Stories
Lily’s Story - in her own words
“I’ve come so far in the last 10 months and I don’t think I would be where I am today if I didn’t have my support worker helping and guiding me along the way.”
I started working with my support worker in September 2020. I’d been released from prison; I was homeless with my 2 year old son, and was at the time being assessed by social services to determine whether my child was at any risk just by being around me. I’ve come so far in 9 months, and my support worker has been there to support me every step of the way. She attended every meeting with the social workers and gave them vital feedback as to how well I was doing; even just the fact that they knew she was on board and supporting me made a huge difference in their decision. I’m pleased to say that ,within a couple of months, they closed our case and left us in the capable hands of my support worker, knowing what a great job she was doing.
It’s not just the moral support of being there during this uncertain time in my life but the practical advice she’s given me, the meeting up with us at the park when I just needed to get out, the emotional support of having someone to vent to and the way she would always have a solution to any problems I was facing. When I first met my support worker I was living in a bedsit on the 5th floor of a homeless accommodation.
“When I became pregnant, she fought and pushed for them to move me somewhere more suitable for myself and my young children.
They have now moved me to a 2 bedroom property in the community and I do not think they would have done this if my support worker hadn’t been so relentless with them.”
My support worker arranged a van to help me with my move. She got me a great price and wouldn’t settle until they gave me a quote which was affordable to me. On moving day, she met me at my old property and assisted me with everything from carrying my things downstairs, loading the van and even gave me and my son a lift to our new home. We arrived at my new property and it was in an awful condition, it was filthy, there was rubbish everywhere, no gas, electricity or hot water. My support worker went straight upstairs and cleaned my bathroom and separate toilet before I even had chance to see it I can only imagine the state it was in and this is just one example of her going the extra mile for me. She drove me back to my old property and demanded they sort the gas and electricity out ASAP which they did thanks to her. She also made sure I had healthy nutritious food as she was worried I wouldn’t have time and energy to make sustainable meals for myself and my son due to all the work I had to do sorting out the new property, again going extra miles for us.
If my support worker knows I’ve had a lot going on she checks in on me, which shows me that she genuinely cares about her service users. She tries to arrange our appointments in line with my little boy’s nursery hours so she can give us a lift to/from school which really helps me out especially now we have moved a little further away. I feel that although me and my support worker always keep our relationship professional I can talk to her about absolutely anything that’s bothering me. She helps me with all kinds of things from chasing my prescriptions to attending appointments with me. Out of all the services I work with my support worker is my first point of call if I have any problems, often before my own friends and when other organisations have failed me, she has been there to fight my corner for the service that I’m entitled to. It’s hard to put into words what a great asset she is to mine and my son’s life, I suffer with mental health issues and my support worker’s support and encouragement has given me my independence back as well as my confidence.