Our North Lanarkshire Services
We love to share information and news about our services across Scotland.
So imagine our delight when our North Lanarkshire Services team invited us to spend the day with them in April, meeting some of the people they support for a catch-up and seeing first-hand the care they deliver.
We have a long and storied history of providing support in North Lanarkshire and our wide-reaching service is community-based, offering self-directed social care for disabled people in the places they live and spend time.
We enable folk to live independently, get out and about in the local community, attend college, join and access groups, take part in leisure activities they enjoy, and even pop off on holiday! You name it, our team probably do it.
We caught up with Ryan (the gent in the top right image), 34 from Shotts, who has a team providing care for him throughout the day and night. In his residence, Ryan’s team enable his independence by assisting him to make meals (chicken curry is a big favourite) and enjoy his downtime at home, watching “Mrs Brown’s Boys” or “Still Game” - he’s a big Isa fan. He needs the downtime outside of his weekly bingo trips (four times a week!) or planning his events!
Ryan (above) is the master event planner for North Lanarkshire. He arranges exciting get-togethers for the other people we support, organising arts and crafts events, trips and outings, and - critically - the parties. He’s now thrown four big celebrations for Easter, Valentine’s, Halloween, and Christmas, complete with his own elf outfit. Ryan organises the venues, decorations, themes and activities which are a great hit with attendees. Our team give Ryan a little hand when he needs it, whether it’s a light touch or a bit more hands-on - it’s Ryan’s decision what he needs, and our team will be there.
These events are a fantastic place to socialise together, providing not only a chance for people we support to get out of the house but also a place to build relationships in person, a critical factor in mental well-being.
Later in summer, Ryan will be setting off for three nights in Blackpool, staying with friends at The Bond Hotel, just on the Pleasure Beach - he’s a big fan of rides and rollercoasters. On our visit in April, Ryan invited us down to Cosmic Bowling, where he and a group of others enjoyed a wee trip and a bite to eat. What’s the best thing we can do for Ryan? In his words, “Just be there for me”.
Our team at North Lanarkshire don’t have an easy job. Elaine Wilson, Service Manager, said, “there’s periods of lone working, and the restraints we’re under in terms of staff levels can be particularly hard but we’ve always made it work. We try not to use external agency care staff if we can avoid it because they just don’t know the people we support like we do. Over the past year especially, our team here have just been phenomenal - I couldn’t ask for better”.
Keep an eye on our social media this summer for Ryan’s Customer Spotlight.