My life, my support, my choice - personalisation in Salford

Roy's story

Roy, 67, from Swinton became a wheelchair user due to a serious medical condition. He had to give up work as a train driver and was worried about what the future would hold. How would he and his wife manage? What would he do all day? Would he still be able to get out and meet people?

His social worker explained to him about a new way of arranging social care, which gives Roy control and lets him choose to live the way he wants. After an assessment to find out whether he was eligible for support, he received a personal budget to help him arrange his support.

Roy has used some of his budget to make his garage accessible so that he can now spend time there building garden tables and chairs out of scrap wood. He is also using some of his personal budget to continue his DJ and karaoke work which he does on a voluntary basis, with the help of his grandson. Roy gets a real buzz from entertaining and says that his personal budget has given him a whole new lease of life.

Watch Roy's video about how his personal budget has helped him. You can also use the links on the left to view other videos.

Thomas's story

All Thomas ever wanted was somewhere to call his own. He had left home in his late teens, like other young people, and moved to shared house with extra social care support.

Over the next few years, Thomas was unsettled and he was moved frequently as council staff tried to find somewhere that he could be happy.

Thomas's social worker helped him to write a support plan of what he wanted to achieve. Using his personal budget along with other funding, Thomas now has shared ownership of his own place and is loving his independence.

He uses his personal budget to pay for a little extra support just when he needs it, leaving him free to get on with living his life. Thomas is very house proud and when he is not out shopping or meeting friends, he can often be found with vacuum cleaner, iron or cloth in hand.

Joshua's story

Joshua is a young man with autism who has built his own website to tell people about himself and his condition. You can also see his YouTube video. Using a personal budget, Josh employs a team of personal assistants to support him.

Josh says "I want to tell people how it feels to experience the world of the autistic. My world is in many parts: I have the autistic Josh, the spiritual Josh and the fun having Josh. I need people to know all of me not just the autistic me."

Read more stories on our case studies page about how local people have improved their lives with support from the council and other organisations. We have changed the names of some of the people, to protect their identities. You can also read more case studies on the national Putting People First website.

If you have a story you would like to share, please contact us.

This page was last updated on 24 January 2011