Making waves: 71-year-old Sutton Coldfield care home resident returns to the pool

Ghislaine Evans, a resident at Care UK’s Mercia Grange, on Lichfield Road, was overjoyed when the team organised for her to visit Kingstanding Leisure Centre in Birmingham, where she had spent many years as a competition judge.

After her youngest son Jamie began swimming competitively and was selected to swim for the City of Birmingham, G decided to train to become a swimming official who would time races, monitoring false starts and illegal turns. Outside of competitive swimming, G also taught beginner swimmers at Moor Hall Primary School.

G never swam competitively but enjoyed watching her son progress in his career. Jamie often trained twice a day, alongside Olympic swimmers, and entered the National Championships to swim breaststroke.

So when the team at Mercia Grange asked if G would like to add something to the home’s ‘Wishing Tree’, an initiative launched by Care UK which allows residents to suggest ideas for new hobbies they’d like to try, places they’d like to visit and activities they’d like to do, she was keen to get back to the water.

On the day, G enjoyed reminiscing on the happy memories she created with Jamie and got the opportunity to relive her past career.

G said: “This is amazing! I haven’t swum for over 5 years now. I thought I would never go swimming again. Being in the swimming pool reminds me of the old days.”

Michael McNelis, Home Manager at Mercia Grange, said: “When G shared with the team at Mercia Grange that she wanted to get back in the water, we were eager to make it happen – she often talks fondly of her memories swimming and bonding over her love of the sport with her son who swam competitively, inspiring her to become a swimming official.

“We understand how important it is to support residents to pursue activities they are passionate about, and the Wishing Tree initiative was a great way to help G relive her happy days doing a hobby she loves.

“It was wonderful to see her return to an activity filled with fond memories for her, and even better to see how relaxed she was after her swim. A big thank you to Kingstanding Leisure Centre for making the day possible.”

Mercia Grange is a state-of-the-art care home which provides full-time residential, nursing, dementia, and short-term respite care. The three-storey care home, which features 67 ensuite bedrooms, has been designed to enable residents to live active and fulfilled lives, while also promoting independence. The care home incorporates space for hobby and leisure activities and includes its own cinema, hair salon and café.

For more information on Mercia Grange, please call Customer Relations Manager, Rachel Mackay, on 0121 314 3196, or email [email protected]

For more general information, please visit careuk.com/mercia-grange