Mrs B was referred to The Door Family Support Service two years ago by another local support agency for support due to her grandson’s behaviour – her grandson was living with her and had been for some years.  At the time she was struggling to manage his aggressive and often violent behaviour towards her – Mrs B is in her 70s.  Her grandson had no friends and his life mostly consisted of his gaming addiction and staying in his bedroom.

Mrs B was assigned a family support worker who met her regularly initially weekly then fortnightly over the past 2 years.  During this time Mrs B has experienced many struggles to manage his behavior and the stress of her home situation took a final toll when she was admitted to hospital earlier this year with a suspected heart condition.  At this point The Door was able to support Mrs B with exploring alternative accommodation for her grandson who was by now 20 years old.  In addition to this practical help, the support worker was also able to advise Mrs B with various strategies to cope with him at home.

At a recent review we were astounded at what she had to say:

“My grandson has made amazing progress over the summer he’s passed his driving test 1st time, graduated from college, has got himself a job, went shopping on his own which he hadn’t done before and bought a new coat.  Our relationship is much better too – we are now talking much more and have agreed to continue living together.  He now also does things around the house. I am also so happy that after many years of separation he is now talking to his dad again.  I feel so much happier and settled now.” 

As a result we have now closed our regular support contact with Mrs B but as with everyone we support her record remains open with us for the time being and the offer is always there for her to access support again if she needs it.

Her final comments to us were:

“I don’t think I could have got through this without the support at The Door.  My support worker has been there for me all the way and being able to say what I want without being judged has been so helpful. Thank you.”