Cheadle Hulme respite care service goes above and beyond to offer full-time support

Care staff at Meridian in Cheadle Hulme offering respite care to young people with autism, have gone above and beyond to help a family in need of extra support during lockdown.

Operated by Stockport charity, Together Trust, Meridian is a short breaks service for children and young people with autism.

Care staff at the home have shown huge dedication to the people they support. During the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, staff have been changing their shift patterns /days to be able to bubble the staff team which has enabled them to continue to support most of the young people with short breaks keeping the young people and staff as safe as possible.

Meridian only usually provides respite care, however, amidst the pandemic, they were approached about a young person who had been accessing the service for some time and whose family were in need of extra support during the Covid-19 lockdown, requiring full time support for the young person.

The staff team agreed that they were then able to support the young person full time during lockdown as well as providing the young person a more in-depth programme to progress with her communication and independence skills.

Caroline Whittaker, acting manager at Meridian said

We got some amazing feedback from professionals and the young person’s parents which was also fed back to the team in recognition of their hard work and dedication. It was great to see the whole team coming together to make the young person’s experiences as positive as they can be, particularly in such a difficult time.”