Carole's voice - the need for suitable homes
Carole is a wheelchair user and lives in a second-floor flat, in a block that has no lift. She has been waiting for two years for a flat she can leave and return to without help, and close to her only friend in the city.
Before I retired, I was a cleaner and for a long time I had a full-time job at the hospital and a second job with a local company. I loved the work and enjoyed being so active, so it’s been difficult to slowly lose the use of my legs. I’m in my late 70s and have very poor circulation. Combined with diabetes, this has made my legs very weak and I can barely manage without a wheelchair.
Since there’s no lift in this block, that means that I’m stuck in my flat most of the time. We don’t have relatives in the area because my husband and I aren’t from Sheffield. We moved here from Scunthorpe when he got a job in the steelworks, and when he died 14 years ago I moved to this one-bedroom flat.
It was ideal for me at the time, but as time has gone by it’s become more and more difficult for me to live here without some kind of help. At the beginning of 2019, as my dizziness and the weakness in my legs got worse, I finally had to accept that I’d need to use a wheelchair most of the time.
I can’t wait to live my own life and get out and about again whenever I want to.
The wait for a home with good access has been made longer by the fact that I really want to be a bit closer to my one friend in the city. I was friends with her mother for 50 years, and she still calls me 'Aunty' and tries to get me out of the flat as often as she can. But she doesn’t drive and she lives two bus rides away, so it’s a long journey for her. Even so, if I am stuck or I have a fall, she always comes through to see me and check that I have what I need.
I’ve just – finally – been able to bid on a flat about ten minutes’ walk away from where she lives. It’s another second floor flat, but it has a lift and also a caretaker, so it’s well looked after. And the bathroom is a wet room which means I can very easily shower myself without help, something I haven’t been able to do safely for a long time.
I’m classed as a high priority applicant and I’m told that I’m at the top of the list, so all my fingers are crossed that I get this place. I can’t wait to live my own life and get out and about again whenever I want to.