Dream comes true for resident at Aylesbury home as he visits country of origin

An Aylesbury resident was treated to a dream holiday visit back to his homeland of Portugal.

Joao Lima visited his country of origin for the first time in over 20 years. He has lived at MHA Hillside since 2018 where he has always spoke about wanting to go home.

His dream finally came true as he went back to Portugal with the help of staff from the Aylesbury nursing home.

Admin staff helped Joao sort out his passport and receive his citizen card.

He spent seven days in Portugal, staying with family and visiting old haunts from his childhood.

He said: “My trip was tiring but I was happy to travel because I wanted to see my country, my town and the places that I know.

“There were loads of new people in Portugal and to my surprise, lots of different nationalities living and working there.

“The weather was drizzling in the morning, sunshine by midday and the night was mild.

“I was fortunate to see my sister-in-law and stay with her for almost 7 days with a bed and food.

“Unfortunately, my medication finished so I needed to come back, but I had missed everyone here.

“To my surprise, Hillside was in the same place!

“I was glad to return and very happy to see everyone again, not just Hillside residents and staff, but my friends also.”

MHA is a national charity with 88 care homes in the UK.

Bilgy Joseph, deputy manager said: “I am so happy that we could support Mr. Lima to make his dream come true.

“It was a difficult journey to get all the needed documents for his trip but Leanne, our admin manager has gone above and beyond to obtain all the necessary documents for Mr Lima’s trip, so it had a happy ending.”

MHA also delivers group activities and classes for older people living in the country. It estimates that the not-for-profit company cares for 19,200 residents and employs over 6,500 staff, with support from 3,200 volunteers.

MHA Hillside is located on Bicester Road in Aylesbury.