Background

Luke is a Person We Support at Chosen Care Supported Living in Gloucestershire.

Luke has learning disabilities and Chosen Care was initially approached by Gloucestershire County Council to assess him after four previous placements in the area had broken down. After hearing Luke’s story, Chosen Care’s registered manager, together with the Council and Luke’s social worker, met with Luke and his family to carry out an assessment.

Luke was welcomed by Chosen Care with open arms.

Goal Setting

From day one, the priority was to work with Luke to implement a robust activity planner for him. The team felt it important he had something visual to help him see the day ahead, particularly to help ease the anxieties he felt.

It was identified that one of Luke’s primary goals in life was to gain paid and meaningful employment, something he’d not had the opportunity to progress because of his previous placement breakdowns.

Luke had been volunteering for over 10 years, but never lost the passion he had for working in an administrative role. Whilst he never gave up hope, he would often share his disheartenment of not securing paid employment with the Chosen Care team, saying “it must be because I have a disability.”

Chosen Care’s registered manager, Kathy Howitt and senior support worker, Amanda Steel made it their priority to support Luke with meeting this important target of his.

Unlocking Luke’s Potential

In 2021, National Care Group implemented an initiative to empower the People We Support to be employed on a part-time basis in official roles. The initiative supports them to unlock their full potential with a rewarding and valued role whilst learning new skills.

Shortly after, Luke was approached about the possibility of a part-time administration assistant role becoming available at Chosen Care. Luke expressed great interest in the role so once confirmed, he was formally invited to attend an interview.

Luke did extremely well in his interview; he demonstrated how he could send emails and he successfully answered questions to determine whether he met the skills required. Luke made an impression by sharing information from research he had conducted on Chosen Care Supported Living and his findings of its latest CQC report.

Luke was over the moon when he was offered the position and followed up on all the necessary paperwork and checks with little assistance, acting in a professional manner throughout the onboarding process.

Luke’s Progression

Luke started in his new role in March 2022 and is thriving. He works alongside administrative colleagues and management who set out ongoing tasks and identify new goals for him to achieve. Luke is working hard and is grateful for the support he has received and how he is encouraged to openly discuss any challenges he might face.

Always wanting to accomplish more, Luke has also undertaken many training opportunities he’s been presented with and has an ever-growing list of achievements to add to his credentials. These include Safeguarding & Protection of Vulnerable Adults, GDPR, Health & Safety, Fire Awareness in Care, Document & Record Keeping and COVID-19 each of which Luke has proudly presented in frames.

More recently, Luke has relocated to Chosen Care’s brand-new registered office in the centre of Gloucester. Luke was given the warmest of welcomes on his first day and his colleagues were so proud that he’d caught the bus by himself. Luke arrived at the office fully equipped and was dressed particularly smart.

Luke said “I am feeling very independent now and its great that the new office is in the town centre. I can catch the bus to work by myself now and don’t need to rely on anyone bringing me. I feel this gives me even more independence."

Work Hard, Play Hard

Always striving to achieve, Luke took some well-deserved time off from his administrative duties and various voluntary endeavours to enjoy a day of go karting - one of the goals he had set.

Luke is so happy to have achieved it thanks to the support of his key worker, Leun Phelps who helped him make arrangements and joined him on the day.

Luke said “I had a fantastic day and enjoyed my time go karting. I liked wearing the safety clothing and helmet, so I knew I was safe. I was a little bit nervous about doing it, so my session was booked at a quieter time, but after one lap I felt confident and there was nothing stopping me. I’m grateful to Leun for helping me achieve this goal – we had plenty of smiles and laughter, it was such a great day.”