Care home resident’s appetite improves after going to Bristol City game for first time By Rachel Sutherland, Wednesday Nov 30, 2022 A 74-year-old Bristol City fan was gifted the opportunity to watch his favourite team play live, for the first time in his life. Dave Haynes, who has lived in Bristol his whole life, has advanced dementia and has been completely immobile for the past five years. The former forklift driver sent his wish to go to Ashton Gate Stadium to charity, Alive Activities and his dream became a reality through its community engagement project, the Wishing Washing Line West. Since watching the beautiful game, Dave’s carers and nurse have noticed a positive difference in him and say his appetite has improved. The charity contacted the Bristol Robins Foundation and told them about Dave’s wish and the foundation provided him with four free tickets for Bristol vs Watford on November 12. Dave. who has no family to call his own, attended with two of his carers from Robinson House Care Home and one of Alive Activities’ trustees, Andrew Wood. Andrew, who co-owns a home care business, said: “You could clearly see the love both the amazing carers have for Dave. please log in to view this image “It was an emotional day and even though Dave could not communicate all that he felt verbally, seeing his smiles during the match said everything.” Maria Jones, activities coordinator at Robinson House, was one of Dave’s carers who went to the game with him. She said: “Jenny, Dave’s nurse, has said there has been a 100 per cent positive difference because of this trip. Dave’s appetite has improved. He likes to talk to staff about his day out and he is very proud of his football top. “Dave has a large frame filled with photos of the day and there is also one in the corridor. Not only was this trip amazing for Dave but all the staff were so thrilled for him too. We will never forget this day. “To see the smiles on Dave’s face just melted our hearts. It was an absolute privilege to be a part of Dave’s day and we are forever grateful to the Wishing Washing Line West, Alive Activities and Bristol City Robins Foundation, for making Dave’s wish come true.” https://www.bristol247.com/news-and...er-going-to-bristol-city-game-for-first-time/
Pleasure Rp, just a nice act from our club for a fellow fan who is below par and his carers, done during all this hustle and bustle of the world cup, it just opened my eyes a bit.
That was a gamble - watching City can be actually BAD for your mental health!! Seriously though - a great story - it’s great that the club does this.
Robinson house care home is just down the road from me. we have 4 or 5 others within a mile and a major one was shut and is now being redeveloped by [the council? ] might be private for housing. It was a shock when it closed as was quite large. Council also closed the one my wife worked at before she moved into the new one next door ... council wasters no they dont ever waste money do they ..well they spent a fortune on a revamp and new windows and doors a couple months before it closed ' oh and most of the residents had left /told to leave whilst the council wasted the money .. now a privately owned/ run care home!!! built from scratch from the demolished site of the perfectly usable home.............. A very touching story first hand experience with dementia and know the joy some things can trigger. Dave looks truly happy and hopefully it is a memory that will linger.
