CARE HOMES CAREERS FIND A CARE HOME CONTACT US Wishing Trees Making residents dreams come true in every single home SCROLL At Care UK we love to make dreams come true To help make this a reality, our care homes teams have wishing trees where residents can make a wish for something they would like to do When a resident hangs a wish on the tree, the care home and their family will go above and beyond to try and grant it. These wishes can be big or small – from trying cocktails on a Friday, to visiting the Vatican and meeting the Pope! Our vision at Care UK is to give residents fulfilling and active lives, and the Wishing Tree initiative is just one way we live that ethos. Some of the dreams we’ve made into reality... Annie's penguin wish We’ve already been working hard to make wishes come true for residents at Care UK homes across the country. Annie Thelwell, from Mountbatten Grange in Windsor, has had a lifelong passion for penguins. With penguin ornaments, jewellery and pictures, it was obvious to the care home team that she has a real passion for penguins but she’d never met a real one. So the team at the Windsor home made it their mission to make her dream come true, and so penguins, Pringle and Charlie, waddled into the home to surprise Annie and her fellow residents, much to her delight. Gillian's football wish PLAY Brenda's donkey wish Brenda Pearce, resident at Mill View care home, in East Grinstead, is a lifelong animal lover, who rescued and kept a pair of donkeys when she was younger, as well as donating funds to a local donkey sanctuary for decades. It was her dream to be reunited with real donkeys, so the team at Mill View arranged for her to visit local donkeys Belinda and Pickles, which proved to be a joyous afternoon. Brenda's donkey wish PLAY Olwyn's Flying high Another very happy lady who had her wish granted was Olwyn Hopkins, a resident at Davers Court in Bury St Edmunds. After she developed a phobia of flying when she took a flight at 19 years old, Olwyn vowed to never step foot on a plane again. However, for her 99th birthday her wish was to combat her fear and fly again, so we made it happen. Not content with just doing it once, for her hundredth birthday in 2019, she took to the skies again! Olwyn said it was the best experience she ever had. Violet's Spitfire reunion At Highmarket House in Banbury, the team knew that resident Violet Mitchel had worked building components for Spitfire aeroplanes during the Second World War. One day, Violet revealed that she had never seen a completed Spitfire – something she always regretted. The team quickly got to work and contacted RAF Museum in Hendon. Along the way, two rather famous television personalities decided to lend a hand to make sure the wish was memorable. The result was Violet catching her first glimpse of the iconic plane arm in arm with Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes. TOP About Care UK Press & media Feedback & complaints Careers at Care UK Legal & regulatory information Privacy & data policy Cookies policy Care UK ©2021 - All Rights Reserved