Last Easter, 2014, I was driving Joseph to visit his family in Milton Keynes from the hospital, many miles away, where he had been living for over 2 years. He told me he was looking forward to moving to his new flat in Benbow Court but had two main worries:
1) Renewing old friendships when he had been away so long
2) Finding positive activities, old and new, for him to enjoy
I listened carefully and thought about these worries – how to support Joseph in these particular areas?
In July 2014, two months after he moved into his flat, Joseph and I had a long wait for a bus to take us to Benbow after some shopping. I decided to tell Joseph about a visit I had made, a few days earlier, to see Thrift Farm. He was interested and after talking about it further over a cuppa, he began his weekly work at Thrift Farm last summer.
A month earlier we had had a similar chat in his flat just after he had visited the Haddon Beats project. He described himself as “amazed” by the friendliness of everyone there. It was great to catch up with so many old friends. Soon afterwards he enthusiastically re-joined the project.
Throughout his first year Joseph has maintained the positive, thoughtful approach I first encountered when I met him in hospital. He deserves all the successes he is achieving and he has certainly overcome his two main worries.
Joseph (co-author)
and
Tim Skinner
Senior Support Worker
MacIntyre On Track