First YOPEY Befriender wheelchair user receives award

Sophie Clarke, who is our first wheelchair-user YOPEY Befriender, has been visiting Lyncroft Care Home in Wisbech for two years. Most YOPEY Befrienders visit for one year before handing over to their successors. We thought we would hold a surprise awards ceremony for the 18-year-old at Lyncroft, which is owned by Country Court Care. Care home manager Clair arranged for all Sophie’s friends among the residents and staff to be in one lounge for when Sophie arrived for her usual weekly visit. YOPEY also arranged for Sophie’s mum Mandy, her sixth-form director Alison and the new High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire to join in the event after Sophie got used to the surprise. During the afternoon, YOPEY founder Tony Gearing MBE interviewed Sophie and asked her to tell the audience something about each of her closest friends among the residents. Everyone had a good laugh as Sophie pointed out “naughty Roz”, and added “that probably says more about me”. The naughtiness reemerged during the afternoon with some good-humoured tongue poking-out during some of the photographs. Thank you to retailer Robert Goddard for donating a voucher for Sophie to spend at their department store in Wisbech. Sophie, who is looking for a job in education after she leaves Thomas Clarkson Academy in Wisbech, intends to carry on visiting her Lyncroft friends for as long as she can.