Adderbury care home resident gets her man

Alison Prew, resident of Lake House Care Home in Adderbury, had her birthday wish granted with a waltz from the CEO of The Orders of St John Care Trust (OSJCT) that operates the home.

When Lake House home manager Alex Grindle discovered that Alison wanted to celebrate her 99th birthday by, “dancing the waltz with a strapping man,” she knew just the person to fit the bill.

Alex invited OSJCT CEO Dan Hayes to a special birthday tea dance in Alison’s honour and he was delighted to contribute towards making Alison’s birthday celebrations as special as possible.

The only issue was that, by Dan’s own admission, he had not danced the waltz before and was afraid of discovering he had two left feet. Thankfully, dance teacher Glenda Harper who runs Strictly Banbury was on hand to provide a waltz masterclass before the couple’s turn on the dancefloor.

Dan said: “I was honoured to be asked to join Alison for her birthday celebrations. She is so keen on dancing that I wanted to make sure her tea dance was memorable for all the right reasons, so it was important to get the steps right.”

Alison and Dan's performance was watched by fellow residents, colleagues and Alison’s daughter, Sue, as they waltzed to one of Alison’s favourite songs: Vera Lynn’s ‘Somewhere in France’.

The birthday girl said: “It has been wonderful. It’s brought back lots of memories of going to dances when I was younger and getting into trouble with my mum for coming home too late.”

Home manager Alex said: “Any form of physical movement is so beneficial as we age but dancing holds a special place in many people’s hearts because of the memories it brings back for them.

"We were so pleased to be able to make Alison’s birthday wish come true, and I know it meant a lot to her today.”