To mark this year’s National Trivia Day, the residents and care team at Redcot, our Haslemere-based residential care home, have been sharing tales from their pasts and talking about some of their remarkable and wonderful life experiences to surprise each other with. “To have a giggle and put smiles on everyone’s faces, we thought it would be a light-hearted activity to find out a little bit of trivia about the residents and members of the care team,” said Latasha Jarrett, Redcot’s Registered Manager. “The care team know a lot about the residents through their daily interactions, but during one of our regular reminiscing sessions, we all found out some marvellous, fun facts about each other.”
At 18-years-old, Dorothy Craske, who has been a resident at Redcot since, September 2024, started her training to become a General Nurse. “I knew from a very early age that I wanted to be a Nurse,” said Dorothy. “I was very determined to reach my goal and when I was 23, I was the youngest Nurse to be made a Ward Sister at The Whittington Hospital in North London. It was a really proud moment for me as it was a huge achievement and accomplishment.”
In later life, Dorothy moved to Surrey but remained a Nurse until she retired. “I suppose I was a very serious young girl, a trait which carried through to my adult life,” continued Dorothy. “So, when I was nursing, I never had to raise my voice, I would just raise an eyebrow, and the staff would know that I was not happy and start behaving. Nobody got away with doing anything that they should not be doing on my watch.”
Betty Macey, who has lived at Redcot since, August 2024, worked at the famous Bentall’s department store in Kingston-upon-Thames. “I started working at Bentall’s when I was about 14-years-old,” said Betty. “My first job was in the Corset Department, and I remember being very embarrassed as I was so young and had to measure up older ladies who had been coming to the store for years for the elaborate corsets. “I did enjoy working at Bentall’s and the Corset Department Team had many daily giggles; but I was very happy when, a couple of years later, I was moved to the Perfumery Department and I stayed there until I got married,” added Betty.
Latasha also shared a little ‘spin’ from her younger years. “Growing up, I was a Majorette and travelled around the country competing with my team. I absolutely loved it — it definitely kept me on my toes! All that twirling, travelling and teamwork taught me discipline, confidence, and how to always give my best — lessons I still carry with me today,” said Latasha.
Redcot resident, Jane Adolph, moved to Redcot in August 2024. “I actually wrote a short story about the Hedgehog that set-up home in our garden one summer and used to visit me and my family when we were outside having supper in the evenings,” said Jane.
“In the story, I wrote about the Hedgehog’s adventures, how it used to come out every evening and hunt for food around the garden and about the nest it settled in. I named the Hedgehog Sally and used to lay out snacks for her to make sure she had enough food – especially at the end of summer before she went into hibernation. Sally became familiar with the sounds of the plate and water bowl and didn’t feel threatened by me coming and setting the food down for her to eat. My family was so impressed by my story that they printed and illustrated it for me so I could distribute the lovely tale to my friends.”
Karen Mortimer, a Shift Leader at the care home has Syndactyly – webbed toes. “I was born with webbed toes on both of my feet,” said Karen. “As an adult, I decided to embrace my toes and, to make them even more unique than they already were, so I had them tattooed. The toes on my right foot now have two arms hugging and the toes on my left foot show a dotted line and a pair of scissors. “I am in good company with my Syndactyly as many famous people also have webbed toes including the actors Ashton Kutcher and Dan Aykroyd and even Elvis Presley.”
Malcolm Gilbert, who made Redcot his home in November 2025, was a Farmer all his life. Born on a farm in Ridley, Cheshire in 1931, Malcolm actually wrote a book on Farming and has many fascinating tales about his farming years. “One story that always springs to mind is of my Father,” said Malcom. “One day, my Father was on the farm in the Calving Box – back then calving a cow was a difficult job and could take hours – but my Father got the calf out safely.
One of Redcot’s Health Care Assistants, Jishari ‘Jish’ Lal, is a highly skilled Cricketer who plays for Lynchmere Cricket Club. “The Cricket Club as founded in 1819 and matches have been played on its current ground since 1898,” said Jish.
“I am extremely proud of my cricketing efforts as I won Player of the Season and am the first Indian man to have my name on the trophy since the Club was created.”
“Each resident and member of the Redcot care team has an exciting, interesting and unique story to tell,” added Latasha. “Reminiscing and sharing the different, fun and amazing tales was a wonderful experience for everyone.”
Find out more about Redcot care home by calling 01428 644 637 or emailing [email protected].