Vickie and Chris’ Supported Lodgings Journey

We have a lovely ensuite loft room which always seemed wasted as an occasional guest room. We had been thinking for a while that we should use the space to help someone. We had previously looked into fostering but were advised that one of us would need to give up work. After doing some more online research we came across Supported Lodgings. This seemed like a better fit as the young person is more independent and although, requires support this is less involved and can be fitted around work.

We have two teenage children of our own with the eldest starting university this year. We felt the time was right because our children were pretty independent themselves and were old enough to understand what was involved and also offer the young person friendship and support in their own way. We hope that with them being involved in this scheme whilst at home, it may be something they will consider doing when they have a home or family of their own.

Chris is an IT Manager and works full time. I am a Physiotherapist and work three and a half days a week, so have a day and a half at home to offer to this new role. Life is busy with after school and weekend activities for the kids, but this has been made easier recently as our eldest has just passed her driving test.

We are still very new Supported Lodging hosts as our young person has only been with us for a couple of months. We really haven’t had to change our routine very much as she is quite independent and generally makes her own arrangements for getting to work or appointments etc. Occasionally, we will offer lifts if needed and she comes to the supermarket once a week to do her shopping when I collect mine. I don’t feel like there have been any huge surprises as our Assessing Social Worker and other Supported Lodgings host that we were put in touch with gave us a good idea what to expect.

We all felt a bit nervous on the day, but actually the reality is much less strange than you might think. It now feels very normal to have her around and she is very considerate of our routines and not being in the way.

We attended the Skills to Foster course at the beginning of the process which although, was more focused on fostering younger children was still a useful course to help understand why a child might enter the care system and the experiences they may have had. There are lots of online training courses available which I am hoping to find time to start soon.

So far, we have helped her register with a local doctor and dentist, supported her to get a passport so that she can open her own bank account and been on hand to answer questions about cooking and food preparation.

If you are looking to do something that makes a direct difference in a young person’s life, then this is a great scheme. The level of support needed will vary depending on the young person but generally can be fitted around work commitments. There is really good support available at the end of the phone and regular supervision and training. We have really enjoyed getting to know our young person and watching her achieve things that would have been a struggle without our support.