Sam, Julia's House Nurse
This time around it feels that the families are more exhausted and tired due to trying to care for their child over the year. They are having to make difficult decisions as to whether they are able to send their children to school and whether they can have respite. Many on top of this have siblings to think about and home school.
I think the families find it helpful that we are at the end of the phone to offer support and are constantly adapting to changes in rules and situation – for example, offering sits, or just virtual sessions, or helping with shopping. I think we often provide a breath of fresh air for parents who are in the most challenging of situations. Even if they are at home they can have a couple of hours break from care which provides a small recharge for the rest of their week.
This lockdown we have started testing the staff weekly, which hopefully provides more reassurance for families and is helping keep staff and families safe. Staff are starting to receive vaccines which is amazing, so it feels some progress is being made.
To make sure that I am able to switch off and cope with the pandemic with my family I ensure I get my daily exercise and fresh air, which is helping me to keep balanced and look after my emotional wellbeing.
Charmaine, Alfie's mum
I don’t know why but this lockdown is harder. I don’t know if it’s because it’s January and that’s normally a miserable month anyway or if it’s just because we’ve had enough now like everyone else. It’s probably a mixture of both. At least during the previous lockdowns it was nicer weather so you could enjoy walks or being in the garden.
Alfie is doing OK. Unfortunately he did catch COVID along with the whole family but thankfully he made a full recovery very quickly.
At the moment we aren’t having any sits as we have the virus but they are due to start again next week and we can’t wait to see the nurses again. They have been amazing at staying in touch, making sure we have essentials and medication in and just checking up on our recovery.
Gemma, Julia's House Carer
I’m so delighted to be back to work after my furlough leave during the first lockdown. It’s really lovely to be back out into the community and delivering respite care again. PPE and regular testing has become the new normal for us. It’s great because it means we can continue to offer care to our Julia’s House families.
Lockdown brings new challenges for everyone but I feel lucky to work as part of a great team where we all offer support to each other.
The Around the World challenge during the first lockdown was a fab morale booster for everyone involved. It was featured on TV news bulletins and raised a great amount too. I was so proud to be a part of that.
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