Alojz Verbovšek
He imagined a bed for visiting nature more than a decade ago. Today he personally visits care homes across Slovenia with Oldi, giving people back the walks they had missed for years.
A family project that grew from one unfulfilled wish — and now fulfils it for others.
Our great-grandmother loved nature, sport and travel all her life. When her health confined her to bed, she spent her last ten years in a closed room of a care home. Her greatest wish was simple: to go outside once more, into the sun, among her great-grandchildren. Sadly, that wish was never fulfilled.
So we decided to fulfil it for everyone in a similar situation. Research showed that as many as 80% of bedridden people long to go outside. From that thought, Oldi was born — a father-and-son family project.
"Age and illness must never be an excuse for a lower quality of life." — Klemen Verbovšek
He imagined a bed for visiting nature more than a decade ago. Today he personally visits care homes across Slovenia with Oldi, giving people back the walks they had missed for years.
A designer with experience on projects for Greenline Yachts, Ferretti, Bavaria, Adria Mobil and Petrol, and startup know-how from Toronto. He took his father's idea from prototype to an award-winning product.
The home ordered two Oldis so residents who had been permanently in bed could enjoy nature, sunlight and friends again. Some had not seen each other for over five years.
The municipality of Trzin, with its mayor and council, funded an Oldi for the local care home — residents now take walks along the Pšata stream.
After a successful trial, the municipality of Zagorje ob Savi gifted the home an Oldi for the New Year — extending the residents' living space into nature.
"8.5 kilometres in a single day: the library, ice cream in town and a visit home — all with one Oldi." — based on a caregiver's account from an elderly care home