Maureen had an active life until she had a stroke. Maureen was a carer for her husband who had health problems, before she had her stroke.

The day before her stroke she had driven to the theatre and enjoyed a good night out. She was feeling a little unwell and not quite herself but nothing she was particularly concerned about. On Sunday morning she had a major stroke and was rushed to hospital. Her family cared for her husband the best they could whilst also caring for their families.

Eventually her husband was admitted to a nursing home. Maureen was in hospital for three months. She was expected to be in hospital for longer but was determined to get well quickly.

The Enabling Home Care Team supported Maureen when she was discharged from hospital. She progressed so well that at the end of her time with the Enabling Team she was fully independent again. However she was unable to care for her husband as before and he remained in the nursing home where he sadly died.
Unfortunately Maureen needed support once again the following year after being admitted to the hospital's stroke unit. The Long Term Conditions team helped her intermittently as and when she needed support and when she felt breathless and weak.

Maureen went into hospital in March to have an operation for her cataracts to be removed. Specialist support services ended in June and Maureen now has a home care service that helps with her daily living needs. Maureen said "I want to say a special thank you to everyone for their help and support in getting me back home and independent. Everyone has been very kind and patient with me."

• Home support
• Gateway to care

Miss Charles is in her 70's and lives alone. She became unsteady on her feet as a result of failing to take her medication and when leaving home to go shopping she had a fall. Fortunately her neighbour saw her fall and called for an ambulance.

When discharged from hospital Miss Charles had an assessment from Gateway to care and it was identified that she has some memory problems and was offered a medication dispenser.

Her neighbour puts the medication into the dispenser once a week. The dispenser has an audio alarm and a flashing light and at pre-set times to alert Miss Charles that it's time for her to take her medication. When this happens Miss Charles removes her medication from the dispenser and takes it. When the medication is removed, the dispenser re-sets itself and stays dormant until the next time she needs to take medication.

When Miss Charles does not remove her medication the dispenser automatically sends a text message to her neighbour to inform them. When this happens the neighbour calls around to see why Miss Charles hasn't taken her medication, and to check if she is alright or if she needs any help.

• Carephone home safety service
• Assistive technology equipment
• Gateway to care

Mr S worked as a driving instructor and was an extremely popular resident within the local community. In November 2009 he was admitted to hospital with viral encephalitis. This left him with short term memory problems. He found it extremely difficult to remember family events such as holidays and birthdays. When he was discharged from hospital he was unable to recognise his own home.

Mr S was receiving support from a Gateway Worker who referred him to the Supported Volunteering Project to help him to regain his confidence and independence. Mr S wanted to "give something back to the community” that had helped both him and his family throughout his illness.

A volunteering opportunity was identified at the Denby Dale Centre, a group that supports individuals with early onset dementia and memory problems. The centre holds information sessions, inviting guest speakers and provides a weekly luncheon group. Management from the centre were particularly interested in offering Mr S an opportunity as they felt that his personal experiences and previous employment history would be an asset to the group.

• Voluntary Action Kirklees (VAK)
• Assistive technology equipment
• Gateway to care
• Dementia

Haroon lives with his mum in Batley. He went to Batley Grammar school and went on to achieve a law degree at Leister University.

Unfortunately, Haroon suffered from a somatic type illness that prevented him from gaining employment and using the training from his degree. He couldn't eat or sleep and his confidence started to plunge. Haroon's mum was very worried about his health and caring for him was sometimes difficult. His family decided to contact Gateway to care.

Suzy, a Gateway Worker, visited Haroon at home. She told him about all the different support he could access and he decided would benefit from the supported volunteering project.

Suzy introduced Haroon to Mick, who specialises in supported volunteering. He met with Haroon and spent some time getting to know him and the barriers they needed to overcome together.

Haroon was introduced to a volunteering opportunity with The Options Centre at Dewsbury. Over time and with support, Haroon's confidence in the group grew from a shy quiet individual into dressing up and participating in the Halloween celebrations.

Haroon is now working for a prestigious law firm in Leeds he thanks Mick and the Supported Volunteering Project for turning his life around. Haroon said: "The confidence I gained volunteering at Options and the support from Mick gave me the push I needed to get in to work, I am very grateful."

• Voluntary Action Kirklees (VAK)
• Supported volunteering project.
• Gateway to care

Marie is registered blind and has a long term health condition. She wanted help with reducing her high blood pressure as this was having a negative affect on her heart condition and long term health.

