Residents, staff and visitors at Wilhelmina House in Croydon have raised more than £1,500 for Cancer Research UK.
Staff at the care home signed up to the charity’s Walk All Over Cancer challenge and committed to walking at least a mile every day in March. Residents joined in, making gentle laps of the grounds of Wilhelmina House, supported by family members or staff.
Over the course of the month, visitors, including local Police Community Support Officer Ollie White, firefighters from Croydon’s Green Watch, and even children from a local nursery, also joined the challenge.
In total, £1545 has been raised for Cancer Research UK.
Residents and staff complete the distance in the grounds of Wilhelmina House
Wilhelmina House’s Activity Coordinator, Angela Tolley, proposed taking part in the challenge with Home Manager, Magdalena Kuffel. With several of her close family members having been affected by cancer, Angela had very personal reasons for wanting to support Cancer Research UK.
Through their work, Angela and her colleagues have also supported many older people living with cancer. Angela said she was heartened by the number of current residents who joined in with the challenge.
“Getting out in the fresh air after winter lifted everyone’s mood,” she explained. “Residents would stop to listen to the birds or look at the flowers, and then when our visitors joined in, you would hear everyone chatting.”
To mark the end of the month-long challenge, residents enjoyed a colourful party and a specially made cake to celebrate their achievement.
Thank you to everyone who took part and helped to raise such a large sum for Cancer Research UK. It’s not too late to donate and give the total a final boost. You can make a donation here: https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/angelas-giving-page-132589
