way to bring our community together.”
Camelot House and Lodge is a specialist dementia care home on Taunton Road in Wellington, run by award-winning care providers Camelot Care who also have homes in Bridgwater, Yeovil and Plymouth.
