In her own words, a staff member pays tribute to Claire Brocklehurst, expert by experience at Focus Care Supported Living.
Claire is quite simply an amazing young lady. She moved to our Focus Care Supported Living Service in Eastbourne in 2011, where she had a full support package in place. Over the years she has become more and more independent and has achieved so much in her life. She now lives in her own flat with a minimal support package in place.
Claire is now employed by Focus Care Supported Living as an expert by experience, visiting different services and care homes over the company and completing various compliance audits.
During the pandemic Claire went to stay with her parents in Lincolnshire. Although she has been away, she has continued to keep the staff and service users motivated and positive through an exceedingly difficult time.
Using her creativity Claire made a series of positive videos and wrote uplifting quotes to keep everyone’s spirits up.
Claire joined the nation in the weekly Clap for Carers and incredibly even now this has finished she continues to show her support by clapping every Thursday.
One morning Claire was watching the news and felt very inspired by “Captain Tom, the former British Army officer and centenarian, known for his achievements raising money in the run-up to his 100th birthday during the pandemic.
This gave Claire an idea about how she could raise money for PPE for Focus Care’s supported living services and decided she would also do a walk. True to her word she completed 21 miles in 7 days around her parent’s garden.
A Just Giving fund raising page was set up and Claire wrote a little explanation of what she was going to do and the reason why it is so important to her. She then shared this on social media. Each day Claire was doing a video diary of her walk, her feelings and continued to encourage people to donate.
The Down Syndrome Association were so impressed with Claire that they also posted an article about her fundraising initiative. Incredibly Claire managed to raise an impressive £1,445.
Claire has been so supportive and encouraging for service users and staff throughout the company. Her positivity is infectious and has certainly been a motivating force during this particularly challenging time. Thank you, Claire, you are our hero!
