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Nicole’s Story
The road to independence: With the support and reassurance offered by her team, Nicole has made the move to more independent living.
This is Nicole’s Story
Nicole lived at one of our Birmingham services for 18 months. With the support and reassurance offered by her team, Nicole has recently made the move to more independent living. Here, Nicole and Kirsty, service manager, tell us all about her time at Precious and Nicole’s decision to move and be closer to her sister.
The need for security and continuity
Nicole lived in a supported living and outreach service which offers proactive support combined with the freedom and independence individuals need to manage their own home, tenancy and lifestyle. Having moved away from an area where she had experienced difficulties which led to police intervention, the team were able to offer Nicole the security and continuity required to settle into a new area, build positive relationships and make a proactive contribution to the local community.
“Nicole is diagnosed with ADHD and Autism and she moved into our supported living flats in Birmingham in March 2018. During her time here, Nicole’s confidence has increased. She has built some great relationships with both staff and the other people we support and she has been active in the local community, volunteering in a local charity shop and also working regular shifts at L’Ucello cafe.”
L’Ucello Cafe
Based just down the road L’Ucello cafe was open to service users, families, and the local community. The cafe was designed to provide the people supported by Precious the opportunity to learn new skills and gain workplace experience.
“I really liked working in the cafe. I love making coffee and am so good at it. In fact, I make the best coffee! Working in the cafe and volunteering in the charity shop on the high street gave me a way to get out of the house and do something different. I just didn’t really like having to do the cleaning up at the end of the shift!”Nicole
Personalised support
During her time with Precious, Nicole received seven hours of 1:1 support each day. She has been fully involved in all aspects of her own care plan – from selecting her own support workers to being involved in determining the type of support she receives. After 18 months, Nicole feels ready to make the move to more independent living.
“To be honest, I didn’t really want to come to live here, but I’d had trouble where I was because people didn’t really like me being different. The staff helped me to settle in, showed me the area and helped me to look after my flat. I felt safe having them with me. Now I feel ready to move. I’m going to go and live with my sister in a flat where I can be totally independent, but there is support there if and when I want it.”
“I’ve loved living here and I’ll be sad to leave everyone because I’ve met a lot of lovely people. I will miss Precious. To all the staff who supported me, I really appreciate the support you’ve given me.”
