Lytham schoolboy Findlay's fascination for crane earns him VIP treatment

Six-year-old Findlay Clark made a point of urging his mum Kitty Bouman to spare a few minutes on their journey from their home in Victoria Street, Lytham to his school, Lytham Hall Park, to admire the 84 metre high machinery integral to the building of The Sidings development of retirement homes by Adlington Retirement Living.

One day, after seeing Findlay watching, crane driver Manny Marfo put on a brief display of manoeuvres by the towering machine – what Kitty termed ‘tricks’ – to leave Findlay open-mouthed with delight.

“It really made his day and now he wants to be a crane driver when he grows up – or a scientific explorer, which has long been his ambition,” said Kitty.

“I was so impressed, I contacted the company to thanks them and they sent through gifts for Findlay, including a hard hat a mini crane, plus an invitation to take VIP tour of the site and meet Manny.

“He was thrilled to say the least and we can’t thank them enough.”

Wayne Green, Adlington Retirement Living site manager, said: “Our crane operator, Manny Marfo, spotted Findlay and his mum pointing at the crane.

“The little boy seemed fascinated by the ‘crane moves’ so Manny put on a demonstration for him.

“After his mum called the office to thank us and ask for Manny’s name so she could thank him, we thought it would be nice to invite him along to the site so he could meet Manny, see the building site and ask any questions he wanted to about the crane.

“We also bought him a toy crane of his own so he can put his new knowledge into practice.”

The Sidings, at Wharf Street, which will comprise 65 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments for the over 55s, is due to open in spring next year.

Alexandra Johnson, sales and marketing director for Adlington Retirement Living, said: “Being part of the local community is really important to us, so I’m really pleased that the site team have managed to go the extra mile for Findlay and his mum.”

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