South Tyneside care home makes a 90-year-old resident’s dream come true

A resident known as Thomas at Harton Grange Care Home, on Boldon Lane in South Shields, has had his dreams come true after staff made arrangements for him to visit his home town of Birkenhead - 40 years on from when he was last there.

The 90-year-old has been a resident at the home for the last three years and has made a positive impression on both staff and fellow residents.

The trip home for Thomas did not disappoint, despite the number of changes made to the area in Birkenhead.

During the trip, Thomas discovered that there was not much left of Fox Street, where his childhood home was; however, the memories still came flooding back to the pensioner.

He was able to reflect on spending time at Birkenhead Park, being a pupil at Saint Laurence School and taking the ferry across the River Mersey from Woodside Ferry Village.

Thomas was joined on the trip by his daughter, Jane, and he expressed his thanks to the staff at the care home for making it possible.

He commented: “I am so grateful to everyone who made this possible.

“This is where I started my life, where I spent my teenage years and it is so special to be able to retrace my steps and see if all again.

“It really has meant the world to me so thank you so much for supporting me on this journey.”

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Judith Tully, the General Manager at Harton Grange Care Home, highlighted that every resident at the home is important to the staff, who are willing to go the extra mile.

She said: “We believe that every moment is worth cherishing. We want everyone we care for to know how important they are to us here at Harton Grange.

“It is testament to the hard work and dedication of the team here in making our residents’ dreams come true.

“It was wonderful to see how happy Thomas was – and the staff loved being a part of this as well.”