A care home resident's dream came true when he was taken for a spin through Suffolk countryside in a magnificent open-top classic car.
Malcolm Gooch, 76, who lives at Allonsfield House nursing home, in Campsea Ashe, near Woodbridge, was eagerly waiting in his Sunday best when tax advisor Robin Beadle drove up in his 1979 Beauford touring car.
Kieran Broadhurst, team leader at the Kingsley Healthcare home, said: “Malcolm is a retired driving instructor and has had a lifelong passion for cars.
“He told us he had driven Porsches and Ferraris but he had never been out in an open-top classic car.
“Carol McGilloway, one of our senior support workers, put out a request on the Woodbridge Facebook forum and Robin got in touch. He kindly offered his time for free to take Malcom out for a drive on Sunday morning.”
Malcolm, who lived in the Woodbridge area before moving to the home last year, was accompanied by Mrs McGilloway on the journey to Aldeburgh and back, parking up at Thorpeness to look out over the sea.
Mr Beadle, who lives in nearby Rendlesham, said: “Malcolm was very impressed. We discussed quite a few things about the car.
"And, as a former driving instructor, he was reassured to know I am a member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists.”
Mr Beadle added that owning a Beauford was a long-held ambition and, through the internet, he finally tracked one down in Wales three years ago.
“It had been bought and stored in a barn by the landowner and only had 250 miles on the clock from when it was built in 1979," he said.
"The engine had regularly been turned over so I was able to drive it back to Suffolk straight away.”
Mr Broadhurst said: “Malcolm really enjoyed the trip. He was tired and a little disorientated when he got back.
"We printed a photograph which he keeps with him and smiles every time he sees it.”
Allonsfield House, which is run by Kingsley Healthcare, is currently setting up its own mini-farm to provide therapeutic benefits to residents, including those with dementia.
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