Family of WWII soldier to walk 100 miles to raise funds for care home

The family of a care home resident and WWII veteran are aiming to walk 100 miles in 10 days to raise money for the care home which cared for her father in the final years of his life.

Kay Sabell and her husband Nigel are walking the 100-mile Millennium Way in 10 days to thank staff at Royal Star & Garter - Solihull for the care they provided to Bill Hinchliffe who died in April this year. Mr Hinchcliffe began day care at Royal Star & Garter in September 2018, before moving into the home as a resident permanently.

The Sabells will begin their walk on 23 October and hope to finish on 2 November. They will be joined by their children, grandchildren and friends on various stages of the walk.

Mrs Sabell said: “We decided to do it when Dad was still alive because we could see how happy he was and how well he was being looked after. When he died, it became even more important to us to do this, because the end-of-life care he received was just incredible.

"It was so reassuring to know how well he was being cared for, and it’s made us even more determined to raise as much money as possible.”

Mr Hinchliffe was only 17 years old when he witnessed the horrors of the blitz early on in the war and decided to join the Royal Signals in 1943. There, he was assigned to both British and American Forces in the North African and Italian Campaigns.

After the war finished in 1945, he went out to Palestine where he worked on teleprinters, communicating with Egypt and Iraq.

The Star & Garter home in Richmond was one of the first care homes to open its doors to its residents on 14 January 1916, under the British Red Cross Society, to care for the severely disabled young men returning from the battlegrounds of the First World War.

105 years later, the charity still provides care to veterans and their partners living with a disability or dementia.

Mr and Mrs Sabell are hoping the money raised will help to buy adapted plates, mugs and cutlery to support residents' independence at meal times, support the weekly cost of adapted games which benefit residents' mental health, fund an hour of a trained physiotherapists to deliver one to one session or group sessions with residents and support the purchase of specialist sensory books for residents who live with dementia.

On Remembrance Sunday (14 November), the couple also plan to walk from their home in Knowle to Solihull War Memorial, and afterwards back to Royal Star & Garter with drinks and cakes to share with residents and staff.

To sponsor Kay, visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/kayandnigel

click here for more details or to contact Royal Star & Garter