How the Chignell family found freedom and peace of mind

 

Sarah and her husband Stuart have five children, including Eadweard, 15 who has an extremely rare genetic disorder.

“When Carer Solutions came on board with us, it was during one of those intense periods where we were just so tired,” recalls Sarah.

Sarah said it was a care coordinator who first suggested Carer Solutions and their unique Direct Employ service, over six years ago.

“We needed people who were going to fit in with the complexities of our family. Traditional agencies have so many rigid policies on what people can and can’t do and how that fits in. So, when the care coordinator and I started chatting about what we wanted, she found Carer Solutions and it was just like the perfect fit – it was fabulous!”

Sarah explains how Carer Solutions allowed her and Stuart to then look around to find the perfect people to not only suit Eadweard and his high care needs, but also people who would fit in with the whole family.

“While they didn’t provide carers (Support Workers) for us, they enabled us to employ three different people from three completely different walks of life.”

Sarah said they have very specific criteria when it comes to finding someone to care for Eadweard.

“They need to be someone who is level-headed in an emergency, teachable, and someone who is happy to work with us as a family.

One of Eadweard’s Support Workers, Katherine, has known Sarah for many years and never even considered being Eadweard’s Support Worker.

“One day Sarah and I sat down, and she goes ‘you could come and work with Eadweard!’ It was a bit of a joke at first…. but we had a serious conversation about it, and yeah, here we are!”

Sarah says building the perfect support team for Eadweard with the help of Carer Solutions, gave them the freedom and peace of mind that they had so desperately been searching for.

“That was such a magical moment for us,” Sarah exclaims. “To know that he was safe, to know that it was someone that we trusted, meant we were able to take that much needed break from the rigmarole of caring for Eadweard.”

Sarah said it gave them the much-needed opportunity to regroup and spend some quality time with their other four children.

“We pay Carer Solutions to the background ongoing admin…whereas we’ve got total control over finding the people we want, and getting them to do what we want,” Stuart explains.