Below is a short documentary film about Howard, a young man supported by Beyond Limits. It was made by Howard’s second cousin, Jack Rowley. The film explores Howard’s extraordinary life, whilst exposing the terrifying condition that is Locked In Syndrome.
For more films, visit Howard’s YouTube channel.
As a new NHS Health Education England web page dedicated to Inspiring leaders in learning disability says, “Strong leadership is vital for the delivery of change needed to achieve the aims of the Transforming Care Programme, and Sir Stephen Bubb highlighted lack of leadership as a contributing factor to the abuse uncovered at Winterbourne View.”
The Inspiring Leader featured in the video above is Hamish from Beyond Limits and the young man he supports.
This article has been written by Louise Johns who has worked as a support worker for Beyond Limits for just over 3 years.
Before I became a support worker I was a full-time mum committed and dedicated to my family. Throughout the years being a mother, life has been difficult. Two of my children have learning disabilities as well as other medical issues.
As a mother I have had to fight for my daughters’ rights and support and help them to become the people they are today. I made my mind up that I wanted to become a support worker to help others achieve their goals and ambitions. My daughter had people with negative views telling her she wouldn’t be able to achieve the goals that she had set for herself. I am proud to say my daughter has successfully reached her goal and is now working as a child care practitioner.
From my own life experiences, I found that I had a desire and determination to want to help others and Beyond Limits gave me that opportunity. They did not judge me; Beyond limits took a chance on me they gave me training and supported me throughout. It has been really lovely as I felt very at home. I came to realise that Beyond Limits is just one big happy family and I was delighted to be part of the team.
I have met new friends, and have a better understanding of everything. Every day is very different as a support worker but extremely rewarding at the same time. Making such a significant difference to people’s lives is exceptionally important to me and I love supporting people to enable them to live independently. We support people to enjoy a very active social life and we all come together to discuss future plans, job & career opportunities for those people. It can be very exciting.
Beyond Limits give people great opportunities to progress, ensure that people have relevant training and development opportunities.
Being a support worker and supporting people to find their independence is by far the best job in the world. Seeing people’s faces light up when they talk to me about their day is the most meaningful part of the job for me.
Working with Beyond Limits has been truly positive and life changing.
By Louise Johns Support Worker
Radio Plymouth have created a new jingle for us, you can listen to it below, let us know what you think…
Above: John McBride, second from the left, receives the Radio Plymouth Carer of the Year Award from Beyond Limits Director, Doreen Kelly, June 2017.
Sponsored by Radio Plymouth and Beyond Limits, the Carer of the Year Award is an annual opportunity to recognise people who go the extra mile caring for someone. Nominations are made by family members, neighbours and professionals and voted for by the public.
I admire my dad more than anyone. He has been a carer for his son for thirty years, helping him to get along at school and has cooked, cleaned, went shopping for him etc. He has also been a carer for his wife for the last twenty years.
Giving up his dream job my dad has never had a day off in twenty years. As a father to four children he had to take them to school and help with homework, go shopping etc, as well as provide 24/7 care for his wife. She cannot be alone at any time and so this means he doesn’t get any alone time till night time, even then he has to be on alert, he has to plug in her machine to help her breathe. He then sleeps downstairs in his own bed as she is like a child now.
He has to walk her to the bus, catch the bus with her and take her to her group she attends with other people who have mental health issues and disabilities. He then sits with her so she doesn’t get upset, or upset anyone or harm herself or anyone else. He is always in limbo and never relaxed because he always has to be on alert of her unpredictable behaviour. He keeps her safe and protects her from the outside world. He hasn’t had a holiday, he doesn’t smoke or drink and only goes to her groups and shopping and to visit family with her in tow.
She has respite twice a year and then he is away from her for about 5 days, but can’t relax as he has his son near his home who also rings daily for emotional care. He is also then uneasy until she returns home because he then knows she is safe, as it has been known for her to be upset etc when he is not around. He has to protect her as she has the innocence of a child nowadays and can become easily upset by people.
