Personal tools

Listen to a people’s stories of using self-directed support and personal budgets.

Self-directed support and personal budgets film - a 5 minute film about people from Northumberland using self-directed support and personal budgets. The film is also available to view with subtitles and in British Sign Language. 

Please note: to view the films you will need to have Flash media player installed on your computer. You can download this for free from the  adobe website.

Abi's story

Abi and Andrew Stevens live near Morpeth. Abi was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1987 which led to her being confined to a wheelchair and subsequently losing the use of her hands and arms.

Since getting a personal budget she enjoys having more control in her life and the flexibility of the support that she receives:

"My personal budget has helped me to think about what would make my life easier. It gives you a kind of freedom which you haven’t thought of. I choose to use mine to pay for special equipment, regular massages which are vital for my pain relief, and other services that take the pressure off Andrew and allow me to be far more independent.

"I also used it to buy computer equipment so now I can easily make phone calls, send emails and manage my finances without involving anyone else. I no longer feel like the victim who needs babysitting.” 

Andrew said: “The personal budget is useful because if your circumstances change, you have the freedom and flexibility to get on with things there and then. I feel much less like a carer and more like a real person.” 

Listen to Abi and Andrew's personal story

This video is approximately 25 minutes long. Please be aware it may take some minutes to download.

Bernard's story

Bernard, age 70 is a retired policeman from Longhoughton.  As a keen sea fisherman and a sailor, he was enjoying his retirement with his wife Jen but in 2008 he suffered from a severe stroke. This has affected his hearing, short- term memory and his language. He uses a wheelchair now and his mobility in his arms and legs on his right side have been affected.

This has not only left Bernard unable to do every day tasks for himself without help but he also suffers terrible mood swings, and has felt very isolated which has put a strain on his relationship with Jen and her health started to suffer too. Jen is his carer and he relies on her for help with his personal care, eating, getting out, communicating and with taking his medication. 

Bernard previously got support from social services through a direct payment to go to a day centre 1 day a week and have 4 weeks of respite at a care home in Rothbury so that Jen could have a break and he could meet and socialise with people.

Bernard describes what life was like before self-directed support saying: “It was boring. I only had the stroke club that I was going to and I was unable to do the things I like.”

With a personal budget Bernard now has flexibility over his support. He has kept some things the same but he wanted the opportunity to get help to do more of the things he liked doing, like going sea fishing and researching local military history.

Bernard adds: “Self-directed and personal budgets has made a big difference. I go fishing, visit friends, go for days out on a regular basis now. Its even helped my recovery as my stress levels have dropped. Its enabled Jen, my son Robert, and me more time together sharing our interests, especially fishing and the Mallard steam trains. Life is so much better now.”

He did not want to manage all of his personal budget himself so he gets help from the council to manage some of his budget but he and Jen manage it too to support him with getting out. He still goes to the day centre and into residential care but he does this less often.

His wife Jen says: “Life is very different now, he’s a happier person, meeting old friends and doing what he loves, fishing. It’s open so many doors, to do different things, we did not think were possible before, and his health is improving too. Because he is going out and doing different things more regularly, his mobility has improved in his hand and life after his stroke is a lot better.”

Carol's story

Carol is 47 and lives in Blyth with her partner and two sons. She was diagnosed with MS in 1992 and moved back from Cyprus when her health started to deteriorate. It is really important to Carol to be independent especially with regards to her personal care. However, even just washing her hair and getting dressed can be exhausting. She can’t drive, is unsteady on her feet and needs a stick and help from a carer to get out. This left her feeling trapped in her own home so she lost interest in going out. Instead Carol watched television or used her computer.

Her partner, John is also her carer, and he manages all her meals, shopping, laundry and housework. Because Carol needs so much support from John, he has found it extremely difficult to do anything outside his caring role and this was starting to put a strain on their relationship.

When Carol started to think about what would make life easier, and meet her support needs, she thought about how she could pursue her own interests, and how she could help her partner to take a break from looking after her. She discussed ideas with her support planner and decided that she did not want the help to get out two hours a week that would normally have been offered; instead she banks her time, so that she gets longer and less frequent breaks.

She uses her budget to pay for her to get away and take weekend breaks with her mother or friend who pay for their own break but are on hand to provide Carol with the support that she needs. This means that she can plan ahead and have something to look forward to as well as giving her partner a break to follow his own interests.

Since having a personal budget Carol’s self-esteem and confidence has grown. She wants to do more things and is now learning to play the piano. She has lessons one night a week which also means John is getting more regular breaks too.

Carol receives her personal budget as a direct payment into a separate bank account that she manages and she keeps records and receipts of what she spends her budget on.

Ian's story 

Like many people when you move to a new town, Ian wanted to make friends, get a job and make a life for himself in his new home. Ian is 38 and lives with his parents in Morpeth. He has downs syndrome and when they moved here from Oldham Ian talked to his family about what we wanted from life. He did not like the idea of going to a day centre. He wanted to do things he enjoyed like playing football, and going out with his mates.

After using a personal budget in Oldham, they found about how personal budgets were working in Northumberland. The family then put all of lan’s interests into a weekly support plan. The plan was agreed with lan and his parents and together they manage the personal budget. His parents keep the books, and are supported by Checkbook Business Services, a community accounting service, to manage the payroll and expenses. lan recruits his personal assistants (PAs) and makes the decisions about how he wants to be supported and the role he wants his PAs to take.

