Carers give client ‘roar-some’ day by granting his wish to be zookeeper at Crawley Nature Centre

Tony Edge, 67, who lives in Drayton and is a Client of Right at Home Portsmouth, spent a day feeding and caring for several of the centre’s animals and had the rare opportunity to enter some enclosures.

The wish was granted as part of Right at Home UK’s ‘Tin-Full of Wishes’ campaign which grants once-in-a-lifetime wishes for deserving clients.

Tony, who lives with autism, spends five days a week at a day centre that provides support and assistance for adults with learning disabilities. He also receives twice-daily care calls from Right at Home at home.

Tilgate Nature Centre’s Education Officers Alex and Richard assisted Tony in feeding animals including reindeer, goats, ponies, and pigs. Tony also carried out a health check on a barn owl before having the opportunity to put on a raptor glove and take the animal for her daily walk.

The day ended with Tony’s getting inside the meerkat enclosure to feed the mob, many of which climbed onto his legs and shoulders.

Jodey Pritchard, Team Leader at Right at Home Portsmouth said: “We nominated Tony for the campaign because every visit that we go to, he always brings a smile to every carer’s face.

“It brings us so much joy to see his face light up when he spots animals in his garden or when we take him out. He’s just a pleasure to be around.

“I don’t see being Tony’s CareGiver as a job – it’s not a job, it’s just a pleasure to do. I’d recommend becoming a carer to anyone, it’s so rewarding, especially on days like today when you can see the difference you can make to someone. It’s worth every small moment.”

Alex, education officer at Tilgate Nature Centre, said: “When we read Tony’s story and heard about the Tin-Full of Wishes campaign, we wanted to help to grant his zoo keeper wish!

“We wanted to provide him with something that he could remember and take back to his friends and family and hopefully give him an insight into what it really is like to be a zoo keeper for a day.

“We’ve really enjoyed having Tony help us out for the day and hope that getting up-close-and-personal with our animals has been everything he wished for!”

The team at Tilgate Nature Centre gave Tony a special Meerkat Paperweight to take home to remember his special day as a zookeeper which he was really ‘happy’ to receive.

His wish was the sixth to be granted as part of Right at Home’s 10 Year Anniversary campaign, a Tin-Full of Wishes, which celebrates a decade of making a difference to clients’ lives by granting ten once-in-a-lifetime wishes.

Right at Home UK is a national homecare franchise with a growing network of 70+ locally owned and operated offices across England and Wales.

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For more information on Right at Home UK, please visit www.rightathome.co.uk.