Up, up and away! Superman flies into Willows Care Home

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s Superman, aka Canford Healthcare’s Laird MacKay! The chief operating officer dressed up as the DC comic superhero for a surprise visit to Willows Care Home recently.

Laird’s visit was the result of a challenge than he had previously issued to Claudia, the home manager at Willows Care Home (one of Canford Healthcare’s 11 nursing and dementia homes), to attract more new residents. If she did this, he promised to visit the home dressed as his favourite hero.

The home duly complied, and Laird was left with no choice but to make good on his promise. Willows’ residents and staff couldn’t contain their delight when he arrived at the home dressed in Superman’s trademark blue and red costume rather than his usual smart, but less colourful, attire. He spent a happy couple of hours chatting and enjoying a cup of tea with them.

Residents commented that Laird is the most handsome superhero they’d seen but made it clear that nobody could Claudia away from their home – not even Superman!

Staff remarked, “Never bet with Claudia, she is ambitious and determined!”

“Superman’s new 21st-century motto is ‘truth, justice and a better tomorrow”, says Laird. “As care providers, we are aiming for something similar. We want our residents to enjoy all their todays and tomorrows, secure in the knowledge that they are in the hands of skilled and dedicated staff who go the extra mile for them.

They are the real superheroes, doing incredible things for our residents every single day,” he says.

Laird joined Canford Healthcare in November 2018 and has since transformed the operational and support functions of the company’s portfolio of homes so that they are in a better position to weather the many challenges facing the social care industry, including the Covid-19 pandemic.

Willows Care Home in Romford has itself been in the news recently. Home manager Claudia Ramsamy is the recent winner of The Great British Care Awards’ Social Care Covid Hero Award. The judges paid tribute to her courageous and “selfless” leadership during the pandemic.

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