VISITS from a parent and baby group to a Wantage care home are helping one resident recover from a stroke that’s taken much of her speech.

Margaret Gibson, 81, lives at Elmbrook Court care home on Grove Road and thrills in seeing the youngsters from the Grove and Wantage Families Community Group (GroW) every week. 

Her daughter, Sue Farrell, said the visits are the activity her mum most looks forward to.

READ MORE: Layla Moran presses Minister for action on new A34 junction

“It’s a real joy for mum as she has always loved babies and small children,” she said.  “The group triggers very happy memories for her. 

“Her face always lights up when she walks into the room and sees them there.  It’s lovely that she has the opportunity to cuddle a baby and watch young children run around.”

A significant stroke in April of this year left Ms Gibson’s speech and communication severely impaired with only one or two words to her vocabulary.

But when she’s in the company of the little ones, she relaxes and the words start to come.

“She can sometimes manage short sentences which is wonderful to hear” said Ms Farrell. “She often takes the staff by surprise.”

Manager of the home’s residential unit, Jenni Morgan, added: “We take time to get to know our residents and understand their past careers, their interests and what they want to do with their lives now.

READ MORE: Decision date on plans for new gravel quarry DELAYED

“I used to go to Fledglings every week so I knew Margaret when she moved in.  It’s lovely to be able to give her time with the children, something she really enjoys.”

Michelle Rozier, who runs GroW, said: “It’s a lovely space for the parents and children to come to but what makes these sessions really special is seeing the children and the residents having fun together. 

“We are seeing bonds forming between toddlers who regularly attend and the residents.  One of our members gets to see her granddad each week as he lives here, and he spends time with her and his great-granddaughter. 

“We bring toys so the residents can play with the children, we often have a bubble machine and finish off by singing nursery rhymes which everyone joins in with. To see the smiles on the residents’ faces is really lovely.”

Ms Farrell is hopeful that her mum’s language development will continue thanks to the stimulation she receives at Elmbrook Court.

READ MORE: Long delays on busy town road due to water works

“I cannot praise the home highly enough for all the activities they organise,” she said. “It’s of great comfort to our family to know that Mum leads such a happy, safe and varied life at Elmbrook Court.”

-

Read more from this author

This story was written by Gee Harland. She joined the team in 2022 as a senior multimedia reporter.

Gee covers Wallingford, Wantage and Didcot.

Get in touch with her by emailing: Gee.harland@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @Geeharland

A message from our Editor

Thank you for reading this story and supporting the Oxford Mail.

If you like what we do please consider getting a subscription for the Oxford Mail and in return we’ll give you unrestricted access with less adverts across our website from the latest news, investigations, features, and sport.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok for more. 

You can also join the conversation in our Facebook groups: stay ahead of traffic alerts here, keep up to date with the latest from court here, share your favourite memories of Oxford here, get your daily dose of celebrity news here and take some time out with news that will make you smile. 

If you’ve got a story for our reporters, send us your news here. You can also list an event for free here.