Helping Peter regain his independence
Our Welfare Advisor, Rosie Mercado, supports people who need help securing financial assistance alongside their palliative or end of life journey.
Recently Rosie helped secure a really positive outcome for a man who was feeling increasingly isolated due to his condition.
Working fairgrounds all his life, Peter Griggs lives in a mobile home in winter quarters. As his condition began to deteriorate, walking became a challenge and Peter found himself feeling lonely and low.
Peter’s daughter, Rhoda Bibby, contacted our Welfare Team to see if we could help obtain a mobility scooter for Peter. It needed to manoeuvre over the rough ground of the park so that he could leave his home for a few hours, visit friends on the estate and regain some independence again.
Rhoda explains: “My Dad has never asked for anything from anybody. But it got to the point where he wasn’t living, he was just existing. He could hardly walk and basically he just sat in a chair and did nothing all day.
“The site where Dad lives are a quarter of a mile long with lots of mobile home and caravan plots.
Everyone knows my dad on the estate and it’s a really good community, but even when dad was having a good day, he was still too ill to walk to see people.
“I got in touch with St Catherine’s to see if they could help secure a mobility scooter for Dad to help him get around. I was put in touch with Rosie and she was marvellous.
“I’m not that good at reading, writing and spelling, so Rosie did absolutely everything for us. She filled in all the forms to apply for grants to buy the scooter. It took her about six weeks for her to secure funds from three different applications. She even encouraged the man selling the mobility scooter give us a discount and deliver it for free so that the funding could cover the full cost – she was amazing!
“When we received the scooter, my dad wasn’t too keen to go on it at first, telling me that he ‘wasn’t an old man’. But eventually, he gave it a try and he loved it! The first few times I went out with him but now, on his good days, he goes out on his own and sees his friends. It’s given him something to look forward to. He’s been so happy to get out – it’s made a big difference to both of us.
“When Dad can no longer use the scooter, we plan to donate it back to the hospice. St Catherine’s has been so good to us, they have been there when we’ve needed them and we want to give something back. And Rosie will always be our hero – we love her!”
To find out more about our Welfare team please click here or call 01293 447345
