Lisa Jane

Lisa Jane, known as LJ, started at Dame Hannahs in 2020 and has been living in Hayward bungalow ever since. She is 38 years old and has Cerebral Palsy and other medical conditions.

She moved to Dame Hannahs during the Covid pandemic and initially her mother Pam was worried about the timing as it was a new place for her and she could not go out. However the staff were wonderful and LJ was lucky to have a really good key worker at the time. She was very well taken care of and was able to stay in touch regularly using Facetime.

Her mother had been aware of Dame Hannahs for many years as she had many friends and family living in the Plymouth area even though she had moved away to Berkshire. When LJ was 11 years old Pam looked round Dame Hannahs School and was very impressed but she felt it was too far away from home. So LJ went to a Scope school in Hertfordshire until the age of 16 when she was allocated an advocate. She was then asked what she wanted to do next and expressed the wish to go to college. Her parents then looked in Berkshire and found a home where she could live and attend college nearby. For many years this arrangement worked well but there came a point when the home started going downhill and they felt LJ was no longer being stimulated enough.

Pam was keen to move back to her home town of Plymouth so she contacted the local Social Services and was told she had to look at five possible homes in the Plymouth area. When she and her husband Jay revisited Dame Hannahs they knew straight away that it was the perfect place for LJ as the focus was all about her. It was clear that the staff put LJ first and her parents saw that the facilities and therapies were excellent.

Parents Jay and Pam said:
“It has been lovely to watch LJ blossom at Dame Hannahs and come out of herself. The care and therapies are terrific. Since starting at Dame Hannahs she has made incredible progress with all the one to one therapies particularly speech and language. One key problem for LJ before was that she was always stuck in her body and couldn’t communicate, and she was living in an institutionalised organisation with no participation. At Dame Hannahs she feels much more comfortable and is keen to take part in everything. One of LJ’s favourite things is shopping and she is now able to choose things using her communication aid, which she has had such great help getting through Dame Hannahs’ input. She now has a voice and her personality shines through.

At Dame Hannahs there is such good equipment and LJ is able to benefit from a comfy seat and wheelchair. She also really enjoys her time in the hydrotherapy pool as it is such a feeling of relief being out of her wheelchair. She loves joining in all the activities and spending time with her friends. Dame Hannahs has really expanded LJ’s universe.”

LJ’s parents Jay, a professional carer, and Pam, a retired dental nurse, live in Plymouth. LJ has two brothers who live further away but they all love to visit every so often if LJ is not too busy enjoying outings and other organised activities.