Mark is a person we support at Springvale Resource Centre, part of National Care Group.

Springvale is a specialist neurological care service providing residential support for adults following a brain injury or with a neurological condition in Middleton.

Before Mark came to live at Springvale

Mark who lives with Korsakoff syndrome came to live at Springvale six years ago from another service. Mark was suffering from poor mental health.

When he first came to Springvale Mark was struggling with motivation every day and had a history of self-neglect which meant he needed 24 hours support.

Mark refused to attend any appointments and wanted to spend all of his time in his bedroom.

Building Relationships

The team at Springvale devised a person-centred care plan to help Mark gain trust and develop relationships with the support team.

Julie, Support Worker say’s “Me and Mark have a special bond, we both enjoy the same things and since I have been here I have seen a massive change in Mark’s progress, especially in the last year.

He is now the most outgoing person, we have great banter and look forward to trips out together, incredibly his memory seems to be improving.”

Tapping into Hobbies

The team at Springvale have worked together to improve Mark’s quality of life by tapping into his hobbies, Mark enjoys walking and now gets out for walks a few times a week, Julie supports Mark by getting a bus with him to different areas for nature walks, they pack a picnic and head off for the day often out from 8am to 7pm exploring.

Julie say’s “Shopping has also become a very enjoyable experience for Mark, we go every Monday and when I come into work he is ready to go, he has his breakfast and off we go, it’s amazing that he is starting to remember each week that it’s shopping day.

One of the reasons Mark loves shopping so much is a story he likes to tell about his Dad.
Mark’s Dad survived Auschwitz as a child and as an adult always made sure he and his family had a house full of food, Mark grew up with a passion for food and now enjoys making recipes that his Dad made.

Every Monday we go to different shops to get ingredients, we have a routine that ends with a crusty cob and cake for lunch when we get back.”

National Care Group Innovation Fund

As Mark’s hobbies grew, over time Mark became keen to be outside a lot more.

The team at Springvale have now used the Innovation Fund which is a pot of money provided by National Care Group to improve areas of services and bring ideas to life.

The team made an application to the Innovation Fund which was granted and then used to renovate the garden at Springvale giving Mark an outside area that he can enjoy at his own leisure.

The team replaced the ground space with a low maintenance astro turf, used raised planters to create some colour and an area of nature and put up a gazebo so Mark and the other people we support at Springvale could enjoy the outdoors in all weather.

Julie say’s – “Mark sits outside a lot now, he has his radio on and loves being outdoors, the garden has been a huge hit.”

Green House Project

Connecting Mark's love of nature and food, Julie had an idea to introduce a greenhouse to the garden at Springvale so Mark and the other people we support could grow their own flowers and vegetables.

Julie sourced an old greenhouse and renovated this to grow veg in, Mark now enjoys growing his own tomatoes.

Mark say’s

“I’m doing alright now, I have a very good relationship with the team here and I have nicknames for them. I love walking and getting out and about and I’m able to do that because of the support of the team at Springvale. I am much happier.”

Continuous Brain Stimulation

Wendy Bamford Registered Manager at Springvale say’s “We have noticed a huge difference in Mark’s progress, each day he wakes up a bit confused but throughout the day he gets better and better with continuous engagement and conversation.

Mark now enjoys socialising downstairs a lot more, in the beginning, he didn’t want to come out of his bedroom.

Mark's progress is incredible and the person-centred care plan we put together has not only changed his life but has enabled him to discover more hobbies that he now enjoys every day.”

Mark’s Goal in Memory of his Dad

Mark loves to talk about his Dad and how he was a survivor of Auschwitz and the food he grew up with.

Mark is one of six children, all of his brothers and sisters have visited Auschwitz but Mark has yet to visit and this is his ultimate goal.

Mark and Julie have decided to do a sponsored walk to raise funds to make the trip next year.

They will be walking from Springvale in Middleton to Heaton Park one of Mark’s favourite places for a day trip. The walk is 5.8 miles and they will be walking in February 2024 to give them time to raise their target amount of £1,000.

Go Fund Me

You can donate to Mark's fundraising via the link - https://gofund.me/b9244274