Stoneacre – A Family Business

At Stoneacre we understand the importance of family, both for our customers and employees. Sons, daughters, mums, dads, brothers or sisters; family is all that matters. However, for some people, finding their family can be a life-long journey.

If you’re looking for evidence that fate loves family, then look no further. When we heard this story, after drying our eyes, we felt we had to share this wonderful tale with you all.

This is a story of a truly remarkable family reunion that you may struggle to believe. What’s even more incredible is that it involves not only one, but two Stoneacre employees. It was some years ago now when Gill Redman and her sisters were sat down by their father and told they had a brother, who would be around 30 years of age, called Jason.

Jason grew up knowing that he had older siblings who shared the same father but knew nothing else, not even their names. Much like Gill’s visit to London, Jason’s search was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Undeterred, the family continued to search until one day; a lucky listener to this amazing story thought they knew where this “needle” could be, claiming they knew the very same Jason. A letter was penned by Anjie, Gill’s older sister and was sent with love and sealed with a hope that the recipient may just be her long-lost brother. Sadly there was never a reply and Gill was still left with a brother-shaped hole in her life. The years passed with each new search returning as unsuccessful as the previous until a twist of fate would turn tragedy into joy.

It was late 2016 when Mr Redman, father to Gill, her sisters and Jason sadly passed away. His funeral was held in January 2017, glasses were raised and tales were shared in memory of their father. As they regaled with stories, the discussion turned to Jason. Then, Gill’s nephew Danny would perform a little bit of ‘Facebookery’. Despite previous searches they scrolled on inspired, then, could it be….there he was. Jason. Danny then showed the rest of the Redman family his amazing discovery.

Gill and her sisters scrolled through his photos, they were getting to know Jason. So long had they waited, picture after picture until Gill stumbled on a photograph that makes this story so much more amazing…in this particular photograph, it showed that Jason and Gill not only shared the same father, but they also shared the same employer, Stoneacre. Amazingly they have shared the same employer for the past 2 years, with Gill working at Head Office for that time and Jason having spent 10 years at Durham. Determined, Gill would again reach out to Jason and, to her delight, Jason replied immediately and since that day the pair have never looked back.

After years and years of searching, they were finally exchanging messages and, once they’d aligned their calendars, they finally met in person at the end of January, each accompanied by their spouses. From their first embrace, they knew they were the best of friends, sharing memories with laughter, but like most good times, the day would come to an end far too quickly. Jason is yet to meet his other brothers and sisters: Anjie, Sue, Joanna and David – but he is extremely eager to be acquainted with them! The siblings intend to have a family gathering in the near future where they can all make up for lost time with one another.

Not to worry you guys, you have plenty of time to get know one another, just make sure you never lose each other again.

From everyone at Stoneacre, thank you for sharing your beautiful story.