The opening of a new unit to look after people with dementia and other mental health problems was a poignant occasion for Pendine Park Mario Kreft.
It took place 26 years to the day that his beloved grandmother, Mrs Rene Warburton, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, passed away in a care home.
According to Mr Kreft, it was the need to find suitable care for his grandmother that inspired him to establish the award-winning Pendine Park care organistion.
The new Plas Gwyn dementia unit at Pendine Park’s Hillbury House, in Hillbury Road, was officially opened by the Mayor of Wrexham, Cllr Ian Roberts, accompanied by the Mayoress, his wife, Hilary.
Cllr Roberts said: “I was very pleased to be invited to officially open Plas Gwyn.
“I have been to Hillbury on numerous occasions. It feels like home and I’m sure it feels like home to the people who live here now. The staff are extremely pleasant and there is a lovely atmosphere.
“The standards in the new unit are excellent and I’m sure the care that they provide here is second to none.
“There are a lot of people living a lot longer and obviously dementia comes on which means that more and more care is need whether that is in the community or in a residential setting.”
Last year the First Minister Carwyn Jones officially opened Bodlondeb, Pendine Park’s new centre of excellence for people with dementia at their site in Summerhill Road. Bodlondeb was named after Mr Kreft’s grandparents’ home in Rhyl.
According to Mario Kreft, who was awarded an MBE for his contribution to social care, the opening of Plas Gwyn was also a special day.
He said: “It’s remarkable that we should be opening an EMI residential unit 26 years to the day that I lost my grandmother in an EMI residential unit. It is quite poignant really.
“We really want to provide the best services that we can and I am very proud of what we have achieved here at Plas Gwyn. We have got a great team of people here.”
