The role of support workers in my life, past and present

Christopher Blunt

I have received support from different staff in different settings during my life. When I was a teenager I was supported in a residential care unit in North Wales. During my early years there, I was supported mostly as a part of a group, and as I got older I received more individual support. I will never forget the day when I turned 18, and one of my staff treated me to a can of draugh Guiness, I best not mention their name!

For many years following this I was supported at home by my parents. In 1993 the supported housing group BUILD was set up in Bury, and in 1999 when I was in my thirties I moved into a house in Bury where I received some support. I was supported by Build to choose my own support workers. I feel lucky because I have always been able to choose my own support workers through Build, because I sit on the interview panel. Now I live mostly independantly and receive 20 hours support to help with shopping, cleaning and going out and having fun.

I am a member of Bury People First which is a self Advocacy Service for people with a learning disability where I am one of the directors. This year I was elected as vice-chair, and my responsibilities include attending meetings like the partnership board and chairing the trustees meeting. I am also a cheque signiture. Chris provides me with support here. He is a paid worker, but I see him more as a colleague and a friend. We work together on things like preparing for meetings and writing letters. Sometimes Chris supports me to speak up in meetings, and I support him with office duties like typing and answering the telephone. One of my fondest moments of Chris is when we were on one of our ‘have a go’ sessions, where we try new exiting activities. We had been canoeing in the lake and some people were jumping into the water off the jetty. Many of us were unsure whether we wanted to jump in the cold water, and me and Chris were dearing eachother to do it. In the end I was brave enough to do it. Following this Chris did eventually jump in, but I think this was because he didn’t want to lose face rather than being brave! We have laughed a lot about this since this day.