A trailer firm has helped bring families together by creating an ingenious mobile visiting pod for a care home.<\/p>\n
Ifor Williams Trailers came up trumps after Catherine Roberts, the assistant manager at the 23-bed Cysgod y Gaer care home in Corwen, got in touch asking for help.<\/p>\n
According to Catherine, they wanted to enable residents to see their families and at the same time maximise safety during the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
The iconic company, which has its headquarters in the town, rose immediately to the challenge and designed the innovative meeting space.<\/p>\n
The design is based on their market-leading Business Inabox model which has been adapted for a huge variety of uses, including mobile shops, barbershops, workshops and bars.<\/p>\n
Last year the big-hearted company also donated a mobile clinic to the town\u2019s family health centre in Green Lane because they were desperate for a separate clinical area to assess patients with Covid-19 symptom.<\/p>\n
The company jumped into action once again when the call came from Cysgod y Gaer.<\/p>\n
To ensure safety and comfort, the insulated mobile meeting room has two separate entrances and a heating system to keep everybody warm and snug.<\/p>\n
They have installed a ramp leading up to the entrance for residents so it\u2019s accessible for people in wheelchairs.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also a sleeved armhole in the screen so that the residents can safely touch the gloved hands of their visitors, along with microphones and speakers so they can hear each other properly.<\/p>\n
Catherine Roberts explained: \u201cI contacted Samantha Williams at Ifor Williams Trailers and it all snowballed from there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just brilliant. There\u2019s heating and lighting so it\u2019s ideal in any weather. The virus has not gone away so we\u2019re going to have to careful for a long time.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut people need to see their families and friends.\u00a0 With this, it\u2019s not just one family member, it can be son, daughter, grandchildren, great grandchildren \u2013 we have them here as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really cheers the residents up to see the little children or see friends or neighbours.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen that it raises the spirits of the residents since we\u2019ve restarted the visiting.\u00a0 You can see the difference in them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are extremely grateful to Ifor Williams Trailers because it\u2019s a lifeline for our residents. They have thought of everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among the appreciative relatives is Huw Williams, originally from Corwen but now living in Ruthin, whose mother, Eirlys, 87, a grandmother of five, has been living at Cysgod y Gaer for the past four years.<\/p>\n
Huw, a data manager at Ysgol Glan Clwyd in St Asaph, said: \u201cThis is ideal and I hope it will inspire more people to come and visit because it\u2019s important for the welfare of the residents.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes a world of difference because you can have a proper conversation in warm and comfortable surroundings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samantha Williams, management support specialist at Ifor Williams Trailers, said: \u201cWe are very much rooted in the local community so when the call came from Catherine we were delighted to be able to help.<\/p>\n
\u201cCorwen is a very close-knit community, and a number of the residents are former employees of the company and a number of our staff have family members working there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phil Gilroy, Denbighshire County Council\u2019s Head of Community Support Services, said: \u201cThis is a fantastic resource for Cysgod Y Gaer and we are very grateful for the support from Ifor Williams Trailers. This visiting pod has enabled visits from families in covid-safe situations and seeing them re-connect has been wonderful.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a great example of how the community has worked with us in supporting our citizens during these challenging times.\u201d<\/p>\n