Donald's Story
Donald has lived at Look Ahead’s Colin Winter House service since 2019. He also attends Look Ahead’s Antill Road Day Service in Tower Hamlets three times a week.
I’ve been a Look Ahead customer for many years now, and I really enjoy my time here. Colin Winter House is a nice place to live, I like that everything is across one floor, it’s easier for me as I can’t move around like I used to. My support workers are brilliant too, they help me to take my medication and to stay in touch with my family and friends, which is very important to me.
I started coming to Look Ahead at Antill Road around 10 years ago, it’s always great fun. I get to do plenty of activities here, from going out on trips, to events. I do things how I like, some days I go out, but on other days I prefer to relax at the centre and work on projects. We’ve had some fantastic days out in the city, I’ve been to different museums, and I’ve followed my interest in animals with visits to London Zoo, and the London Aquarium. The aquarium is my favourite so far, as I find sharks fascinating.
I love arts and crafts as well, and I recently prepared decorations to celebrate Eid and King Charles’ Coronation. Last year, I made a few artworks with recycled materials to feature in our very own art exhibition at the service,
One of the proudest moments of my time here though, was winning a customer award at Look Ahead’s Customer Celebration Event last year. One of the reasons I was nominated was because of my art, but also my work supporting staff and other customers.
Volunteering here at Antill Road has really boosted my confidence as well. I help the staff – helping to set up events and prepare refreshments and giving visitors tours of the service. I also help other customers using my Makaton skills.
One of my favourite things to assist with is interviewing potential staff members. After all, it’s important that my support workers hire the best colleagues they can, I ask the candidates questions about how they would best support me and other customers to do the activities we enjoy, for example, how they would make sure I feel comfortable while going out for the day to the science museum.
It feels great to help make a difference in this way, and I would encourage every customer to get involved where they can.
See also