He would love to go back to being a shipwright or working with robotics but he is so loving, through sickness and health he vowed. He cooks for her, cleans and does everything. His caring role doesn’t have a start and finish so I cannot say at such a such time he does this and that, other than the medication he gives her at set times daily. Morning, lunch and dinner time. He has to place them in her mouth and ensure she swallows and doesn’t spit them in her drink. He has had to attend to her toiletry needs when she has accidents, and therefore has to carry a bag of spare clothes etc around with him.
Through all his struggles he always put his wife and children first. He doesn’t have much money these days but would still give his last £5 to someone else if he think they needed it, be it financially, emotionally or mentally. He is the most selfless, kindest and most of all humble man I know. He probably wouldn’t believe he was even up for this nomination. He is my idol!
We are excited to announce we will soon be supporting people with learning disabilities, mental health issues and other support needs in Somerset. Our first services are in the Williton, Minehead, Bridgewater and Taunton areas.
If you are looking for an exciting challenge and want to make a real difference to the lives of people in Somerset please take a look at our page Why work for Beyond Limits and visit our Vacancies section where we will be advertising for Somerset staff.
Beyond Limits also supports people in both Devon and Cornwall.
We are delighted to announce that we have recently become new sponsors of Liskeard Athletic Football Club.
Beyond Limits is supporting people in the area and one is keen on football. We will all be looking forward to catching some action at Lux park in the coming season.
For South West Peninsula Div One West results and more about the club visit the Liskeard Athletic Football Club website.
For ground details visit footballgroundmap.com
Louise’s Story is a video produced by NHS England as part of their Transforming Care series.
In the video you hear from Louise, and those who helped make her dream of moving home after spending over 15 years in hospital, a reality.
Louise’s story captures how hospitals are not homes, and Transforming Care is working to change the lives of people with learning disabilities, autism or both, for the better.
This short film explains how health and social care partners planned for and successfully moved Louise into her own home in spite of seemingly insurmountable barriers.
They achieved this through strong partnership working, good communication, flexibility and determination, and the film highlights the impact of these qualities on Louise’s wellbeing, while also celebrating the tenacity and creativity of those seeking to bring her home.
Beyond Limits purchased the property, but importantly, Louise’s tenancy is protected because the house was handed over to a housing association. This means that if Louise wants to change her support provider, she can do so and still remain in her home.
To find out more about the Transforming Care Programme visit NHS England’s website.
Tickets on sale NOW! Friday 10th August 7pm till midnight. Heaven Restaurant, Exeter Street
Join us for our Summer Party – £10.00 Adults and £5.00 Children.
Tickets are available now from the Beyond Limits Office.
To reserve your tickets phone: 01752 546449
or Email: admin@beyondlimits-uk.org.
There’s a limited number available so make sure you get yours NOW!
Heather volunteers at St Luke’s charity shop every Monday, she is an avid fundraiser and wanted to show her support for the work that St Luke’s do and so she decided to take part in the Midnight Walk.
The walk took place on Saturday 21st July 2018 and the theme was neon. There were lots of glow sticks and sparkles. Everyone started at the Piazza on Royal Parade, Plymouth and Heather walked 3 miles and raised £100.00 for St Luke’s Hospice, a charity that supports people with end of life care.
Well Done to our very own Heather and everyone else that took part, its great to give something back to others.
Lou spent over 15 years in hospital. In her own words “it wasn’t a home, I had to ask permission for the most basic things like using the toilet or getting changed”.
Beyond Limits started supporting Lou in October 2017 and has slowly started to get her life back. She has been fully involved in recruiting her team of staff and she is enjoying time and space in her own home, the best thing about it she says, is how quiet it is.
Here Lou is with one of her team enjoying some time out at the local bowling alley.
Have you ever considered working as a support worker? Do you think it’s all about strict routines and rushing from one person to another, never having time to get to know a person and what they need? These things are a long way from the full story at Beyond Limits. Our support workers are making a real difference every day to people’s lives and supporting people to achieve their true potential.
We are running a series of events in Plymouth, Cornwall and Somerset to give anyone interested a much better picture of what our support staff do.
New sessions will be announced on this page…
An introduction by a senior manager
One of our managers will talk about our pioneering style of support. We will explain why we are working to change the world for people with learning disabilities, mental health issues and other needs.
