School children bring smiles to homecare clients

Children brought happiness to a number of older residents during a recent tour around Liverpool and Lancashire.  

The children, aged between six and 11 years old, accompanied Right at Home South Liverpool & Halton and their sister branch Right at Home Preston & South Ribble on its rounds last week, surprising each client with a bouquet of flowers. 

Team members arranged for their children to attend visits across Preston, South Ribble, South Liverpool and Halton, in the hope of spreading joy among their clients, two of whom had recently lost their husbands.   

One of their female clients, aged 92, said: “What a wonderful surprise. It was so lovely to see all of these young smiling faces. Thank you, Right at Home, this was amazing.”

Dressed in special Right at Home T-shirts, with the message ‘going the extra mile to make you smile’ printed on the back, the children visited 10 clients on the 50-mile tour.

The idea for the tour came from Gavin Preston, Owner of Right at Home Preston & South Ribble and Right at Home South Liverpool & Halton.

He is always looking for ways to improve the quality of care and customer service he and his teams provide for their clients.

Gavin said: “We visited our clients dressed as Santa and his elves last Christmas, handing out stockings filled with gifts. This brought so much joy to the people we care for, so I wanted to do something similar over the summer.

“A number of our office team have young children, and I knew they would be a hit with our clients, so we hatched a plan for them to join us on our visits delivering flowers before they went back to school.”

He added: “We drove lots of miles but got many more smiles. Included in the clients we saw were two ladies who recently lost their husbands, and they were particularly touched by our gesture. Also, our children really enjoying the whole experience and got a life lesson about delivering acts of kindness. They loved it.”

Gavin and his team host regular community events allowing adults of all backgrounds to interact and engage in local activities.

Their ‘Rest and Reminisce’, which takes place each month at St Peters Church Hall Woolton, Liverpool and Booths tea room in Longton, South RIbble, is a particular hit among clients.