Nathan’s story

Nathan lives on the Wirral in the North West. Maureen, Nathan’s Mother explains how Golden Lane Housing’s services have improved.

“Over the years GLH’s Repairs team has really improved. Having the In-house team means it’s become more personalised. The team are understanding, flexible and there’s empathy towards Nathan’s needs. It’s a two way working relationship with the right values and ethics.

Nathan finds change really difficult. It’s hard for him to meet new visitors as he gets very distressed when his routine changes. He has severe autism and a severe learning disability, and he can express his distress through his behaviours.

Over time he’s got to know Sean as he’s the main person who does his repairs. He’s lovely and Nathan really likes him. Sean is flexible to fit in with Nathan’s routines for the day. He talks to him about the work he’s going to be doing. Nathan trusts him. He may even tolerate a noisy drill for a very short amount of time if he feels relaxed enough.

When Nathan had a new uPVC window fitted, Sean worked around the times when he was out doing activities so he could carry out all the noisy preparation work while he wasn’t there. This also meant it wasn’t disrupting Nathan’s routine which is so important.

Recently, Chris has been carrying out Nathan’s repairs instead of Sean, and he is just as helpful and flexible. Nathan likes him too.

The GLH team are the type of people that Nathan wants coming through his front door. It’s a real pleasure working with GLH as they are respectful to me as Nathan’s representative. They are professional, have great communication, there are excellent structures in place and they are always there to give me help and advice.”