One year into having more choice and control over his support lan is really making the most of the opportunities it has given him, and his week is full of the things he likes to do as well as the things that he needs to do.

He is at college doing an NVQ in retail, he volunteers at the British Heart Foundation five times a week, plays football at Blyth Special Olympics Football League every week, and goes swimming, bowling and walking with friends at the Gateway social club every Monday.  He also has one weekend a month where he stays at home on his own and his Personal Assistant, who lives nearby, provides support when he needs it. This gives his parents a break from their caring role and it helps Ian to be more independent.

Ian’s mum says: “Personal budgets have helped Ian to develop a social network and a community presence in a way that main stream services could not help. He used to use his personal budget to support him to do this, but now he feels that this has been achieved and he has given back the part of the budget he had for this to the council.”

“Before personal budgets we did everything. Now he can choose his own staff, and have a service where and when he needs it. He feels much more independent now. And the help we receive makes managing Ian’s budget very easy.”

lan is well known in the town where he lives now, and his PAs are family members and neighbours who know lan and are interested in being with him and helping him to make the most of his interests. 

Ian says: “My personal budget has helped me to go out and about meeting new people and making new friends. I am a friendly and confident man and I like my freedom and independence. I know lots of people where I live and go. They look out for me and help keep me safe.”

Jacqui's story

Jacqui is 88and lives with her daughter Jennie who is her main carer. Jacqui has a mental illness and uses her personal budget to employ agency staff to care for her personal needs so that she can continue to live at home. It also takes the pressure of Jenny by taking over some of the things that she does for her mum.  

She is new to personal budgets and has chosen to have hers as a Direct Payment.  Jacqui says: ‘I want the personal budget to, give me back a certain amount of freedom and feeling of independence and that I’m not reliant on my daughter. Over the last few years it has felt a bit like a role reversal and I want to re-reverse that role.”

“My social worker helped me to see that I would actually have control over how things happened so that I really felt as though I was making a choice and things would happen at a pace that I dictated.”

Jenny's story 

Jenny is 21 and lives with her parents, who both work, and her sister in their family home in Seaton Delaval. Like many young people, she enjoys music and going out with her friends. However, she needs one to one support to do most things including daily tasks, like getting dressed and eating. She has severe learning disabilities and also finds it difficult to communicate.

She is a sociable person and is very trusting but this worries her family when they are not with her. She was about to finish college, so she needed to find somewhere to be supported during week days when her parents are at work.

Previously she would have been offered a place at a day centre for adults of all ages where she could be supported to do set activities run by the day centre. However, when Jenny and her Dad met with her support planner, they wanted help with meeting people her own age, doing things she liked doing, and being with people who were able to look after her and understand her needs.

Jenny’s support planner found an organisation which specialised in supporting people with learning disabilities to take part in a range of activities tailored to people’s interests. Here she could socialise with people of a similar age in small groups and do the things that she likes doing, such as horse riding, going out, music and walking.

So Jenny had a taster day with this organisation to see what she thought, and she loved it. She is now supported by them 5 days a week. Jenny’s dad manages the part of her personal budget for the daytime activities but the arrangements for Jenny’s personal care during the week are managed by the council.

Joe's story

Joe is 87 and lives in Ashington. He is registered deaf blind. He felt very isolated living in sheltered accommodation, not being able to go out and not feeling confident to socialise with other residents. A range of factors including failing health and not being able to get to medical appointments led him to spending most of his time staying at home.  He lived in sheltered accommodation for 9 years before he started choosing what support was right for him.  Now with his own budget he employs a Personal Assistant and he relishes the opportunity to have greater choice and control about how he lives his life, deciding what support he needs to do the things he wants to do.

Jo likes gardening and horticulture, playing guitar, listening to music and going out for meals but he also needs help getting to medical appointments and doing his errands like going to the bank and shopping. Now with the help of his Personal Assistant he can do these things.

He says: “The budget is a great help. It was never like this before. I felt lonely not being able to get out on my own. But now I get out and go for meals and do different things. I have the choice- it is actually me who decides and I do what I want to do.”

Sheila's story

Sheila is 81 and lives on her own in Seaton Delaval. She suffered a stroke and now her mobility is poor, and she has spinal problems which limits the use of her hands. Sheila struggles to get around without the aid of a zimmer frame or wheelchair.

She is very independent, enjoying watching television, going out shopping and the company of her pet dog.

Before having a personal budget her friends and sister visited at weekends and she had carer workers from an agency during the week. However, she found that she was restricted to getting her support at specific times, and was often put to bed at 8pm. She also did not like the fact that her carer workers from the agency frequently changed without warning.

When deciding how to use her personal budget Sheila talked with her support planner about the support she wanted.  Her sister and friends still provide unpaid support at weekends but she chose to employ her own care worker during the week so that she had more control over when and how she gets help and who provides it. Her care worker is a friend who assists her with meals, personal care, laundry, house work and getting out when she feels well enough.

Sheila wanted to choose her support but she did not want the responsibility of managing her budget so she uses an agency which receives her personal budget, arranges the salary for her care worker, and manages holiday pay, income tax and national insurance for the worker.  

“The support I get now is a lot more flexible than before. I make the decisions about how I get help to live at home and get out. I say when I get help and I can change this to suit me like going to bed later some evenings when a good film is on and I’m having a ‘better day’.”

For more examples of how self-directed support is helping people visit the in Control website.

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