Horsham care home makes resident's dream come true

Ron moved to Westlake House Care Home in June 2023 and is loved by staff and residents alike. Staff at the home were delighted to be a part of making his dream come true, as they knew how much it meant to him, and they all wanted to be there to see the smile on Ron’s face.

Staff first found out about Ron’s dream soon after he moved in and, ever since then, they have been dedicated to helping him achieve it.

Ron attended Jazz Studies at Chichester college when he was in his 60s and has been a musician in a numbers of concert band’s including the Petworth Town band. Ron plays Alto sax and has always been a huge fan of Jazz. He particularly loves to listen to music by Paul Desmond and Stan Getz. Ron was so keen to play more Jazz that he formed his own band “The Ron Green Big Band” in 2006 and played in the band until a few ago.

The Ron Greens Big Band musicians sneaked into Westlake House Care home so their performance would be a big surprise. One of the band members and dear friend of Ron’s, Mel Smith, travelled all the way from Somerset to play and be part of Ron’s special day. Ron’s friends and family joined the residents at Westlake House who were all in on the surprise.

In response to this wonderful surprise, Ron said: “It was so amazing. The band were fantastic. I wondered what was going on when they wouldn’t let me in the lounge to start with. Then when I saw the band it is such an amazing feeling to know that such a lovely group of people had arranged all this for me. They played some of my favourite songs, I had a tear in my eye. I was so happy.”

Audrey Chiduku, General Manager at Westlake House Care Home Barchester Healthcare, said: “We want everyone we care for to know how important they are to us here at Westlake House. It was so nice to see how happy Ron was – and the staff loved being a part of this as well. Thank you to everyone involved.”