Benson House Residents Discover How To Fly A Helicopter On A Visit To RAF Benson
Residents at Benson House love a day out, but a visit to their local airbase, RAF Benson, was something a little bit different, especially for the home’s veterans.
VFF Accreditation Leads to Contact with Local Base
Earlier this year, Benson House Care Home in Wallingford was delighted to gain their VFF (Veteran Friendly Framework) accreditation and the team was proud to learn that theirs was a landmark achievement – the 300th care home to be awarded veteran friendly status.
As part of the ongoing commitment to supporting veterans at Benson House and connecting with the wider veteran community, the team established contacts with local groups and organisations to encourage interaction and collaboration. Benson House Customer Relationship Manager, George King, had previously been in touch with RAF Benson when their military wives’ choir agreed to perform at the care home. A later meeting with Corporal Debbie Reay led to George asking whether a private visit to the air base could be arranged for a group of the care home’s residents, and Debbie was happy to help.
RAF Benson has a wide-reaching remit. As well as providing military support for UK operations and acting as home to a number of resident units, the base also hosts the civilian National Police Air Service and the Thames Valley Air Ambulance who operate 24 hours a day. It’s also very close to Benson House – less than 10 minutes’ drive away.
Flight Simulators and Military Banter
On a lovely sunny morning, a group of enthusiastic residents - including veterans Ron, Tony and Philip - arrived at RAF Benson and were shown into the conference room. After being served coffee, Arthur from Guest Relations gave an introductory talk, briefing the group on what to expect from the tour. Excitement levels rose when the group were shown around three helicopter simulators for Puma and Merlin helicopters. Some residents even tried them out! After group photos had been taken with the residents – of course, no simulators were photographed due to comply with national security regulations - another member of the RAF Benson team, Mark, shared more information about how the simulators are flown, and how the training is monitored.
Everyone was fascinated by what they learned and during the lunch that was kindly served afterwards, there was much animated conversation about what they’d seen, and plenty of military banter. Being on an air base struck a particular chord for resident Philip and the visit brought back many memories of his time as a captain in the RAF.
A Wonderful Way to Reinforce Bonds
Resident Jill declared that it had been a really informative and interesting day out and Debbie has already offered Benson residents the opportunity to tour the RAF Benson museum on a future visit. Meanwhile, George has invited members of the RAF Benson team to join residents and members of the local community at the home’s monthly veterans’ coffee morning, held every second Friday at Benson House.
All in all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable day, not only a chance for residents to see and learn something new, but also a great way of reinforcing the bonds created between the care home, the local community and the armed forces through the Veteran Friendly Framework.
Discover Comfort, Compassion and Community at Benson House Care Home
Our purpose-built luxury care home, Benson House in Wallingford, provides residents with high-quality nursing, residential and dementia care on both permanent and short-stay basis. Benson House is centred around our residents, their needs and their wishes.
With various social lounges, a cinema room, bistro area and hairdressing salon, there’s plenty to keep residents engaged.
For more details about the care we offer, visit our Nursing Care and Residential Care pages. Learn more about our specialised Dementia Care. Call us today to arrange a tour or for more information on 01491 523 703
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