Marc's story

Marc

Marc is an Advance housing and support customer who lives in a supported living scheme in Ferndown, Dorset.

Marc loves animals, having studied for an NVQ in animal care and previously owned rabbits and guinea pigs. He also enjoys helping in the community and meeting new people and is currently a Volunteer Ambassador for Volunteer Centre Dorset.

Marc joined Advance’s supported living scheme in Christchurch in 2014, after experiencing an abusive relationship in his previous supported living. He has lived in his current home in Ferndown since 2017.

Advance has been helping Marc to manage his anxieties and Marc is doing really well, enabling his support hours to be reduced from 20 to 11 hours a week.

Staff have also assisted Marc in learning how to manage his finances, an area he was particularly anxious about. When his Dad passed away, Marc inherited some money but did not have the capacity to manage it at that time. Marc struggled with the fact that money carers needed to look after his money on his behalf as he felt this was his money and he had lost all control. His support worker has worked hard with Marc to learn more about money and the value of items and in March 2021 Marc passed a financial capacity assessment. He has now successfully regained control of his own money and is able to look after it himself– something Marc could not be happier about!

In addition, Marc has been supported to reconnect with his family through writing emails and seeing them occasionally. This is a huge improvement for all as Marc has always had a difficult relationship with his family, largely because they have not understood his disabilities and how they affect him. Marc is now in a much happier new relationship with his girlfriend who is also an Advance customer. They have been together for 3 years and ‘are going strong!’

Marc is currently chairman of the ‘Let’s get together group’, a customer-led meet up group of Advance members from different services across Dorset. The group plan outings and activities together each month including trips to the beach, the park and Bournemouth air show (a huge favourite of Marc’s).

In the future, Marc would love a paid job and staff have been helping him create a CV to send to local employers. A big aviation fan, he is also being supported to join the Local Air cadets as a volunteer.

 

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