Kelly
West Midlands
Care Preference changed my life! Before Care Preference I was severely underfunded and relying all of the time on friends and family. My relationships were strained and I was often driving around with my son not ever feeling like I could be in my own home.
After meeting Neil at Care Preference he helped me to gain the funding that I needed so I was able to be completely independent in my own home with my young son! It gave me a new lease of life and made me feel like anything was possible! I am so thankful for Care Preference!
Helen
Yorkshire
Moving to Care Preference literally gave me my life back. Before Care Preference I had spent three years with an agency that didn’t seem to care about the quality of their service. Carers were regularly late or didn’t show up, I had no control over when my hours should be and one day I was told I could have my bed time call at 1.30pm or not at all. They routinely couldn’t provide me with the social hours I had been allocated and this significantly impacted on my life – if I wanted to see friends, they had to come to my flat.
In the first meeting I had with my Care Preference team leader, I was asked what I wanted to do with my life, how I wanted to spend my time, with the idea that Care Preference would then support me to do that. At the time, the question was such a shock that I had no answers. I had long given up on having hopes and dreams and ideas that weren’t dependant on a friend’s help. My goals started small – going to the beach, standing on the grass – and as I got used to being able to interact with the world, they grew. before long I booked theatre tickets and within a few months, Care Preference were able to support me to attend a three week pain management course, something which would have been impossible with my other care company. It took a lot of organising but at no point was I made to feel that it was too much.
It didn’t take long before my friends noticed a difference in me and commented on how it seemed my quality of life had vastly improved. I feel like this is a real testimony to Care Preference, not only do I feel a difference, people around me can see a significant difference as well. Part of what makes Care Preference great is that they see clients as individual people with their own interests and goals, and see their role as supporting the client to achieve them. I also find the emphasis on client carer compatibility has been very beneficial. Being able to meet new carers and see if I think I’ll get on with them is amazing and also empowering. Having the right people supporting me is just as important as having care, the wrong people can have such a negative impact but conversely, the right people can have such a positive impact. I have a small team of wonderful people who are in the role because they care and want to support me. On the whole, my carers are my friends and when you’re spending so much time together, that can be crucial.
With Care Preference, clients have a named team leader who gets to know the client and because of that, can manage the team well. My team leader knows me really well and she knows what works for me, what irks me and what I need to do to live a fulfilling life. I have agency, a voice and when things aren’t working, I am listened to.
Nicola
Runcorn
Care Preference has been instrumental in improving my quality of life. From assisting in meetings with my local council in order to get my care plan in place, to finding a perfect PA who has slotted into my busy life as a full time working mum and wife.
I no longer feel guilty asking my family for things all of the time and I’m mentally in a much better place. I couldn’t imagine a life without Care Preference and wish more people knew that there are care agencies out there who genuinely care and will find the perfect team for you and your needs.
Marcus
Liverpool
Hi I’m Marcus and I first got involved with care preference when I was going to university, my friend Cameron was at university at the time and was always at football with his carers who were nice lads and I got on with so I asked him who provided his care and that’s how I got involved.
Since then I’ve graduated from university, travelled all over the world with football and on lads holidays to places like, Miami, Orlando, Ibiza, Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, Portugal, Finland and Denmark.
It really has changed my life!