When Maureen Moffatt signed up for a cycling trip to Cambodia and Vietnam, she faced a dilemma: how to raise £3,500 for her chosen charity? Her solution was to spend three months as a live-in carer with Corinium Care. Here is her story.
“I had a dilemma: how was I going to raise enough money to donate to my chosen charity to enable me to join other fundraisers for a cycle ride in Cambodia and Vietnam?
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| Maureen Moffatt became a carer with Corinium Care |
“So how about going back to work? It might be a bit of a culture shock at the age of 65 and after 10 years in retirement, but I was up for the challenge.
“My previous work experience included auxiliary nursing, counselling and social work, so maybe becoming a live-in carer was the answer.
“It turned out to be a challenge, an eye-opener and a totally fascinating journey.
“Before getting started, it became evident that whichever care agency I chose to join would require a week’s compulsory training. How lucky I was to discover Corinium Care – the best company I have ever been involved with.
“Having delivered lots of training in my professional life, I feared the care training would be a rehash of previous sessions, a daily grind of stuff I already knew. How wrong I was.
“There were some lovely surprises during that first week at Corinium Care’s head office in Gloucestershire. The training was varied and relevant, delivered by a team of enthusiastic young women who were obviously very proud of their career choice and of the organisation.
“The other attendees were all women of mixed ages and backgrounds. Every day was packed with learning new information and interesting conversation.
“As the training course drew to an end, I received my first post: two of us travelled to a family who were determined that their mother would leave hospital to end her life in her own home.
“We arrived in time to see her brought home by the ambulance. She and her children were so pleased to see her in familiar surroundings: there were tears of joy and relief.
“Neighbours and family were present almost every moment. Flowers were personally delivered to the door, memories exchanged and more tears shed, all in the most emotionally healthy manner.
“It was a privilege to share these most intimate moments and a pleasure to help make the end of a worthwhile life a natural and gentle transition.
“My next two posts were with clients suffering with Alzheimer's. Two weeks in each post were enough to help me start to integrate into the person’s life, understand their issues and work alongside them to make the most of the days we had together.
“I learnt so much during this period. It was a privilege to be allowed to share such an intimate part of these families’ lives.
“In each post I was treated as a family member, so much so that it felt almost disloyal to say goodbye.
“I shall look back on my experience as a live-in carer as a totally worthwhile challenge in every sense.
“And, by the way, I raised enough money to go to Cambodia and Vietnam.”