“It’s a home”

It’s a home. It’s not just a house. When we’re out we say “We’re going back home now.”

I’m a Care Support Worker for people with learning disabilities and physical disabilities. Our residents need a lot of personal care. People learn to ‘gel in’ together – they communicate with you, you learn what they like, they get to know you. People like carers that are constant.

Three or four years ago we had two long-term residents pass away within a few weeks. That was difficult cos we knew each other for a long time. We just support each other, that’s all you can do. At one funeral one of our support workers read the eulogy.

I was adopted when I was very small and I always said to myself that at the end of my life I would work caring for other people. It’s not necessarily about giving back, just giving.

Places like this give people with profound learning disabilities and physical disabilities the chance to blossom in a caring home. It would be a great shame if they ceased to exist.