When Vicki turned 18, we wanted her to start accessing the community, with support, and have the opportunity to socialise outside of the family home but, we didn’t know where to turn. After a short period, our family was assigned a social worker who pointed us in the direction of Natural Breaks.

At first, we didn’t know what to expect and our biggest worry was whether the organisation would be able to find people who could not only support Vicki, but understand her needs and share similar interests. As a family, we had heard many horror stories, and we didn’t want to go through that ourselves.

Joining Natural Breaks

Nerves were high but I remember how much the team put us at ease and were very kind. They sat with us, spoke to Vicki and worked out a plan of how they could best support Vicki – which resulted in her joining the ‘Out and About Group’ service around 2002.

Vicki didn’t meet the criteria at the time for individual support and joined the group – which was supported by the Carers Fund and aided both evening, and weekend, support for people to go out as part of a group to attend social activities, giving families and carers much needed respite during this time.

After funding for the group support stopped, we recognised how valuable the support had been for us as a family and decided to explore other avenues with our social worker. This developed into a weekly session on a Saturday, for four hours, with Natural Breaks.

The Impact of Support

At the beginning, staffing could be an issue, and we often found ourselves in a situation where they couldn’t always find a staff member to do the shift. We shared our concerns with Natural Breaks and we persevered. The organisation took our feedback on board, created a better structure, developed a stronger support team for Vicki and got into a more productive flow.

Now, we never have to worry, and Vicki can focus on enjoying herself.

Over the years, Vicki has created lovely memories with her support team.  From going to London and ticking the Harry Potter Studio Tours off her bucket list to simply having a good old gab and a laugh, Vicki’s support team get to know her and she’s happy. Before now, they have even suggested activities that Vicki might enjoy or like to try, before we’ve found it.

One of those activities being the cinema, which has become one of Vicki’s favourite things to do and led to her creating her own film blog on Instagram.

More possibilities for Vicki

Natural Breaks keep us up to date with all the latest events and their communication with families is second to none. When it comes to Vicki’s Vicki film blog, her support team are always encouraging her passion – whether it’s by following her page, liking her posts or sharing her reviews in the organisational newsletter.

We have always been happy with the four hours of support Vicki has received, over the past several years. Recently, at a review, we expressed how important that support had been to Vicki and the positive impact it had made. As a result, we were rewarded a further four hours. This has helped Vicki have more opportunities to take part in activities, in her local and wider community.

Looking ahead

Every Saturday, when Vicki heads out, Pete has time to watch the sports or go to golf, and I go out with my friend – whether its shopping or to explore an antique fair. We’re able to spend time as a family, as well as time with our friends, because we’re not worrying about Vicki. We know she’s safe and happy.

When you have a child with a disability, you worry about them. With Natural Breaks, they help ease that and I know that if anything happened to me or her dad, Vicki would be okay because Natural Breaks would step up to the plate.

Vicki has grown into such a wonderful woman who knows her staff, enjoys spending time with them and gets to do all the things she wants to do. Our only hope for her is to keep being happy and doing more of the things she loves.

We know with Natural Breaks, that won’t be a problem!