How our support changes lives
A person we support will talk about what Beyond Limits support means to them.
Friends and families
A family member or friend will talk about the way we work together to make sure the support is right for the person we are support.
What the job is all about
A support worker will talk about their role at Beyond Limits, some of their experiences, challenges, what they enjoy and what gives them job satisfaction.
We look after our staff
Our HR manager will explain how we look after our staff, our benefits and approach to continuing personal and professional development.
If you are interested in learning more about support work but can’t make the date in your area please get in touch.
Ricky is travelling to Sweden in October to embark upon a 50 km Trek, he will be joined by his support team and family.
Since moving into his own home over 2 years ago and being supported by Beyond Limits, Ricky has tried and enjoyed a number of new activities. He regularly goes rock climbing, walking and has recently enjoyed his first festival, Latitude.
Ricky is blind and he previously presented with significant distress because his life was so closed in, since he has started doing more with his time and becoming more active, his distressed behaviour has become a rarity.
Ricky is currently in training for the trek and is gradually increasing the lengths and varying the terrain of his walks. This is a big challenge but Ricky supported by his team and family is doing really well.
Ricky, his support team and family would like to raise money for ‘Blind Sailing’, a registered charity which provides sailing opportunities to Blind and Visually Impaired people with a view to developing sailing and racing skills either just for fun or to take part in National and International Competitions. Maybe sailing will be Ricky’s next adventure!
If you know Ricky, or even if you don’t but you feel inspired by him, please donate by following the link below:
Alex has been supported by Beyond Limits since August and he is enjoying getting to know his team. He loves to be outdoors and enjoys walking, here he is with one of his team enjoying a day out on the beaches around Holy Island.
Alex is a member of the National Trust and English Heritage and he has a Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award. When he is not out and about, he enjoys baking and art. He also likes to visit different places for a cuppa and a slice of cake.
Beyond Limits are delighted to be involved in the Proud to Care Festival which is taking place on Wednesday 24th October. We will be at Lemon Quay in Truro City Centre from 10am to 4pm.
There will be loads going on, food and music and free family activities, face painting and a magician.
Beyond Limits will be talking to people about how rewarding a career in social care is and we will be promoting the vacancies we currently have.
Come along and get involved, there will be plenty on offer for everyone and who knows it might just be the start of something amazing.
The Celebrating Excellence in Care awards are organised by the Quality Assurance and Improvement Team at Plymouth City Council to showcase and celebrate best practice across adult social care, it is a celebration of all the fantastic work taking place across the sector.
This year Beyond Limits have a nomination in the “Team of the Year” category for the work they have done supporting Ricky with his trek “Sofa to Sweden” Each member of the team has gone above and beyond to make this work for Ricky, even contributing financially to support Ricky in Sweden.
The awards are chosen by an independent panel and we are hoping they will be as inspired as we are and will recognise the hard work that that the team has put in. Taking place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Plymouth on the 22nd September, let’s hope we come away with the award on the night.
For more information about the awards visit the Plymouth Online Directory Celebrating Excellence in Care awards page.
The idea for a trek started at Ricky’s planning day in October 2016, Ricky had been supported by Beyond Limits for a year and things were going well and so we were trying to work out what else could be possible.
Over the next 12 months, Ricky was doing 5km starting at a very slow speed and eventually reaching 5km an hour. At the beginning, there was very slow progression. It was not easy for the team and Ricky’s family to change their expectations of Ricky and feel confident to support him in moving forward with this trek. This created some barriers which hampered Ricky’s progression in the first year. We posted some videos of Ricky training earlier in the year.
During the second year, Kieran set out a training regime for the team with planned progression leading from 5km to 25km over the year. During this year, the team pulled together and Ricky progressed beyond the team’s expectations training in all conditions; freezing temperatures, snow, ice, hail, rain, and even some very high temperatures. During the training Ricky and his team found themselves suffering with blisters and aching limbs. Despite this, everyone pulled together and persevered with the weekly training treks.
Kieran selected Swedish forests as a location for the trek and Ryan came along and organised the route, travel and accommodation.
The team left for Bristol airport on the 3rd of October at 5am for the flight at 10.30am which took 2 hours to reach Copenhagen. we got off the flight and jumped on our train to Stockholm.
