An Edinburgh care home resident was left ‘buzzing’ after meeting actor Ralph Little.
Paul Austin, (79) who lives in Castlegreen Care Home, run by the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership, loves author John le Carre and frequently talks about the plots of his favourite spy books with staff.
Amy Steele, an activity leader in the home, discovered one of the author’s books had been turned into a play and was showing at The Festival Theatre. She booked them tickets for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold’s matinee performance and they went last week.
Amy said: “Paul was absolutely delighted and was thrilled I hadn’t read the book so didn’t know what was to come.
“At the interval, we overheard people saying that if you went to the stage door after the performance you could possibly meet the actors. I looked over at Paul and saw his mischievous grin, so we set off after the show to try our luck.
“And soon after, Ralph Little appeared. He was absolutely lovely and chatted with Paul about the show, the books and theatre life for about 20 minutes.”
Ralph even signed Paul’s theatre tickets and posed for photos.
Amy added: “The day out was a real highlight for us both and it was incredible to share something so special with Paul. He is a great resident and so passionate about theatre.”
Christine Laverty, chief officer for Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership said: “We were thrilled to learn of one of our care home members of staff going above and beyond for a resident.
“Our workforce is our biggest asset and make a real difference to people lives every single day.”
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