THE family of a resident in a Cheshire care home has presented the home with a generous competition prize from Chester business Dandy’s.

Celia Cummings donated a prize for £1,000 to Chapel House Care in Puddington to thank them for looking after her father so well. Celia’s dad has been a resident of the home for a number of months.

The generous donation is being used to help build a sensory walk in the garden for residents of the two care homes, The Chapel House Nursing Home and Plessington Court Residential Home.

Celia said: “Dandy’s Landscape Supplies in Chester ran a competition last month to win £1,000 of landscaping materials.

“I entered it and posted a comment saying that if I won, I would love to donate the prize to Chapel House Care, my dad’s lovely care home where he is so well cared for, to help build the nature walk around the grounds.

“Although I wasn’t the initial winner, the lady who did win had spotted my comment about donating to my dad’s care home and she very kindly gifted the prize to me to donate to them.

“It was a case of true Christmas spirit as the prize was drawn on Christmas Eve.”

Keith Ley, home manager for both homes, said: “It was incredibly generous of both the original prize winner and also Celia Cummings to donate this wonderful prize to us.

“We have exciting plans to build a lovely sensory garden for our residents to enjoy and this donation will help us to create something really special.”

Amanda Arnold, director of marketing at Dandy’s Landscape Supplies Centre on Sealand Road in Chester, said: “We were very touched to hear that the winner of our most recent Christmas Competition, winning £1,000 worth of landscaping and gardening supplies, donated their prize to a complete stranger!

“To hear that the prize was then passed to Chapel House Care in Puddington, is just wonderful – it sounds like it will bring lots of happiness to residents and staff alike. The kindness of these ladies to 'pay it forward' on Christmas Eve is astounding, what a wonderful Christmas gift! We can't wait to see the new sensory garden that Chapel House Care has planned."

Sensory gardens are often used in healthcare settings and are designed to incorporate colour, touch and scent to help inspire distant memories and sensations.

Chapel House Care is a family business which was established in 1987 by the Moore family. The homes offer residential, nursing and dementia care in a safe, secure and friendly environment in the heart of Puddington, Cheshire.