HC-One's Silverwood care home resident enjoyed trip to Newark Air Museum

Care, home staff, makes resident wishes come true as he enjoys an 'amazing' trip to Newark Air Museum after raising £300 for his fellow residents.

Charles Carey, 77, a keen aircraft enthusiast has lived at HC-One’s Silverwood care home, in Beeston, since 2022.

He enjoys speaking about his passion with staff and residents, as well as researching the subject and drawing sketches of old aeroplanes.

He recently expressed a wish to visit Newark Air Museum to see the exhibits on view and after spending the whole day fundraising on a stall at Silverwood care home’s Open Day In June, the care home staff wanted to reward him and make his wish come true.

Charles travelled to the museum with fellow residents Gwen Wheeler and Jean Ward, and they enjoyed the scenic countryside drive to the Newark exhibition. Once they arrived at the museum, they experienced a tour of the exhibits before sitting down for a picnic.

The highlight for Charles was seeing the — Blackburn Buccaneer — , a robust carrier-borne strike aircraft which served both the Royal Navy and RAF.

After returning from his trip, Charles Carey said: “I enjoyed the whole day very much. Going into the country and travelling was great, and then to see all of those amazing aircraft just meant the world to me.”

Charles’ father was a motor mechanic by trade and would often take Charles to work with him, and he has many fond memories of these times. While at his father’s garage, Charles would tinker with old engine parts to see how they would work and all fit together to create moving parts.

As he got older, Charles became a motor mechanic himself and loved getting his hands on a broken engine and being able to make it work again.

The 77-year-old always wanted to work on aircraft but sadly this never became a reality due to his health, however, he continues to show his passion for aircraft through his drawings, books and models.

Silverwood Care Home’s Wellbeing coordinator, Jemma Mellard, who arranged the trip, said: “Charles loves anything to do with transportation and has a real passion and keen interest in aircraft. Visiting the aircraft museum with him and his friends was fantastic, and it was wonderful to see how happy the residents looked and how much they enjoyed themselves.”

Debra Meynell, Home Manager at Silverwood Care home, said: “Charles ran his own fundraising stall and worked tirelessly throughout our Open Day to try and raise money for his friends here at Silverwood. We therefore thought it would be really nice to do something for him, as he's always going above and beyond for other people.

"Charles has always been a huge aircraft enthusiast, so we thought where better to take him than Newark Air Museum? He seems to have had a wonderful trip out and has talked of little else since he got back.”