The uplifting story of a family in Leicester

Being able to live in your home when your circumstances have changed, either through ill health or old age, can be important, so when we learnt about the struggles one family was having, we were determined to help.

Around a year ago, Roger – one of our Major Works Surveyors at PA Housing – received queries from a family of residents in Leicester regarding the threshold strip on the front door of their house. The issue was that residents Paresh and Leena couldn’t fit their daughter Alisha’s wheelchair over it and they were struggling to transfer her in and out of the house in the wheelchair. 

To get a sense of what PA Housing could do to help, Roger made a visit to their home alongside Ash, Programme Delivery Coordinator. The family had also mentioned some other concerns about their home too, so the two colleagues felt like this was something they had to see for themselves. 

It was evident in their visit that the residents needed a different door, but some of the other adaptations required to make things easier for them were just not feasible in the house they were living in. For example, the two PA Housing colleagues were told that Paresh was carrying his daughter Alisha – who will soon be in her teens – up the stairs to bed every night, which could not have been good for his back!

However, there was not enough space in their home to install a lift, so the option of relocating had to be considered.  

At the time, quite a few of the residents from an independent living scheme run by PA Housing – which was just directly opposite the family’s home – were relocating elsewhere. This meant that half of the larger building, which was originally made up of two houses that had been converted into connected independent living flats, was now vacant. This provided an opportunity to, once again, make it into two separate houses, one of which could be adapted to the family’s needs. 

The offer was accepted by the family of four (Leena, Paresh, their teenage daughter Kheya, and Alisha), but there was a lot of work required to not only convert the building into two homes but to ensure that all the adaptations were in place for them. 

After some involvement from the council and an occupational therapist to draw up plans and make sure that all the support would be beneficial to the family, the long tasks of adapting and converting the house could begin.  

A year later and the family are now settling in at their new home. One adaptation made was the installation of a through floor lift that can take Alisha from the living room up to the bedroom she shares with her parents. The hospital bed that she sleeps in has been placed in there, as her parents have to be vigilant in case she has a seizure in the night. A wall was put in in front of the landing to create the lift shaft upstairs.  

Also, their bedroom is fitted with sliding doors into a bathroom with a level access shower and wet chair to make it easier for her carers to shower her. The local authority will be installing hoisting too, which will help to carry Alisha where she needs to go within the house.

Paresh said:  

“When Roger and Ash first visited to have a look, it was like Batman and Superman showing up at once. It was wicked! Communication is key and we were never kept in the dark. When we moved in, there were no issues, just certain things to sort and do ourselves.  

“I’d say I’m settled. I no longer have to carry Alisha up the stairs, which will be good for my back, even though I have carried her up once for old time’s sake. It’s great to have that easier option though, it helps you mentally to know that the adaptations are there. The fact that I don’t have to carry her upstairs every night means that I can go out earlier with my friends when I meet them once a week. They meet around 6-7 o’clock, but before, I’d have to wait until around half 9 to join them as I needed to be there to carry Alisha upstairs.  

“Our quality of life will definitely improve. We will take each day as it comes, and the main thing is that Alisha got the help she needed. Aftercare has been good too. Roger has popped by to see how we’re settling in, so overall, it has been a good experience. For example, even though it was towards the end of our tenancy in our old house, we mentioned about having a rail to help with mobility and they still installed it to help us for that short time. It should hopefully help the next residents who live in our old house. 

“There was nothing to fault about the process really. Happy days!” 

Roger also commented on this project: 

 “It was one of the most satisfying jobs I’ve ever done. The difference this is going to make will be extraordinary. It shows what you can do with the right attitude and taking opportunities while you can. 

“I knew that the local authority prioritises adaptations for children, so I kept pushing it forward. Once the ball was rolling, everything happened quickly, especially when the guy from the council entered the picture. He measured everything and worked on the layout. Whilst I had the ideas, they needed to be signed off as appropriate by the occupational therapist and the local council.  

“It really was a lot to keep track of as there were about 5-6 processes going on at once, so I was in contact with the residents very regularly. But if you can change people’s lives for the better as part of your job, then you have to try. There were times when I didn’t think it was going to happen. Even on the day they started the work, the contractors were even uncertain that it could be done, but it worked out in the end. That is thanks to a lot of hard work and the help I received from the council and colleagues such as Mark O and Kyle S from our Direct Labour Organisation. 

“Our team manages requests for aids and adaptations and installs a number of similar lifts throughout the year. There were a lot more challenges with this case because we were turning one house into two. As a lot of their home  is new, they can enjoy it for a long while into the future.” 

All the best from PA Housing to Leena, Paresh, Kheya, and Alisha, and thanks to everybody involved in making this a success.