Luke attends our Birkdale Day Service. We spoke with his mum to find out what he likes most about Birkdale. 

"Years ago we found out about Fitzalan at an open event at Oak Grove, and it’s local as well. Luke went there for about five years.

After a review of Luke’s needs earlier this year, we wanted to find somewhere else that was right for Luke, with space, and in budget.

Then Birkdale was suggested by Sabrina as she’d got to know Luke at Fitzalan. We came along and asked all our questions.

Luke came with us to have a look around and then spent time here.

On his first day, Luke was thrilled, he’s excited about new things. I spent 10 minutes here but you know quickly with Luke whether he wants to do something or not. He could tell me enough for me to know he liked it here.

I was over the moon with the process. It’s the best result I could have hoped for. He was stimulated, he was allowed to make choices, and he was happy and content.

Luke needs guidelines otherwise he’d sit on the computer all day.  He needs to go out and his needs have been understood very quickly.

He likes to help, to clear plates or to put cups out on the table. He wants to be involved with everything and here he’s allowed to be.

We wanted him to go out into the community as he enjoys saying hello to people. They said if he wants to go out every day, we’ll take him out every day – and they do. Because it’s 1-to-1 care, he goes to the beach, goes into charity shops (he loves a charity shop!), the pier or going to buy lunch. They’ve been bowling recently as a group.

We’ve had three successful sessions and it’s been going so well that he’s now going to do four.

They’ve all just gelled, they understand his needs and they’ve embraced his qualities.

It’s better for Luke to know what’s happening and now when he goes to bed, he’s looking forward to Birkdale and when he comes home, he says ‘and again!’

He’s slept a lot better since coming here too.

It’s easy to talk to anybody here and they’ve been very flexible. It’s very important to feel confident to talk to anyone here.

For me, it’s a weight off my shoulders, a load off my shoulders. It’s the right decision for Luke. It’s a breath of fresh air coming here. It might sound a bit cliched, but it sums it up really.

The main thing is that he’s happy."