A day to remember!
Care Professional David Sheridan Takes Bill on a Heartwarming Trip to the Stephen Burke Construction Academy
Being a Care Professional isn’t just about providing personal care and physical assistance; it’s also about fostering connections and creating memories. Providing companionship can help to enhance our client’s overall wellbeing, and outlook on life!
At Home Instead Tamworth, Lichfield and North Warwickshire, we pride ourselves on matching the client’s needs and interests with a Care Professional who shares the same love of their hobbies.
David has been Bill’s Care Professional since August 2023 and has built a close bond over the last eighteen months. David says;
“Every week I take pictures of the places we visited, print them off, and add them to a “Memory Book” that I created for Bill. At home, he shows the book to his family and friends where we have been. I also take him once a month to “Love to Move” that Home Instead Run at Sacred Heart in Tamworth on a Wednesday. This helps with Bill’s cognitive function, coordination and core strength. This is always closely followed by a coffee and cake!”
Bill was a lecturer at Burton Technical College before retiring. He also taught Bricklaying to many NVQ3 apprentices at the NVQ college. Bill and a team of his apprentices, built the base of the Polar Bear Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum. This was the first Memorial at the site.
David went above and beyond and contacted the college which had moved to Swadlincote to ask if Bill could have a tour of the new centre “Stephen Burke Construction Academy” which they kindly agreed to;
“ Two of the current lecturers remembered Bill and were honoured to take us around the academy. It was a wonderful morning on the 17th March. Bill loved it and it brought back so many good memories. On the way back he couldn’t stop talking about it. The following week when I had printed off the pictures for him, it was wonderful seeing him show his wife Mal”
David, who has worked with Bill for quite some time, knew how much the Academy meant to him. Bill often shared stories about his days there, recalling how he had helped train future generations of builders and instilled in them the same passion for the craft. This connection to his past was important to Bill, and David wanted to find a way to bring those memories back to life. So, he planned a surprise trip that would bring Bill back to the Stephen Burke Construction Academy.
For Bill, this visit wasn’t just about nostalgia, it was about rekindling the bond he had with his profession and the people who shared it. The Stephen Burke Construction Academy wasn’t just a place of learning for future builders, it was a community of like-minded individuals who valued hard work, craftsmanship, and the joy of creating something from the ground up.
For Bill, the day at the Stephen Burke Construction Academy wasn’t just a visit to a workplace ; it was a celebration of the life he had built, the lessons he had taught, and the friendships he had forged.
Thanks to David’s thoughtful gesture, Bill was able to relive those precious memories, adding another chapter to his remarkable story of life!.