We all went and got the cars. One team took Ricky back to the house, an hour outside of Stockholm to a place called Lilla Vaxtunavagen and the other team went shopping for essentials. Both teams were going to bed around midnight.
We left in the cars at 9.30am and started the walk on Roslagsladen trail at 10.30am. To begin with, we were met by a very steep muddy path and from here on-wards, Ricky was leading from the front all day across very difficult terrain. It was certainly a shock to the system for the team who were used to walking on flat tarmac around Burrator Reservoir!
The team had split into two due to mum Gill suffering from illness and this split was consistent with the remainder of the trek. The team were continually walking for 4 and a half hours until Ricky’s crew were met by the support team (Grandad Dave and Cousin Cath) for lunch at Wira bruk at 3.30pm and the other crew met shortly after.
The first group arrived back to the accommodation at 5.30pm, and the second group at 6.30pm. the team were well looked after by the support group who had prepared dinner for everyone.
Mum Gill became ill and retired to bed shortly after dinner. Everyone else followed not long afterwards to get an early night ready for the remainder of the trek the following day.
We got up and left about half an hour later than planned. We began walking at 9.30am and made really good time during the first 10km due to the flat tarmacked trail. After this first break at the 10km mark, the trail soon became more complex and slowed the team down quite dramatically to approximately a third of the original pace. At points it was necessary to make a three man chain to help Ricky up steep rock parts of the path.
Day 2 was certainly harder for the team due to sore feet, aching limbs, hunger and the difficult terrain. We met the support team at Bergshamra for lunch, 7km from the end of trek. We were wished well for the last section of the trek and Ricky continued to munch a doughnut once we were back on the walk.
The last section was pretty slow going with lots more forest trail than gravel road but we could feel we were getting very close to the end. 3km from the end, we turned off the Roslagsladen trail and enjoyed a relaxing walk, all of us together in one big group all the way to the house where we were greeted by Gill, Grandad Dave and Cousin Cath taking videos and shouting congratulations. We ate one of the best stews ever, packed up and headed to Stockholm for the 6 and a half hour night train north to Ornskoldsvik.
In the morning we went to collect the hire cars and drove another hour north and inland to Bergsjo to our cabins on the lake where we would stay for two nights to live in the wilderness and wait to experience the northern lights.
After Ricky had had a rest we all went into the nearest town to have a coffee and go to the coast. Ricky walked down to the coast and climbed a big rock where we sat and enjoyed some snacks in the sun by the sea.
We then headed back to the cabins and had a Cousin Cath roast together and then spent the evening relaxing for the first time on the trip playing cards and looking up at the clear sky packed with stars.
The following day we had breakfast together and then went out on the cabins rowing boat and took it all the way to the other side of the lake with Ricky enjoying the water and getting out on the other side where we shouted loud echoing calls back to the other side.
Next we went up to the northern city of Umea to eat together and watch the football. On our way back we stopped along the road to get out of the cars to witness the surreal and majestic northern lights above our heads.
Later at the house we made a fire in the garden and stayed up talking until we each wanted some sleep.
In the morning we sat together and Ricky spent hours smiling, comfy in the house while it rained for the first time on our trip.
Once the rain had stopped Ricky had a wash in the hot Sauna at the bottom of the garden by the lake, something most people had done that day as the house had no running water due to a clogged pump and a dry well.
Now it was time to go back up to Umea to begin the long 18 hour journey back down to Copenhagen for our last meal and night out together. We ate well and went to a local bar where Ricky had been on a previous break where we saw Copenhagen’s answer to the beach boys ducking under oversized hanging beer labels and giant pretzels.
In the morning Ricky, Grandad Dave and Hamish walked down to a café where Ricky had been before so they could have a coffee together down by the canals. Others went to visit the famous little mermaid statue before packing for the last time ready to fly home.
What a trip, lots of sore bodies and sore feet. It really was brilliant that totally exceeded all expectations.
Now time to start planning the next one !
We were very moved to receive this inspiring poem by Mike Beason. Mike is a Support Worker working for Beyond Limits.
Click on the poem for a larger version.
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