The Wiltshire women supporting some of the county's most vulnerable
Kathy West and Ann Saunders are Shared Lives carers
Two Wiltshire women have told us about the joy they get from helping the county's vulnerable live independently.
Kathy West and Ann Saunders are Shared Lives Carers with Wiltshire Council.
The Council is calling for more of us to join Kathy and Ann in supporting the county's most in need.
Shared Lives carers are a bit like foster carers, but they work with people over 16 aiming to live independently, providing practical and emotional support to allow those people to thrive.
They support adults with learning difficulties, mental or physical health needs, or elderly people who need help and care to be self-reliant.
Kathy continues to guide young lives
The scheme allowed Kathy to continue supporting three young people she had fostered as children and all has different types of disabilities.
"I support them in their independence and to make them enrich their lives as much as possible and share our lives with them through family and going on holiday," she said.
Kathy said she loves being part of the programme and being able to support the trio.
She said: "I love being able to work with them and chat with them about what they want from life and support them in their goals."
She's recently helped one of the three pass his car theory test saying: "to see his face when he passed was just fabulous. That is the icing on our cake."
Kathy told Greatest Hits Radio that seeing the young people she's helped guide through life break down barriers fills her with immense joy.
And that was proven by another of the trio beginning to overcome her battles with anxiety at college.
"Now, if she has an issue, she's able to identify a trust, a person of trust within the college, and actually voice her concerns, her anxiety, and then they're able to help her deal with that, whereas before I would have had to intervene and e-mail them."
A 'natural' next step for Ann
Ann Saunders offers respite support to families over the course of each month.
As a former special needs teacher, Ann wanted to keep using her skillset to enhance the lives of young people, described taking on the Shared Lives role as a 'natural progression'.
She added told us she's been able to help broaden horizons of the people she's working with.
"I've gone to concerts with one of my ladies that I wouldn't have done otherwise just to broaden their horizons really and do different things for them," she said.
She added that gratifying for her to know that she's supporting other families in the community.
Ann said: "Knowing how intense it is caring for somebody that you love 24/7. It gives them respite and supports them to have time for their other children.
"It's nice to see people develop and grow in their own skills that a year ago they couldn't do something, but this year they can do this."
How to join the team
Both Kathy and Ann are urging others to help others and share their lives with people who need support as they try to find their way through life.
Kathy told us your skills can matched to a specific person, in a similar way to Ann, who said the support from the council is 'fantastic' with a 24/7 on-call facility which can be called for help on an issue.
Lauren Wright, Team Leader at Wiltshire Council for the Shared Lives service, said more people are needed as they have a growing number of people needing help.
She said: "It's always going to be better to keep people within the community and a family home, so we're in need of new carers to come on board who are able to offer that."
Anyone who would like to become part of the Shared Lives programme can inquire online, by emailing sharedlives@wiltshire.gov.uk or by calling 01380826451.