Constantine, or Costa as he was known, used to be a gardener. He lived alone in Barnes in a sheltered housing development. He was referred to FiSH by Richmond Rehabilitation after suffering a stroke which affected his mobility. Thanks to the FiSH bus he was able to do his shopping at Sainsbury’s twice a month.

He was also provided with door-to-door transport from his home to the Barnes Green Centre where he regularly able to join in with exercise classes and the dance group as well as attend our Tuesday Talks. FiSH transport enabled Costa to get out to meet up with others in a social setting and helped improve his mobility and reduce his feelings of isolation.

During the pandemic FiSH supported Costa by organising helpline shopping, linking him with a telephone befriender and delivering home cooked meals along with our celebrated cream teas.

Costa made a will to ensure that the bulk of his estate went to charity. He was guided through this process by a friend who said, ‘Costa valued the support he received from FiSH and wanted to give something back so that people like him would continue to benefit from their support’.

Costa’s legacy has meant that instead of trading-in our oldest bus, we were able to retain it. We now operate a fleet of three buses, which are less crowded with reduced journey times. During the pandemic this helped keep people safe on board the buses by limiting close contact.

In 2018 we received an extremely generous legacy from the estate of former service user Constance, or Con, as she liked to be known. Con lived in Barnes and was a talented sculptress who worked for The Royal Academy of Art for 30 years. Art was her abiding passion, for which she is remembered with affection. Con made provision in her will for a substantial charitable gift and it was her family and executors who decided to award this to FiSH in appreciation of the help, support and most importantly, friendship, that FISH provided to Con over many years up until her death.

This wonderful gift for which we are truly grateful coincided with the introduction of our Art Therapy Workshops, delivered by Picassos in the Park in Barnes for individuals living with early dementia and their carers. We discussed this new and exciting project with the family and executors who felt it was something that would really have resonated with Con. So with their blessing we used Con’s gift to fund the art project during its first year.