Date published: June 26, 2023
Spring on the farm – Moray Shared Lives
Lauren has been visiting her Shared Lives carer Sarah for around five and a half years and spends every Friday each week with her and another young gentleman, Steven. They get on well together and have built a nice friendship together. Sarah ensures there is space within their Shared Lives day each week, allowing both Lauren and Steven to take it in turns deciding what they would like to do together and this works very well for them all.
Lauren recalls when she first met Sarah and thought they were a good match, “she was really nice, and I remember we picked blackberries on our first day together to make jam and we played Sarah’s piano.” Sarah has a piano in her living room and has been a piano teacher previously so was keen to share her talents with the people she supports. Lauren said the best part about her time with Sarah and Stephen is “getting to go out and about – bowling, Brodieshill Farm and to do all the things they love to do, including cooking together!”
In April, Diane, the Shared Lives officer at Moray Shared Lives had the opportunity to go on a long-planned Spring outing to a local farm, where they were booked in to pet the Spring lambs and have the chance to feed them their milk. This visit was one of Diane’s carer shadow visits to see, first hand, what the carers offer to the people who visit or live with them. Lauren had a great time with Sarah and much laughter was had by all. The lady at the farm took time to explain about the lambing season at the farm and why some lambs need to be bottle fed, so the afternoon was also a lovely learning opportunity. This visit was one of a few visits where they had already met the Guinea pigs, goats, chickens and the farm dogs and the visit it was very much something everyone had been looking forward to for several months beforehand.
When asked what she would say to anyone about getting involved and becoming a Shared Lives carer Lauren said “Just do it!…. it will be fun!”
If you are interested in finding out more about becoming a Shared Lives carer please visit www.startyoursharedlife.today
