Care South, residential and home care provider and registered charity, has donated £1,000 to Poole-based charity, The Friends of Dolphin.

The Friends of Dolphin has been chosen by Care South as the latest beneficiary of its Chairman’s 2020 Fund. The fund was set up to give back to community groups, services and organisations which directly benefit Care South’s residents and staff, and their Care South at Home clients.

The Friends of Dolphin provides free, fully-accessible boat trips around Poole Harbour to elderly and disabled people. Residents from Dorset House care home in Coles Avenue, Hamworthy, as well as some of Care South’s other Dorset care homes, have enjoyed trips out with The Friends of Dolphin. The charity’s specially-designed, full-accessible boat is crewed entirely by volunteers, with an experienced skipper at the helm.

Dorset House resident, Anne, worked at Parkstone Stroke Club whose members would often go on Friends of Dolphin boat trips. She said: “It was such a wonderful day being out on the water. I was so pleased that I got to do it again. It was just like old times.”

Jeff, who also lives at Dorset House care home, said: “I used to work as a decorator and spent time working on the Bournemouth Belle boat. It was wonderful to be back on the water. I felt so relaxed and at ease.”

Phil Smith, Director of Residential Care, handed over the donation to Andy Preston, Chair of The Friends of Dolphin, and Tony Elgar, Chair of Fundraising for The Friends of Dolphin. Phil said: “We are delighted to donate £1,000 to The Friends of Dolphin to enable them to continue providing boat trips for the residents in our care, as well as the wider Dorset community. At Care South, we are keen to enable the residents to pursue hobbies and interests they wouldn’t be able to do without our support, so it was great to see the Dorset House residents getting out on the water.”

Funds donated by Care South will go towards a new boat. The Friends of Dolphin have currently raised £150,000 towards the £300,000 total needed to purchase the new small vessel.

Tony Elgar, Chair of Fundraising for The Friends of Dolphin, said: “We would like to say a huge thank you to Care South for their generous donation towards our fundraising for a new boat. It is always a joy to take the Dorset House residents out as their faces light up as soon as they step on the boat, and they experience a sense of freedom as the boat glides along the water and they get to see Poole from a different perspective.”

Dorset House, which is run by the not-for-profit charity Care South, provides residential, respite and dementia care. The care home features a range of communal lounges overlooking a landscaped garden for residents to enjoy. Dorset House has a dedicated activities team who organise a daily programme of events to bring residents together to socialise and build friendships. 

Care South is a leading provider of high quality residential and home care services across the south of England. The not-for-profit organisation, which is a registered charity, has care homes in Dorset, north Devon, Somerset and West Sussex, and home care offices covering east and west Dorset, and northeast Somerset and south Somerset. 

For more information about the care services available, go to care-south.co.uk or call Care South on 01202 712410.

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