THE sky was the limit for a care home resident who was granted his wish to plane spot once more.
Clive Wilson has lived at Oaklands Rest Home in Marchwood since 2021 after moving to Hampshire with his wife Margaret from Fulham in 2002.
His fascination with aviation began in his early teens and, having not been out to see planes since 2018, the home wanted to facilitate his wish as part of their ‘Send a Smile’ initiative.
The 82-year-old was able to see a number of passenger planes landing.
When asked if he had a good time visiting Bournemouth Airport, Clive said: “You could say that, it was the best!”
The former delivery driver for United Biscuits was so dedicated to his pastime that if there was an airport nearby upon finishing his rounds, he would drive there just to see the planes taking off and landing.
It was at his work that he met his wife of 24 years after the pair were set up on a date in the canteen by their bosses.
Mr Wilson would even visit airports while on holiday and even took Margaret to visit local airports in Australia when they went down under.
Even when walking down the street with Margaret he would stop and just look up at the sky to watch the planes or sit in the garden with his binoculars for hours just watching them.
Oaklands manager Nicola Ray said the home does its best for residents.
She said: “We are always looking for ways we can improve our residents quality of life and allow them to live out their dreams.
“Our Send a Smile initiative has been incredibly popular and since it began last year we have enabled residents to get involved with a huge variety of activities they’ve always wanted to do.
“One time we decorated our lounge in a space theme for a resident who’d always dreamed of going into space!
“We know how much Clive loved plane spotting and when he said that he wanted to go out and look at them again we were delighted to be able to help him do it.
“This kind of reminiscence therapy is really important and beneficial to our residents and we have a wonderful team who are always coming up with new ways for our residents to engage in these activities.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here