Shabana, a Health Trainer, met with Marie to look at the issues around her health needs. Maria knew if she could eat more healthily, increase her activity and became less isolated her health would improve.

Over a few weeks, Shabana introduced tools to enable Maria to start the journey of self care. These included making a healthy meal plan, having smaller portions, joining a walking group and having an NHS Midlife Check which provides information and advice to plan for a healthier life.

Shabana says: "Working along side Maria on her journey of discovery has been a pleasure. She has made lots of small changes that will make a tremendous different to her health and well-being. Anyone can access NHS Midlife Check and make those first small steps toward planning a healthier life."

• NHS Kirklees - self care
• NHS mid life check
• Kirklees Pals
• Sensory services
• Gateway to care

Rita has COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) a long term health condition that results in a shortness of breath. This makes Rita anxious and she was caught in a viscous cycle of worrying which was exacerbating her condition making it flair up, then worrying more.

The early release team at Dewsbury Hospital referred Rita for help and support after being diagnosed and she was introduced to Joanna, her Health Trainer.

Joanna visited Rita at home and they completed a Health Needs Assessment. They worked together to overcome the barriers and improve Rita's confidence. Rita has learned how to recognise when she is feeling anxious or stressed and through learning relaxation techniques she is now able to self manage much better.

Rita is continuing to live an independent life at home taking some of the worry from her husband who cares for her.

Rita said: "The praise that I have for the nursing staff on the early release team that have worked in partnership with the Community Matrons and the Health Trainers to support me in my own home has been so valuable that I cant thank everyone enough for their help and support."

• Kirklees Health Trainers
• Gateway to care

Peter is a volunteer at Ings Grove House, a short term respite care home in Mirfield. He is one of many people that are supported with volunteering opportunities by Kirklees Council.

For many years Peter was a market trader, until he found himself out of work and receiving help from Lifeline. A friend had suggested to Peter working in a social care environment, but he did not know how to get started. He became aware of volunteer taster sessions being run by Kirklees Council Gateway Volunteer Service and visited one of the Volunteer Co-ordinators to find out more. Peter took part in a taster session at a dementia care home and then took part in a conservation activity with people with learning disabilities. He found out what volunteering involved and about various activities he could take part in.

Peter was at first apprehensive and nervous but he was supported through the recruitment process and accompanied along to a visit at Ings Grove House. He volunteered one day a week, spent his time chatting and befriending residents and quickly began to feel comfortable in the care home environment. Peter also supports residents to go to the hairdressing session, out walking in the gardens, helps with the tea-trolley and at lunchtimes and gets involved in social activities.

Peter said "I get a lot of pleasure from being with the residents, I am gaining an understanding of their needs and finding out how things work in a care home". Vicky Griffin, Acting Manager, said "Peter has really benefited from his volunteering and his confidence continues to grow. His time here is valued".

Peter has taken part in Dementia Awareness training and will soon be doing a First Aid Course and a Movement and Handling Course with the Council's Gateway Volunteer Service. He is also hoping to take part in Move More Often Training - training which is designed to improve people's physical activity and get them moving about a bit more. Peter is now hopeful about finding work in the care sector and has recently had his first interview for a job in a care home.

For more information contact:

Gateway Volunteer Co-ordinators
telephone 01484 416503 email gatewayvolunteers@kirklees.gov.uk

Barbara cares for her husband, Ernest even though she is not in the best of health herself. She has Fybromyalgia, Arthritis and has very painful hips and due to the amount of time she needed to spend with Ernest she had given up her hobby of hat making.

Ernest is a double amputee, has diabetes and needs her emotional support. Barbara was finding it hard to care for him and have a life of her own.  She was struggling to see a positive future for them both, she filled in a carers led assessment with assistance from Pat, a Kirklees Council carer support officer. She found she was able to get lots of support and used the following services:

• Looking after me course  - a course for carers run by carers.
• Health trainer service - to learn how to better care for her health and Ernest's too.
• Kirklees Active Leisure - to get entry into the swimming pool as it eases her Fybromyalgia.
• Crossroads sitting service  - to give Barbara a break
• Skelmanthorpe Library- Craft Group
• Full Income Check - to maximise their benefits and income
• Carers Emergency Support Service - to activate a chosen care plan for Ernest, should anything happen to Barbara

Barbara is thinking much more positively about their future now and from the choices she has been offered is starting to take control of their destiny. They are considering moving to sheltered accommodation. The "Right Move" booklet and printed information from Kirklees website relating to Sheltered Accommodation will help them make an informed choice.

