Staff at HC-One’s Silverwood care home, in Beeston, Nottingham, have been focusing on making a resident’s dreams come true.
Olive Cowley, 91, moved into Silverwood in January 2021, and she celebrated her birthday on Friday, August 2. Olive has lived a wonderful life and continues to do so at Silverwood.
She has explored the world on beautiful cruise ships, the first of many being the Queen Elizabeth II. Olive went on many cruises throughout the years, where she was accompanied by her husband or family on most of the trips.
She met many friends on her travels and still talks about them. Olive even got the opportunity to sit at the captain’s table, this is something that is a huge honour and she speaks about it with pride.
Olive – who lives with dementia – often gets dressed up and packed up to continue her cruising adventures, she still talks about meeting her captain again. As a birthday present for Olive’s 91st birthday, staff at Silverwood care home arranged to take her on the Nottingham Princess River Cruise.
Along with Olive, staff also brought Rosemary Derry along on the trip as she shares the same passion for being on the open sea. Rosemary and Olive are good friends, and it made the day extra special. The Nottingham Princess is the largest river cruiser on the River Trent.
They started their cruise at the river lodge mooring in Colwick and thoroughly enjoyed the breath-taking views while passing some of Nottingham’s famous attractions and sights.
They passed Nottingham Forest Football Stadium, Nottingham County Football Stadium, Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, Trent Bridge, Victoria embankment, Colwick Country Park, Holme Pierrepont and many more.
While aboard the vessel they enjoyed a marvellous two course meal. They enjoyed a roast chicken dinner with a black cherry and chocolate gateau with cream for dessert.
To top off the day, the residents managed to talk the very camera-shy Captain Peter Horn into having a chat and photo taken with Olive. She was delighted and said the day could not have ended any better for her.
Silverwood resident, Olive Cowley, commented:
“I really enjoyed my time reminiscing on the Nottingham Princess River Cruise. Thank you to the staff at Silverwood for making my 91st Birthday extra special.”
Silverwood resident, Rosemary Derry, stated:
“Thank you to Olive for letting me accompany her on her trip on the Nottingham Princess River Cruise. I really enjoy being on the open sea, so this was extra special for me.”