Raymond's Story
“I have never had anywhere I can call home, and Carramar House is my home.”
A difficult start
“Hi, I’m Raymond. I live at Carramar five nights a week to support me into independent living and manage my mental health in the community. The other two nights I spend in a mental health hospital. I have spent the majority of my life in and out of prison and mental health hospitals and I was referred by the community mental health team to Carramar.”
A new life
“Carramar is home for people like me who need support transitioning from one stage of their life to another. It’s in the heart of Thatcham and it’s really close to local shops. There’s a nice garden at Carramar where we plant vegetables, flowers and herbs. Staff put on activities like music group, nature days and baking lessons. There’s always something to get involved with!”
My support
“I struggle on a day-to-day basis with my anxiety. My anxiety is triggered by going to new places and meeting new people. My community mental health team and Carramar support me to manage this and have helped me develop many tools and techniques to have in place to support me with my anxiety. I can speak to staff at Carramar whenever I want as it is 24-hour support and I find it easy to approach them.”
Learning new skills
“The staff at Carramar are great, they support me really well. They also encourage me to keep busy and not stay in my bedroom all the time and isolate myself. Since I have been at Carramar, staff members have taught me how to cook new foods and I have started baking. I recently made sausage rolls from scratch and bacon cheese turnovers.”
Living in the community
“I have never lived in the community before. It is really good that I can communicate and speak with staff freely. It is also really important to me that I feel safe and I feel safe at Carramar. I have never had anywhere I can call home, and Carramar is my home. The staff at Carramar always make me feel welcome and supported in the community when I come back from hospital.”