Person sitting in a purple chair

Bradley*, one of our supported housing customers in Essex, last saw his brother 10 years ago. They had completely lost touch and Bradley didn’t know where his brother Tony* lived anymore. He really wanted to find Tony, and his brother’s absence was affecting his mental health.

Published: 10/01/2023


Bradley*, one of our supported housing customers in Essex, last saw his brother 10 years ago. They had completely lost touch and Bradley didn’t know where his brother Tony* lived anymore. He really wanted to find Tony, and his brother’s absence was affecting his mental health. 

One of the main goals of our care and support services is helping people to lead happier, healthier and more independent lives. Everyone has different aspirations that they need to fulfil to be happy, and we tailor our support for each of our customers - helping them identify and achieve their goals. 

Finding his brother was one of Bradley’s goals, so we pulled out all the stops to support him – which included reaching out to our network of partners. 

When one of our contacts at a nearby care home told us Tony was living there, our supported housing team arranged a date for Bradley to visit his brother. 

Dawn Jarvis, one of our Care Support Workers, described what happened next: 

“We went with Bradley to Tony’s home, taking care of the logistics so that Tony could focus on his special day. Bradley was over the moon to finally be reunited with his brother, and he gave Tony a big hug and a Christmas present - a cap and scarf. It was lovely to see them together again. The care home team said Tony had been looking for Bradley too. 

“Now that they’ve reconnected, we’re helping Bradley continue building a good relationship with his brother. We exchanged details with the care home so that Tony and Bradley can send each other letters. And we’ve stuck the photos of Bradley’s visit in his memory book, so that he can point at the photos to non-verbally tell us when he wants to visit Tony. 

“We're using an active support approach to give them just enough assistance to enable them to succeed in growing and maintaining their relationship. It’s much more rewarding for our customers to be fully involved and in the driving seat of their own lives. And we’ll always be there to offer support.” 

Read more about our Care and Support services for people who have a disability. 

Read more about our active support approach. 

*Their names have been changed to maintain their privacy.

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