Watford FC Coach pays resident Des a visit
Des Hodges, a resident at Friars Mead residential care home in Kings Langley, has been a lifelong supporter of Watford Football Club, and was treated on his 95th birthday by a visit from former player and Coach Luther Blissett.
All the residents and staff at the home have been going the extra mile, completing personal challenges over the summer to fund their highly anticipated ‘after COVID party’, which will go ahead in the company of family and friends once the pandemic is over. However, Des continued his fundraising efforts well into the winter, bringing the total raised by the home, which is managed by the Abbeyfield Hertfordshire Residential Care Society, to over £1,000.
Des’ talent for painting has helped him to fundraise. Des always present new residents and members of staff with a new painting for their wall, and his artworks have been flying off the shelves since he started selling them.
Not content with the money raised by his paintings, Des has also taken up selling knitted blankets and scarves, which he has managed alongside his daughter Maureen. He has been kept extremely busy fulfilling his orders, and so popular is the campaign that word soon spread via Facebook, reaching the news feed of Laura Blissett, Luther’s partner. After placing an order for her own blanket in Watford FC colours, former England international Luther decided to surprise Des on his birthday by collecting the blanket in person.