A brain injury can happen quietly, invisibly, and unexpectedly, changing someone’s life in an instant. Creating physical changes and mental health challenges, they can alter relationships and uncover a new, unfamiliar world. For both the survivor and their loved ones, this can be a very frightening experience. At Lorenzo Drive, our team deliver person-centred care and support that changes lives in a positive way.
Compassionate and down-to-earth, Registered Manager John Paul McNally and our team have seen significant successes with the people we support. Delivering specialist active rehabilitation, they inspire each person to focus on their abilities and celebrate who they are as individuals.
Since opening our service in 2017, our team have successfully supported 50 people we support to move on from full residential support to more independent living. Whether navigating a full discharge back to the community or stepping up to embrace more independence in Lorenzo Drive’s supported living wing, each transition is testament to the steadfast devotion and person-centred support our team deliver.
Foundations for recovery
Over the years, John Paul and our team have moulded an adaptable, flexible approach that fits around the preferences and wishes of the people we support. Understanding the importance of individuality, John Paul’s ensured Lorenzo Drive is a safe, comfortable space for people to lay the foundations for recovery. Receiving the right support and encouragement to rebuild their independence, they’re empowered to achieve the outcomes they want and deserve.
Our team ensure they treat everyone with respect and dignity, allowing them the space and autonomy to be their authentic selves and live a life that’s meaningful to them. Using positive risk taking, they support people to build skills and awareness from real-world interactions. Through functional activities, like staying at a friend’s house for the night, they have opportunities to learn through their experiences.
By forming trusting relationships with each person we support, and using structured, safe approaches, we have seen some big successes. When navigating their very first discharge with a person we support, our team realised how important their informed, friendly, and individualised approach is for achieving positive outcomes.
We understand someone won’t be the same person they were before their injury. Families often struggle the most with this. We know the impact family has on the people we support, so we ensure they’re part of the support process. And for each person and their loved ones, we maintain a notion of what we’d want if we were in their shoes. That’s what shapes our support at Lorenzo Drive.
John Paul, Service Manager, Lorenzo Drive
From first to fiftieth
At Lorenzo Drive, we benefit from a selection of accommodation settings that support each phase of the rehabilitation pathway. Alongside a residential support home, transitional and supported living wings can be found within our grounds. Discharges at Lorenzo Drive might involve someone returning home to the community or transitioning to one of our more independent living wings – like their first ever discharge did.
Katherine was the first person we support at Lorenzo Drive to be discharged from our main residential building to our supported living flats. Struggling with neurological and behavioural needs from an early age, she was predicted to always need full residential support. Advocates for strengths and abilities, our team knew this wasn’t where her story stopped. They had faith that the right support and setting would help her build the skills she needed to live independently.
Our team used bespoke support, positive risk taking, and structured daily routines to support Katherine’s needs. Soon, she made meaningful progress. Her confidence in everyday settings increased as she had more space to do things in her own unique way. Using a phased, gradual approach, she transitioned to Lorenzo Drive’s supported living wing. With our team on hand for reassurance and support, she embraced additional independence and established more daily living skills. Now, in 2026, John Paul and our team are working with her to be discharged back to the community, nearer to her family.
Since Katherine’s discharge to supported living, our team have navigated many more transitions and fond farewells with the people we support. Most recently, they reached a significant milestone when they experienced their 50th discharge with Marie, a person we support with a very special connection to Voyage Care.
Marie moves on
Marie is mum to one of our Operations Mangers, Lian. After contracting encephalitis in 2025, she suffered a brain injury. Making positive progress in hospital, she was ready to be discharged but needed more specialist support. Lorenzo Drive was recommended to Marie and Lian. Soon, Marie moved in and started an incredible journey with John Paul and our team.
Through their individualised approach, our team focused on actively supporting Marie to achieve her most meaningful goal – returning home to her family. Previously an active member of her family and community, her brain injury suddenly changed this. Her emotional wellbeing suffered. But with their humanistic, empathetic support, our team helped Marie focus on small steps to make great gains!
They introduced positive risk taking and gradually supported Marie to spend a night at home. They then built up one extra night at a time. Quickly, she spent five nights in a row at home with her family. When it was the right time for both Marie and her family, our team started working with them to plan her discharge. In just three months, she successfully returned home to her loved ones. With our team’s support, trust, and the autonomy to take positive risks, Marie re-gained the skills and developed the confidence needed to once again be an active member of her family and community.
The support, freedom and autonomy mum had at Lorenzo empowered her to make vast improvements. This impacted her quality of life and mood in the most positive way. Regaining her independence within just three months, she was the 50th person to be rehabilitated and discharged. As a family, we’re hugely grateful for the support and dedication of John Paul and the team. We feel so blessed that mum is back to the happy, positive person she was before her brain injury.
Lian Hargreaves, Operations Manager, Voyage Care
Steps to success
Alongside respecting each person we support as an individual and using a relatable, flexible approach, John Paul and our team have other techniques to empower independence. This includes gradually reducing support when someone moves into the supported living wing. This aims to reflect real life, so the people we support can practice their skills in preparation for returning to the community.
Our team also work as part of a wider multi-disciplinary team to support individuals to take steps when the time is right for them and embrace each phase of their journey – so they reach their maximum potential. They offer a rich programme of targeted therapies, including Occupational Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Both therapeutic interventions encourage skills development – whether physical or psychological – so the people we support can safely transition from the therapeutic support setting.
For those who may need to stay with us at Lorenzo Drive longer, John Paul and the team ensure daily independence is empowered and emotional wellbeing is nurtured. They promote strengths and abilities and acknowledge when their active approach needs to be stripped back.
Each person’s brain injury affects them uniquely. They have their own mindset and focus, which might be affected by their condition. One thing remains consistent through our approach at Lorenzo Drive – a bespoke, person-centred approach delivered by a team who empower people to understand the world around them. Friendly faces who promote abilities, John Paul and our team ensure each person makes the most of the opportunities available to them. Whether that’s positive risk taking or transitioning to different accommodation settings, each step is valuable, meaningful, and celebrated by our team.
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