Brian, a care home resident at Innisfree Residential Home in Weston-Super-Mare, wrote into the Wishing Washing Line™ West last month with a simple wish, to have a romantic meal with his wife Elsie. Having an intimate, romantic meal with his wife is not a luxury that Brian has been able to enjoy in quite some time, as he lives in the home and his wife does not. However, his wish was received and granted by the project on his and his wife, Elsie’s, 65th wedding anniversary, when an intimate three-course meal was cooked for the lovely pair by a volunteer chef. “Thank you ever so much,” says Brian, through tears of joy, when Nick and Project Manager Maya explain that Brian and Elsie are about to be served a meal, specially prepared for them.
Brian’s wish was displayed online and enthusiastically picked up by a member of the public, a chef named Nick Cornish who hails from Bristol and has over 10 years of cheffing experience in various different settings. The home agreed to have Nick come across to prepare a meal for the couple and Nick checked on both Brian and Elsie’s preferences with the home and came up with a delicious three-course menu. The menu consisted of a starter of leek and potato soup with sourdough croutons, an individual main course of beef lasagne for Brian and a soy mince lasagne for Elsie, served with green beans and roasted carrots, and a delectable dessert of homemade dark chocolate tart served with crème fraiche. The entire meal was beautifully and professionally presented and left the lucky couple, as well as staff at the home, in awe. Nick also decorated Brian and Elsie’s ‘private dining room’ with lovely flowers, LED tea lights and played some 50s love songs through a portable speaker, to enhance their dining experience.
When asked if Brian enjoyed the meal, he nodded and gestured smilingly towards his plate, “Well it’s all finished isn’t it?”
The day after the meal, the home’s Deputy Manager, Zoe, got in touch with the Wishing Washing Line™ team to say that “he is still absolutely chuffed and is either smiling from ear to ear or is crying happy tears!”
Brian and Elsie’s love story is out of a storybook. Having met when they were just 10 years old in Liverpool, where they lived down the street from one another and crossed each other’s paths on their way to school every morning, to becoming friends and eventually getting married, Brian says the secret to their 65 long years is to “give in to each other and just love one another.”
The Wishing Washing Line™ West project is looking for care homes in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire who have residents who might want to participate in this lovely wish-granting project. “We just want to lend a helping hand to care staff and help bring smiles to the faces of residents, by encouraging the community to engage meaningfully with older people living in care homes in their local area,” says Project Manager Maya Tsering Bhalla, on the motivation behind the project.
If you are interested in finding out more, please contact wishingwashingline@aliveactivities.org or call the team on 07955 374 632, or follow the Wishing Washing Line™ West’s social media pages @wwlwest across Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.