As lockdown eases, the people we support are beginning to experience the things they enjoy the most for the first time in months. From having their favourite meals to seeing their loved ones from a distance, support worker Scott tells us what is has been like working through the highs and lows of lockdown.
He said: “I have worked for FitzRoy for nine or ten years but left in December last year. When lockdown began I constantly thought about the team and the people we support at Allen Meale Way – our supported living service in Norfolk – and I wondered how they were getting on, I really did miss them. They are like my second family, so I decided to go back and help when I was needed the most.
“I won’t lie, it was stressful in the peak of lockdown. I had come from another care provider so I was used to having to take temperatures and wearing PPE, but I was very aware of how different everyone’s lives and routines were from when I left last year. A lot of our residents would go to day centres, so I came up with projects everyone could get involved with to help keep the people we support stimulated, such as redesigning the garden and fixing up bits around the service.
“We had a really good team here, everyone is very close and we can rely on each other through these difficult times. A lot of our staff have been doing 14 hour shifts to keep the people we support safe, it’s just incredible the work that has been put in.
“Things may have eased outside our services, but I’m still very aware of keeping myself safe and protected when socialising to ensure the people we support are safe and protected.
“It has been brilliant to see the people we support experience things they love again for the first time in months, such as Phillip who enjoyed his first McDonalds in five months. We drove to a beautiful lake near some windmills for him to enjoy it, he had such a big smile on his face the rest of the day.”
Scott added: “Similarly, we have set up some socially distanced meet ups for the people we support and their families, many of whom haven’t seen each other in months.
“We organised this for Darryl who had been missing his mum, he was grinning from ear to ear. We have made sure that families have kept in touch during lockdown, for example, Jonathon’s dad is hard of hearing, so we have been writing him letters so they can keep in contact.
“Everyone has worked together so well during lockdown, I’m really proud of the team I work with.”
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