From a residents' family - Glenholme

"In the home she is surrounded by people to keep her company and she loves taking part in the activities." - Peter Ferries

When Betty Ferries' dementia began to worse, her son Peter feared that if she continued living independently, one day he would get a call from the police saying some harm had come to her.

The 89-year-old would often go out of her home in a confused state, putting her, and potentially others, in danger.

It was at this stage that Peter and his wife Julie began to look for a care home for Betty. They visited around ten homes in the Sunderland area where Betty is from and in Peter's own words they were all "awful".

By chance, Julie then got speaking to a nurse at their local GP practice in Durham who recommended the Glenholme Residential Care Home in the Roker area of Sunderland, which is owned by Wellburn Care Homes.

Peter and Julie's first impression of the home was its warmth and they quickly realised that after much searching, they had found the right home for Betty. At the time Glenholme was undergoing a refurbishment, which included the addition of new bedrooms and Peter and Julie managed to secure one of these for Betty.

Three years on and Peter says moving Betty in Glenholme was the best decision he has made.

"As an only child it was particularly difficult having to find a home for my mam but it was clearly no longer possible for her to remain in her home due to her dementia. She was getting very confused at times and going out of her home, and I feared receiving a call from the police saying something had happened to her."

"Luckily my mam settled in very quickly at Glenholme and in hindsight I should have done it much earlier," he said.

"In the home she is surrounded by people to keep her company and she loves taking part in the activities, especially dancing. The staff are great and are always coming up with different activities to exercise her mind, and we couldn't be happier with the standard of care she is receiving."

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