Clive* faced being evicted from his home.
He used his flat to take apart and repair motorbikes, and every room – plus the garden – was full of motorbike parts, while the walls were covered with oil stains. I was asked to support Clive alongside another volunteer, as we do not normally visit offenders in their own homes for safety reasons. As many of Clive’s issues were centred on his accommodation, we needed to manage the risk, which we did by always visiting together.
After a couple of meetings with Clive, his case manager and his key worker, we outlined some goals and started to think about how Clive was going to achieve these goals to prevent himself being evicted. Clive agreed to meet with me and Dan, the other volunteer, twice weekly until the next scheduled housing inspection from his landlord.
Together, we managed to achieve the immediate goals set. Clive was not evicted, and a large improvement was made to the cleanliness of his flat. Clive then worked with us to identify some longer term goals. These involved Clive finding a suitable apprenticeship or a job; attending work-related activities, complying with statutory orders; tidying, cleaning and painting every room in his flat; resolving some benefits issues and continuing to engage with all support staff.
After a slow start, Clive has shown vast improvements in all areas of his life: his flat is now more than acceptable, with new flooring, all rooms painted, new furniture for his lounge, motorbike parts and tools cleared out of his flat and his garden, and he is attending educational projects for his working future.
And yet, Clive seems unaware of just how much he has achieved. Having worked with him intensively for two years, his key worker is planning to reduce her input in the next three months because her support is no longer needed. We are all very impressed with Clive and what he has achieved.
*not his real name
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