South, South West & Wales – #stayhomeandstaysafe stories

During these difficult times our teams are doing all they can to support the people within our services in innovative, caring and thoughtful ways. Read more about how our support teams in the South, South West and Wales are achieving this.

Ty Machen – Caerphilly

Andrew is 64-year old man with learning disabilities and autism. During the lockdown Andrew has really been enjoying baking cakes. His favourite ones to make are apple crumble and lemon drizzle cake. He has also set up his own car washing service and loves to make everyone’s cars shiny and pristine. The team also recognised how important it was for Andrew’s wellbeing to maintain his close relationships and have supported Andrew to use technology to regularly ‘face time’ with his family.

Andrew has also been taking part in lots of activities in the garden and especially loves the regular Karaoke sessions.  He is a natural performer. He loves singing Elvis and knows all the words to all the songs. As lockdown eased, the team began supporting Andrew to go out into the community four times a week, including to the beach which he loves. He is happy and comfortable to wear a mask when he goes out as he knows it gives him the opportunity to enjoy greater freedom.

The Grange – Carmarthen

The support teams and Service Manager, Monica Airinei, keep spirits high and get dancing on TikTok at The Grange!

During lockdown Monica and the support teams faced, with the rest of the country, extremely challenging times. They, however, did not dwell on the daunting prospects of uncertainty and decided to put their heart and soul into still ensuring that The Grange was a ‘wonderful place to live’ for their supported individuals. They started by freshening up the communal areas, including the dining room, lounge, kitchen, conservatory, and hallways. The supported individuals were at the heart of these renovations, choosing happy colour schemes and choosing their own furniture for the different rooms.

The next project will see Monica and the support teams redeveloping and redesigning the back garden, with the vision to incorporate each of the supported individuals needs into the design. Monica wants to provide the people she supports with a beautiful sensory garden, again involving each person in the decision-making process from choosing the garden furniture to choosing which flowers will be planted. Monica says, “My goal is to have an extremely special garden for the supported individuals to enjoy and spend time in!” 

As well as lots of decorating, during the Covid-19 pandemic Monica and the support teams ensured the supported individuals were kept happy, well and safe. They took part in lots of activities within the home, including cooking, baking and using their ‘tuff tray’ method – this is a sensory activity which encourages and helps the individuals to use cutlery correctly.

One of the supported individuals also loved going out and about, however this had to come to a halt when the country went into lockdown. So, he took it upon himself to become extremely busy and hands on around the house, Monica recollects how helpful he has been always helping to wash up and clean etc.

Monica says, “I am very person-centred in my approach with the supported individuals and always promote opportunity, choice and success, enabling them to reach their full potential and live fulfilled lives.” Monica put this in to practice very recently when ‘Consensus’s Got Talent’ saw her duet with a supported individual whose hobby is to sing. Monica, who has a beautiful singing voice herself, teamed up with an equally as talented gentleman from next doors service Lime Grove Apartments. It really was an amazing duet!

Ophir Road – Dorset

Ophir Road in Bournemouth have had great fun in the garden getting creative and having lots of fun! ‘K’ loves doing his painting and pottery work too!

Courtwick Park – West Sussex

The team at Courtwick Park have been busy producing some lovely rainbows for the windows of the service to reflect the ‘spread hope’ message that we are seeing across the country.

Tandridge Hill Farm – Surrey

The team at Tandridge Hill Farm are missing all their supported individuals and the farm has been very quiet without them, however, some recent arrivals on the farm have lifted everyone’s spirits! Marigold, one of the farm’s pedigree Boer goats welcomed triplets last week and Comma, one of the Gloucestershire Old Spot sows had a litter of piglets.

Frinton House – East Sussex

The team at Frinton House have been very busy enjoying lots of different activities. ‘W’ has been creative doing some art work, ‘V’ has been using her tablet to complete her college work and ‘D’ has been enjoying some flower arranging. They have also been taking part in group activities including bingo and gardening. The support teams at Frinton House have also educated the supported individuals on how to wear PPE and to follow guidelines of Covid-19 regarding social distancing.

When ‘W’ plans to celebrate his birthday at a Chinese restaurant in London fell through because of the lockdown, the team at Frinton House decided they would bring the restaurant to him, cooking a fantastic feast of Chinese cuisine and putting on a special celebration at the service instead! ‘W’ had a wonderful day with the team and other supported individuals and was delighted to receive a special birthday Skype call with Ops Managers, Katy and Kristina.

Ty Hendy – Carmarthenshire

Lots of fun is being had at Ty Hendy in Wales! Pamper time, dressing up in your best frocks and volcano making too! Just another fun day at Ty Hendy.

The support team at our residential service in Ty Hendy, Wales have had great fun coming up with a unique Tik Tok video. The video is brilliant and will definitely make you laugh – you guys really are ‘Super Team Ty Hendy!’

Moor Lane – Bristol

Moor Lane have made sure they remain fit and active with Joe Wick’s PE Lessons, which is on Mon-Fri at 9am. They have also created a community board for the home for everyone to offer their own suggestions and ideas on how to help during the ongoing crisis, which is proving very useful for the support teams.

New Horizons Day Centre – Newport

A massive thank you to Andy Wales, Rob and Sue at New Horizons for all of their hard work sorting out and delivering food supplies!

To see all the amazing support our teams are providing, Tik Tok Challenges, our ‘Sing a Rainbow’ challenge in Makaton, together with a whole host of activity ideas, easy read guides and other stories from around the regions, see here.