The people we support at FitzRoy have been very hard hit during the pandemic. They don’t always understand why they can’t see their friends and family and or do some of their favourite activities. Greg, who we support at our residential care home in Kent, has been struggling with the restrictions – and staff decided to use Greg’s biggest passion to help him find his zest for life again.
Carol, service manager at Boldshaves Oast, said: “Like many of the people we support, Greg has been struggling with lockdown. He misses seeing his family, being able to go on his placements at the farm, he has a real zest for life and loves being outside and social, so this has been a real challenge for him.
“We’re really lucky at Boldshaves to have the space we have, with a big garden and lots of outbuildings, including a woodwork shed. Greg has his own drum shed. He loves the drums and music, and it’s always a great outlet for him. But like everyone in lockdown, Greg was getting fed up.”
FitzRoy’s practice development lead, Elaine said: “I came to Boldshaves to help support Greg, who was struggling with lockdown. We realised his frustration was coming from not having enough to do and get involved with, so we came up with the idea of working on his drum shed, which needed some TLC.
“Greg didn’t have anywhere to hang his headphones and they were getting broken. so we supported him to put a hook up in his shed to put his headphones on. This might seem like only a small thing, but this was something Greg did all on his own. He was really proud of himself.
“This is what active support is all about – Greg was involved in the decision making process and he was involved every step of the way, and because the project involved something he loved – music and the drum shed – Greg was really engaged and motivated.
“Greg, Ollie and Jonathon all really enjoyed working together as a team, while building something meaningful to them.”
Carol added: “We want to give Greg the best support we can and help him to cope with the restrictions, and by keeping him busy with projects we have seen the change in his behaviour, he is so much happier now. As someone new to FitzRoy I can say it is an incredible organisation. The team here are amazing – they put the needs of the people we support first every single day and I am just so impressed.”