Barbara says "We are looking forward now and focusing more on what we want to do. I am sorting the rooms in our flat to take up hat making again. I feel much better, I feel great! I know to go to Gateway to care if we ever need anything. Everyone has been so kind and helped us enormously."

Terry came to live with Pat and his wife Elaine in November 2010. Terry has learning disabilities and has worked full time as a gardener for 10 years. A job he loves.

Terry fits in.... he gets on very well with Pat and Elaine as well as their children and grandchildren. So much so that he visits all the family for tea and had Christmas with them all.

Terry says "I like it here. I go to work and come and go and have my own key. I like Elaine's cooking and feel safe and wanted here".

Elaine told us why she wanted to be a shared life carer..... "I have worked in care all my working career, but you don't need to have that background. All you have to do is care, have common sense, and a sense of humour. People think we're doing it just for Terry, but it's for us as well, especially as the kids are grown up and have moved out".

Pat said  "I took retirement and felt a bit lonely if I'm honest. I didn't feel needed any more. When Elaine is working, I have the time on my hands to do things, but no one to do it with. We have an allotment and Terry helps me with that. We've just put a fence up together in the garden and he's great company. We have a right laugh".

We asked Elaine and Pat, what do you need to be a shared lives carer? Patience, game for a laugh and a caring personality as well as a spare bedroom and a home and family to share.

Tracey is a bubbly young woman with a learning disability. Until March last year she lived with another shared lives carer. When her carer made the decision to retire, Kirklees Council helped to match Tracey to another suitable carer.

Deborah became involved with shared lives a few years ago after seeing some information about the scheme. She has always worked in learning disability services and said: "I saw shared lives as a great way to help and support someone in a homely situation." Tracey is the first person Deborah has been matched with since been approved as a shared lives carer.

The shared lives scheme will always look for the best possible match for both the carer and the person being supported. Tracey often visited Deborah at her home a few months before moving in to make sure that they would be a good match for each other.
Deborah lives in Huddersfield and ideally Tracey wanted to stay in Dewsbury where her friends live. Deborah said: "We have helped her build new friends and networks here and make sure she still sees a lot of her friends in Dewsbury. And now she knows more people than me! When we go out supermarket there will always be someone that Tracey knows. It takes a lot of time to get the shopping done sometimes."

Deborah and Tracey get on really well at home. Deborah said: "Tracey is such a people person. She always has a hello and a big smile to everybody she speaks to. But it's a two-way thing. She helps me too and looks after me. In a morning she'll check that I have everything that I need for the day."

Deborah has a real sense of achievement knowing that she is helping Tracey live her life the way she wants to. Tracey says: "I'm able to do lots of things. In the house we go jigsaws or go out to the pictures – and bowling too! We also go walking with the dog, Alfie." Deborah added: "You need patience and it can be hard work. But we also have great fun".

• Shared lives
  
  

Carole took part in Kirklees Council's Moving More Often training course to learn how to help older, frailer people to become more active.

Now every Tuesday Carole runs a Moving More Often activity session at Burhouse Court in Honley - a series of open plan flats similar to sheltered housing. Every week at least 9 people meet for a series gentle activities including games, and walks. The youngest person in the group is 74 years old and the oldest is 94. Members of the group have a range of health conditions varying from some in wheelchairs and others who have had strokes.

Carole also welcomes people from the village and other groups to join in and socialise. She says, "Confidence is growing all the time even with the quieter individuals. They tell me that they can move more easily and feel more flexible and of course they really enjoy meeting the other people who come along each week."

Carole continues, "Having completed the Moving More Often course I have the skills, knowledge and confidence to lead on more activities reaching a wider audience. Borrowing equipment from the equipment lending scheme has been extremely helpful and means I can add more variety to my sessions." The weekly sessions have made a big difference to those who take part - they understand their health conditions better and are gradually able to move more and do more than they thought. Members of the group have started to do other activities themselves such as walking around the building with their walking aids, meeting other people and having a chat.

Carole has now started a walking group which goes out in the local community.

• Active for life
  

Jenny from Mirfield used to walk to work and back before she became ill in May 2008. She became very depressed and stopped going out altogether, feeling that her whole world was caving in around her.

