A Day in the Life #5 – Ian’s story

It’s taken me five weeks to pin Ian down for an interview – he’s a man always on the go. Ian doesn’t stop his famed trolley runs until he’s entertained everyone in the lounge, all the staff and then visited every bedroom within the Alexandra nursing home.

‘This is not a tea trolley,’ he explains, ‘It can be anything. An F-14 Tomcat, an ice-cream van, or a mobile 70’s disco.’ For those who don’t know Ian, whatever guise the tea trolley takes, he will be in character, guiding it on its rounds. Tom Cruise as Maverick, Giovanni, the Italian ice-cream vendor, or Disco-Dave, the corny DJ – you get the picture. Dressing up in costumes acquired cheaply from charity shops, Ian gets into character as he dances, acts, performs magic, and sings his way around the Alexandra Care Home. And Ian is a great entertainer. He’s an ex Butlins Red Coat with years of experience in the entertainment industry.

‘If you’d have told me I’d be the activities coordinator in a care home a few years ago, I’d never have believed you, but after losing a job during the Covid Lockdown in 2020, I saw an advert for the Alexandra and, nearly two years later, I’m still here – and loving every minute.’

I asked Ian why he enjoys the job so much.

‘It’s not like coming to work,’ he says. ‘Coming here is like coming home – into my second home!’

Watching Ian work, it’s easy to see that he means it when he talks about ‘coming home’. He has built and incredible rapport with both staff and residents. The team spirit he engenders in his colleagues lifts moral and creates a buzz around the home. For example, Ian has taken ‘Well-being Wednesdays’ to new heights, theming the days and giving everyone a huge, mid-week, boost.

‘Wednesdays are as much about the team as the residents. If you have happy staff, you’ve got happy residents,’ Ian says. ‘I am lucky because I have the life experience to understand that. Working at the Alexandra is a culmination of all my years in entertainment.’

Interestingly, Ian tells me he didn’t go into entertainment straight away. From the age of 20, Ian worked at Lloyds Bank, remaining on their management programme for four years, before being accepted as a Red Coat at Butlins. Entertainment was in his heart, he played keyboards in a band, and needed more from life than the bank could offer.

Ian worked mainly at Butlins’s Minehead Camp, where he met his future wife, a fellow Red Coat. Ian also got to know entertainers such as Joe Pasquale, Stu Francis, Tom O’Connor, Joe Brown and the Grumbleweeds. A Blackpool lad, Ian is proud to have worked with the son of Blackpool’s famous clown, Charlie Cairoli. Charlie Cairoli Junior worked with Ian during his time at Minehead. Ian has fond memories of his time as a Red Coat and even had a Red Coat ‘Guard of Honour’ at his wedding.

Ian and his wife went on to run their own entertainment business from their home in Gloucester before he moved his family to his beloved Blackpool for the benefit of his children’s’ education. His elder daughter wanted to get into photography, and one of the best UK colleges for photography happened to be in Ian’s hometown. Incredibly, Ian commuted to Gloucester for a while to continue with their entertainment business, but the miles took their toll and he eventually found work locally, as a deputy manager in retail. Ian enjoyed the work, building a loyal client base for the clothing store, until Covid hit, and he found himself made redundant.

Ian considers it fate, because he enjoys his work at the Alexandra so much, and he can make more small differences to people’s lives on a regular basis. Ian tells me that Chaplin once said, ‘A day without laughter is a day wasted,’ and considers his job as, ‘Like Butlins again, but in a care home.’ That’s an interesting take on his job, so I ask him to explain.

‘Butlins was about looking after the needs of 10,000 people in a holiday camp, so I understand customer service. With the residents I can make a much bigger difference. Some residents are immobile, so regular visits to their rooms allows me to find out things and give carers the heads up on some needs. I can also do little tasks you and I take for granted, such as turning a light off so they can nap, changing the channel on a TV remote, topping a phone up, or sorting audio books out and ordering new ones,’ Ian says.

Ian dismisses the pre-conceptions of a care home: ‘People come here to live, not die,’ he says. I turn the statement around in my head and it feels like a Eureka moment. And watching Ian work, I know the sentiment is heartfelt. I once watched him talk to residents with his puppet, Oscar the Monkey. Imported from the USA, Oscar was made by Steve Axtell, famous puppeteer on shows going back to the Muppets. Residents will talk to Oscar for ages, losing their shyness and expressing their feelings. The professionalism and skill Ian brings to his role as activities coordinator is awe-inspiring.

The penny drops and I realise, for Ian, entertaining is a device to deliver world class customer service and ensure Alexandra residents are happy. ‘A little thing can make a huge difference,’ he says. Of course, he is right.

I thank Ian for his valuable time and just hope I can do his ‘Day in the Life of’ story justice.

Interview by Kelly Farrington