A care home resident said making himself busy helping staff out with odd jobs is keeping him young.
Joe Cooke has lived at Norwood Nursing Home in Barrhead with his wife Amy for almost two years.
And the 85-year-old has proved to be an invaluable and popular member of the home’s maintenance team by volunteering to do various jobs around the home.
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The home's maintenance manager Ross McKellar said: “Joe is an amazing guy and a great help to me. He doesn’t like sitting about and he is always asking for odd jobs around the home but his real speciality is painting.
“He never stops and sometimes I have to tell him to slow down because I run out of jobs to give him.
“He’s already painted all of the outdoor railings, brick walls, outdoor furniture and is currently doing the white lines in the car park. It’s a huge job but he works his way through it at an impressive pace. He really is incredible.
“At 85 years of age he’s an inspiration to us all.”
Amy has lived at the home since 2019 and Joe joined her in late 2020. Before he retired, Joe worked on the Flying Scotsman train and was a foreman on a building site. Once their children were grown up Amy worked in an office for an engineering company.
Norwood Nursing Home is owned by Advinia. As a mark of how valuable and respected Joe is to the team, staff made him an Advinia company badge with his name and the title Maintenance Operator which he proudly wears every day.
Joe and Amy have four children, David, Derek, Ronnie and Karen, who visit regularly.
Joe takes pride in his handiwork and likes to show visitors what he’s done.
He said: “I like to keep the place that I live in looking good for me and all of the other residents and it feels good to be part of the team.
“I like to keep myself active because that’s the secret of staying young.”
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