Jackie’s Supported Lodgings Journey
What motivated you to becoming a supported lodgings host?
I’ve got two older daughters. They’re both in their 30s now, they were often coming back and there was always one of them at home. Then they both bought their own properties, so at that point I thought, OK, they’re not going to come back again. I’ve got this big house, four bedrooms all to myself and I was going to just rent a room out. I work for West Sussex and a message about Supported Lodgings popped up in a circular and I just thought, “I could do that!”.
My sister’s a Foster Carer, so I’ve seen it from that side of things. I applied, went through the process and that’s where it started really.
If you had thought about Supported Lodgings for a while, what made it the right time for you?
It was something I did have in the back of my mind, I’d seen it advertised a few years earlier, but obviously it wasn’t the right time for me then as the girls were still at home.
I didn’t think fostering was for me because I work full time and I wouldn’t have wanted to give that up, but Supported Lodging seemed to fit better for me.
Talk us through your family and other commitments.
I work full time for West Sussex. working from home most of the time at the moment. But having my young person here doesn’t really impact that at all, he’s pretty independent, he works full time too, doing shift work, so we quite often will go for a week without seeing much of each other because of the different shift patterns. But it fits in really well. My daughters are both still local, but they’re both in their own places now. My sister’s a Foster Carer in Brighton, through Brighton and Hove council.
How has your Supported Lodgings journey been to date? Was it as you expected, any surprises?
The assessment process was long, but I can totally understand why, it must have taken about nine months. The Social Worker who did my assessment probably knows me better than anyone else in the world because it’s so detailed and in depth! It goes right back to your childhood and your family history and all that sort of thing. I can totally understand why that’s necessary and that wasn’t a problem, but it did take a long time.
What was it like to welcome a young person into your home for the first time?
It’s been lovely, actually. It’s been nice to have someone here again and he is no trouble at all. When I was going through the assessment process, they were talking about all sorts of safety issues to consider, but he’s no bother at all. He’s very easy and it’s been nice having him here.
Have you attended any training courses that you have found particularly beneficial and if so, why?
I have. I want to get onto the ADHD course which my Supported Lodgings Worker is going to get me onto. There’s Drug Awareness course, although it’s not something I’ve got any worries with about now but maybe for future young people, once my current young person moves on.
I did the Fire Safety Awareness and I’ve done the Safeguarding and Child Protection courses which were useful. I do those as part of my job anyway, but it’s good to have a refresher.
I did the First Aid one, which was useful. I haven’t done many others really, but they are all useful courses. The Fire Safety awareness course was held at the fire station in Worthing – that was worthwhile and I got some good tips.
What sort of things have you helped your young person with?
When he came to me, he worked in a kitchen, so he does do cooking at work, but he’s never cooked at home! He still hasn’t, but I keep telling myself he’s a 19-year-old boy, he doesn’t want to cook. He eats a lot of junk food – burgers and crisps and sweets – so I’m trying to encourage him to think a bit more about his health and nutrition, but it’s not really sinking in yet – I’m trying! I’ve shown him how to do his own washing, so he does all his own laundry now, which is good.
I talk to him about managing his money because, again, as a 19-year-old boy money comes in, money goes out. If he’s got it, he’ll spend it and if it isn’t there, he’ll just stay at home for a week if he hasn’t got any money left at the end of the month.
I’m trying to teach him about real life really and make him aware of what expenses he’s going to have to pay for that when he does move on, to encourage him to save a bit. He’s not very good at saving, but he has put a little bit aside.
Keeping his room tidy! He has his own shower room, so I encourage him to clean that. I do the odd room check just to make sure he’s keeping it clean and tidy. He has a quick blitz when I say I’m going to do a room check this afternoon – he says, “Give me an hour”, then rushes upstairs and I’ll hear the vacuum going!
What advice would you give someone considering becoming a Supported Lodgings host?
Just embrace it.. do it. I feel like rather than just having a lodger, I’m doing something good and helping somebody move on in their life, which I really like. I mean, I could have just rented the room and that would have been the end of it. I don’t know if he feels the same, but hopefully I’m making a bit of a difference in his life.
He did say that he’s really pleased that he went into Supported Lodgings rather than moving into the foyer, which was his other option. He was quite adamant that he didn’t want to do that.
It’s been a really positive experience and I haven’t had any issues with him. He likes Xbox, so he spends a lot of time in his room playing that. And he’s holding down a job, which is amazing.
