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Case Study:

 

Margaret was invited to speak at LHC's 2004 Annual General Meeting so delegates could understand the impact the organisation can make, in a service users own words. Below is a transcript of her speech.

"I came to LHC through my CPN. At that time I was on my own, sat all day watching the telly, not going out or speaking to anybody. I had a flat but I was not coping. I lost the ability to talk to people. How to speak to other people when you are totally on your own or trying to have a conversation when you have no confidence, was the hardest thing for me. I thought that nobody was interested in me or I was thinking ‘I’ve not been anywhere or done anything interesting to talk about.

"My CPN was aware of a scheme for women like myself, who have no or low self esteem. This scheme is known as Carrbeck, run by LHC and consists of six one bedroom self contained flats for women like myself. I was privileged to have been one of the first women to be given a place there. Because there are six ladies all together in the same building it forced me to come out of myself and begin to talk to other people. When I first got a chance at Carrbeck, they used to call me the mouse because I was always in the background, quiet and not there.

"For once in my life I could be me without having to put a face on it. I didn’t have to apologise for being there. I didn’t have to apologise for being me. We were all in the same boat, all facing the same problems. I was accepted for my bad points as well as my good points. I didn’t have to say I was sorry for who I was. The problems I had before moving to Carrbeck, had been my life, but at Carrbeck, they were put into perspective and had become only a part of my life.

"I was there for two to three years before I personally felt that I was strong enough to face the world. Carrbeck helped me to build up my confidence. In fact, I had built up so much confidence by the end that I was ready to move on. I still needed some support and I was offered a flat in the Women’s Sector that gave me the back up of support when I needed it. I stayed with the Women’s Sector of LHC for some time and began to go to Potterdale Community resource Centre and Community Support scheme. I needed that time in the flat run by the Women’s Sector as a buffer between getting the 24 hour care at Carrbeck to completely being on my own. I soon felt confident enough to go it alone and moved to another flat of my own, knowing I had the support of Potterdale.

"With Potterdale I got the incentive to get myself motivated and not hibernate in the flat on my own. I found things like the shopping trips excellent because they help you go and do it for yourself rather than giving a note to someone else to get it for you. Just deciding what tin of peas to get means such a lot to someone like me. Potterdale gave me a heck of a lot of friends. This gave me the incentive to get up, get organised, get out and take pride in myself. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been bothered to even get dressed, because, what’s the point when nobody’s going to see me. I get home care on a Wednesday and I am now that proud that the house is spotless when she comes round. I now help other people as a volunteer at the Belle Isle foundation. It took a whole load of confidence to do this, confidence that LHC gave me.

"Even though I have moved on from LHC, I still keep in touch with the friends I met there. Friends still come round to see me or I go round to see them or I just give them a ring for a chat. It’s nice to bump into people I know down at Morrisons. Believe it or not I am still welcome to pop in anytime to the Potterdale as the staff who I also class as my friends, always make me feel welcome. I feel I can still speak to someone about personal problems or just call in for a cup of tea and a chat. I still feel I have a safety net in that Potterdale I know is still there and will give the help I need if I want it. In saying that though, I have not needed their help, but it’s dammed reassuring to know it’s there should I need it!

"It is because of the help and support from Leeds Housing Concern and especially the staff that works for them who have given me the confidence, motivation and self esteem to write this. LHC tries to get people to do things for themselves rather than doing everything for them. I felt I was a human being and not a statistic or number. You are treated like a person, an individual and this helped me build up my self esteem. I’ve got a sense of self worth and purpose to my life. I now plan for the future and have stopped living in the past. God knows where I’d be now if I hadn’t got the help from Carrbeck, The Women’s Sector and Potterdale.



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