Rugby stars make special Christmas visit to St Luke’s and St Patrick’s

Twin Widnes Vikings players, Jay Chaplehow and Ted Chaplehow, paid a special visit to two of our Halton care homes on Monday, spreading Christmas cheer to residents, their families and colleagues. 

St Luke’s and St Patrick’s care homes both had the pleasure of welcoming the two Santa’s, or should we say players, as they delivered festive gifts in the form of Widnes Vikings shirts!

At St Luke’s, in Palacefields, Ted and Jay met with Ged Murphy, who has dementia, and a lifelong Vikings fan! Ged was thrilled with his shirt, even telling the twins he would wear it for his Christmas shopping trip later this week. The two players then went on to meet with one of our star colleagues, Lisa Piggott, who was recently nominated for The Dignity in Care Award at this year’s Great North West Care Awards.

There was a special moment at St Patrick’s in Widnes, when Eric Hardman received a rugby shirt from Jay and Ted. Accompanied by his daughter Marie McDowell, Eric who is 91, told the players he was a life-long Widnes Viking’s fan – even chatting to them both about Vikings legends!

Jay and Ted commented on their visit, saying, “We’ve really enjoyed coming here today, meeting all of Community Integrated Care’s colleagues and seeing the hard work they put in daily. We’ve also met some amazing fans of the club that have supported us throughout the generations, and it’s great to come here and hear their experiences!”

Regional Manager, Caroline Broughall, commented on the special visit from the players saying, “It’s great to see our partnerships with Widnes Vikings really benefitting the people we support. Our residents were so excited to meet the two rugby stars today, and it was amazing seeing their faces light up when receiving their gifts.”