St Catherines Care Home in Nantwich is delighted with the installation of new pathway at the home by a family who were so grateful for the care the home provided to their mum and dad, Mr and Mrs Taylor, which has fittingly been named ‘Taylor’s Walk’.
Mr and Mrs Derek Taylor moved into St Catherines just before Christmas 2019, it was arranged for them to both move in so that they could be ‘together again’ following the deterioration of their physical health. It was part of their daily routine to reside on separate units and then spend some time together each day, Mrs Taylor (who liked to be known as Margaret) was more physically able and would go over and see ‘her Derek’ (Mr Taylor) each day, Both Mr and Mrs Taylor were held in high regard with the team at St Catherines.
Derek sadly deteriorated and passed away in February 2020 and Margaret was able to attend Derek’s funeral just in time before lockdown. Unfortunately, she then had to refrain from seeing the rest of her family during what would have been the hardest months of her life! Fortunately, ‘window visits’ were introduced, and Margaret was able to see her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren once again. Margaret lived for her family and would look forward to their visits each week. Sadly, in December 2020, Margaret contracted Covid19 and after a short battle she also sadly passed away. Margaret and Derek “Together Again”.
Following Margaret’s passing the family got in touch with St Catherines and expressed their gratitude for the wonderful care given to both their parents, they felt that they could not thank the home enough and wanted to do something special to show their appreciation. The family got their heads together and came up with the idea of laying a path around the side of the building to provide safe and easier walking and wheelchair access to the back garden for the benefit of other family members enjoying window visits with their loved ones.
The family set up a Just Giving page to raise funds for the materials, they reached their initial target of £500 within days and got in touch with us to inform us that they were going to increase the target and try and raise enough to make the path ‘wheelchair friendly’ too! They smashed this target too! Mr and Mrs Taylors grandson-In-Law has his own gardening and landscaping business Robert Naylor Landscape & Gardening, offered to gift his time to lay the path with the help of the family. Works began and the path is now laid beautifully, providing safe access for all visitors to our garden, in Memory of Mr and Mrs Taylor the path has been named ‘Taylors Walk’. St Catherines will never be able to repay the family for this ultra-kind gesture and Mr and Mrs Taylor will ALWAYS be remembered!
The home recently held an opening ceremony and invited family members to officially open ‘Taylor’s Walk’. A number of resident’s attended the ceremony and took the opportunity to thank the family for their kindness and enjoyed a glass of ‘bubbly’ to mark the occasion!
Keeley Hackney, Manager at St Catherines Care Home said
“Everyone at St Catherines was delighted with the thoughtful, selfless and generous idea from the family and are amazed at how wonderful the finished walkway is, which will benefit families for years to come” She continued “It is a fitting, lasting memorial to their mum and dad, Margaret and Derek Taylor”
Comment from son/daughter of Mr & Mrs Taylor
“Margaret and Derek Taylor were pillars of the Nantwich community for many years so it was natural that after their passing, we as a family would want to do something in their memory. The pandemic impacted how we were able to spend time with them and say our final goodbyes so it felt right to do something to help the home make window visits more accessible for the families of relatives living at St.Catherine’s in memory of Margaret and Derek. And so, Taylor’s Walk was born. We are so proud to see it in use already and to have been able to do something for St Catherine’s, who became a second family to them during their time there, while making sure the memory of such a wonderful couple lives on.”