Charity that’s changing lives gets £439,000

Kathleen and Clive Ratcliffe, both in their 60’s, have a son James, aged 39, who is profoundly autistic.

“Thinking of the future terrifies me,” said Kathleen. “I don’t want to leave this earth and leave James to cope on his own with strangers.

“Because of James’ condition he can be aggressive. When he used to go to respite I would sit waiting for the phone to ring to tell me to bring him home again. I was becoming increasingly worried – but then along came Positive Futures. With them, James doesn’t have to fit into a pre-planned, inflexible care package. They tailor the support to suit him.

“James is an only child and all our lives we have done everything around him. But the things we coped with 10 years ago and thought nothing of are now becoming more difficult and we’re thinking about the future. But with the support of Positive Futures we are now more hopeful and have much more peace of mind when we look to the years ahead.”

Positive Futures was awarded the grant through the Big Lottery Reaching Out Connecting Older People programme that supports older people affected by issues such as bereavement, disability or long term illness or who live in residential care or sheltered housing.

The charity provides community-based support services for people with a learning disability and their families, and will now use the money to provide a new support service for older carers in the Lisburn and North Down areas who are looking after a person with a learning disability.

“Providing care and support for older people has been on the news agenda in Northern Ireland for some time,” explained Chief Executive Agnes Lunny.

“Much less attention has been paid to the fact that many older people are full-time carers of people with a learning disability.

“The bare facts are that, in Northern Ireland alone, over 90% of people with a learning disability live at home with their families.”

She continued: “Some 850 people live with a carer aged 65-74 and over 350 live with a carer who is over 75 years of age. Around 640 (53%) of these carers are lone parents, mostly mothers.

“Many of these carers feel isolated, have resultant health problems, are worried about the future and tell us they feel ‘forgotten’.

“Positive Futures’ support will help older carers to cope with the physical, mental and social challenges of caring, help them tackle their feelings of isolation, realise that support is available, improve their mental and physical health and ensure they have peace of mind when it comes to planning for the future.”

Professor Roy McConkey from the University of Ulster, partners in the new project, said: “Compared to other countries, Northern Ireland has proportionately more people with living with family carers. This is likely to continue for many more years to come.

“These parents have saved the government millions of pounds over the years and yet in their old age they still struggle on, often with little assistance. The new project will help us discover the most effective ways of supporting these people.”

The Reaching Out: Connecting Older People programme is open now for applications. To find out more visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

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