Chris

Chris – A listening person, non-judgemental and a will to engage and challenge authorities and their systems.

Chris’ Family Story

[Sad piano music]

Joining a single parent family in 1984 was the best I have ever done

My future wife was great so were her children 

The elder daughter had multiple physical, sensory and learning disabilities and later found to be autistic

I knew nothing about disablities and even less about authority systems

A very steep learning curve for me in all manners of ways but one I relished

Attending various meetings with my wife with local authority officers both health and local government gave me great insight and why I originally only observed not wishing to comment and make things worse. 

It soon became evident that nothing could make it worse for the systems there supposedly to help when it was in fact the reverse

People accessing the systems supposedly to help had to cope themselves as the systems offered little or no help

But my wife and I made a great team and we together took on the systems and by using them and to some extent understanding them we managed to obtain most of the help required for our daughter

Far from easy, extremely stressful and at times not wishing to continue but continue we had to for our daughter and our own piece of mind

But it took its toll in both the health of my wife and myself

Before I met my wife, she was to a large extent helped by her younger daughter and this was my introduction to young carers to young carers another very important area

My wife’s health started to deteriorate and also my own and led to my wife’s death in September 2020

Then while we had 24/7 welcomed and very good care for our daughter, she herself succumbed to her death in October 2022

So now on my own, which is why I wanted to be with my wife and her family for had no wish to be on my own but now am but it is not about me but the systems which have to and have to be greatly improved. With my years of experience I have, I continue to be involved to be involved with local government and health and the voluntary charity sectors. Hopefully,   required changes will be  forthcoming for all of us we hope.

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Chris is a former family carer who cared for his disabled daughter for going on 40 years with his wife and a team of carers. His wife died in September 2020 and then followed in October 2022 with his disabled, however, he continues to be involved with social care and health and the voluntary/charity sector.

With his areas of long experience, he currently continues to engage in working groups with his Local Authority and various areas of health trying to enact change for persons with disabilities and their families.

Clare

{media 108454} Clare worked as an investigative political journalist. In her spare time, she acted, co-directed and managed an amateur theatre group, loved to dance,...