98-year-old care home resident with arthritis aims to play piano for 100 days to raise money for charity

Rebecca Parker expresses hope her piano playing will have ‘comforting effect’ on fellow care home residents

A 98-year-old woman with arthritis is striving to play piano for 100 days to raise money for charity.

Rebecca Parker, a resident of McClymont House care home in Lanarkshire, Scotland, began her challenge in April after taking inspiration from the fundraising efforts of Captain Sir Tom Moore.

The retired teacher has since been playing the baby grand piano at her residential care home every day, with the aim of playing for 100 consecutive days to raise money for Lanarkshire Health Board Endowment Funds.

Having set an initial target of £1,000 for her fundraiser on JustGiving, Ms Parker has since raised more than £6,000.

“I’ve been overwhelmed to be able to raise such a generous amount of money,” she said. “It’s been incredible.”

Ms Parker was filmed playing “Loch Lomond” on the piano in a video that has been viewed online more than 60,000 times by people around the world.

The nonagenarian said her love of the piano began during her childhood in Skye, Scotland.

She explained that her mother, Isabella MacLennan, was “an accomplished pianist and that’s who really inspired all of this”.

“Ultimately she had to give it up because of the demands of family life but I have vivid memories of her playing from early childhood,” Ms Parker said.

(NHS Lanarkshire/PA Wire (NHS Lanarkshire/PA Wire)

Ms Parker recollected how she would lie in bed with her two brothers in their home in Broadford, Skye “and listen to her in the evenings when we were meant to be sleeping”.

“It was such a source of comfort and warmth,” she stated.

(NHS Lanarkshire/PA Wire (NHS Lanarkshire/PA Wire)

The care home resident expressed her hope that her daily turns on the piano will help provide a similar level of comfort for her fellow care home residents.

“I was captivated when I was growing up and my mother taught me how to play,” she said. “Today, I hope the music can have the same comforting effect on my friends here.”

Ms Parker is due to complete her 100-day challenge on Saturday 18 July.