Jenny, aged 54, joined the Mirfield walking group after her sister-in-law asked her to give it a try just over two years ago. The group meets regularly for short walks of up to an hour in and around Mirfield led by a qualified volunteer walk leader.

She says, "I wanted to get my life back on track so once I started walking with the group I never looked back. I now walk at least twice a week and really enjoy it. I feel more healthy than I have ever felt before and have more get up and go".

And her advice to anyone, "Get yourself a pair of walking boots or shoes and give it a go. You'll feel good about yourself and it's great to meet others and make friends. Walking is great for any age and once you start you will never stop."

The Mirfield group is just one of many groups across Kirklees run by volunteers as part of the Kirklees walking Network who are trained and supported by Kirklees Council. Each week hundreds of people join together to walk short distances as a way to increase the amount of activity they do but also as way to meet others and have some fun together. Many of the volunteer walk leaders are people who have had health problems themselves and benefited tremendously from walking regularly. They are now keen to put something back and help others to enjoy better health.

For more information on Kirklees Council's next Walk Leader training programme please contact Gill Logan on 01484 234095 gill.logan@kirklees.gov.uk

• Active for life

MD is a 32 year old woman living with her partner. She was referred to the council's Active for Life programme by her GP in conjunction with her Social Worker who felt some regular activity would be beneficial for her physical and mental health. MD has schizophrenia and has been getting support from different services for approximately 10 years, during which time she has had a number of formal and informal hospital admissions. During periods of illness she has self-harmed extensively and taken a number of overdoses.

Initially MD took her dog for short walks and gradually started to take part in more activity with the support of the Active for Life Officer during the 45 week programme. She says, "Now I exercise six days a week, most weeks. I swim 70 lengths on a Monday, walk (my dog) for an hour and a quarter on a Tuesday, do aqua fit and some more lengths on a Wednesday. Thursday is aerobics and I walk again on a Friday and Saturday. In addition to this I run three times a week. I now believe I am the fittest I have been since my overdoses. early teens."

MD was keen to start swimming again -  a sport which she used to enjoy. However as she had self-harmed she was unable to swim when she had dressing or fresh wounds on her arms. MD tells us that, "Roughly half-way through the scheme my desire to start swimming again overtook my desire to self-harm, and with a few hiccups I managed to stop self-harming. I am in my thirties now and have been self-harming on and off since I was 16, so I am sure you can see what an achievement that is." She says, "The confidence I have gained from Active for Life has extended into other areas of my life. For example I can walk into a room of people I don't know and not be scared, I have the self-confidence now. Also I now have the ability to give things a try, before if I wasn't sure I could do something I just wouldn't try. Now I will, I have the attitude that if I can't achieve it first time if I keep on trying I will eventually."

"I believe that I am a different person now. Generally my whole outlook on myself and the world is so much more positive. Activity is now a huge part of my life and I believe it will be for a long, long time."MD spent 45weeks on the council's Active4life programme working with a Support Officer who was able to encourage and motivate her to become more active and gain the many benefits of a healthier, more active lifestyle.

For more information please contact Saul Muldoon saul.muldoon@kirklees.gov.uk

• Active for life
  

The experience of "Active for Life" on Callum, 25 years old, has had a major impact on his life. Callum told us "Before I started Active for Life I did not take part in any exercise, but within the first couple of weeks I found I had improved. I attended the gym at least three times a week and improved on my running.

I had difficulties keeping this level of activity up because of an injury and another illness. Having to get my activity levels back to where they were before these setbacks was the most difficult part of it all. As soon as I was able, I got back to the gym, and I continued with the running routine that was suggested to me. The staff have been a major influence in my training - without their input I would never have found the confidence to push myself to the levels of achievement that I now succeed.

After a year on the scheme I completed the Leeds Abbey Dash 10K run. The general atmosphere of the day was great, the excitement of the race overcome my anxiety, and the nerves soon turned into determination to complete the race. It felt great to be running with so many people, and by the last kilometre, I still had some strength in me to complete the race with a sprint. I enjoyed every moment of it and I see this as a memento of my time with Active for Life.

I am healthier than I have been for a long time and I generally feel a lot better about myself. I will continue with regular exercise because I have seen how great the rewards are and I understand just how much it affects my well being. Exercise is a part of my life now and without Active for Life I would not have made as many decisions to help myself and my recovery would have been difficult."

• Active for life