A SURPRISE trip to Royal Albert Hall was in store for a 75-year-old local man on his birthday.
Peter from Wokingham was presented with tickets to watch the Relaxed Proms at The Royal Albert Hall in London to celebrate his birthday.
Helped by the Wokingham-based Optalis supported living scheme, Peter’s support team were well-versed to his love of classical music. He will often play the likes of Beethoven, Bach and Mozart on a daily basis, from his radio, TV and stereo all at once.
Having never before had the chance to see a live performance, Peter was surprised by Optalis with tickets for a private box, where he could see some of his favourite music performed by The BBC Philharmonic.
On the day, Peter enjoyed the sounds of Russian classics by Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky in the calm environment created for the Relaxed Proms event. The event has an easygoing attitude to movement and noise in the auditorium, so Peter was able to dance and sing as the orchestra performed masterpieces from Swan Lake.
Afterward the performance, Peter and Vanessa, Optalis’ operational lead took a walk through Hyde Park and enjoyed a pub lunch of pie and chips before heading home.
Vanessa commented; “Peter was chuffed to bits to find out he was heading to the Royal Albert Hall. He originally thought he’d be visiting Bournemouth so when we finally spilt the beans he was very excited.”
Peter, who’s been supported by Optalis for over 30 years, added; “For my birthday I had a nice surprise. I went to London for the day. Nice music. Enjoyed a sing-song! And they did Swan Lake, all sorts.”
