Hannah has lived at South Highnam, one of our specialist residential care homes in Hartlepool, for the past five years. She has a mild learning disability and experiences mental health difficulties. Throughout her life, her biggest challenges have centred around her anxiety and depression. Her needs mean she sometimes struggles to make decisions for herself. Making life feel uncertain, this often knocks her confidence and impacts her independence.
When Hannah first joined us, she needed a high level of 1-1 support. Her anxiety created difficulties engaging with other people around her. She struggled to understand personal boundaries in relationships, which made her particularly vulnerable. She was also still developing many of her independent living skills and needed support with personal care routines.
Busy environments and large events felt extremely overwhelming for Hannah. Despite this, she had always dreamed of going to a concert and attending events centred around her interests. So, understanding the importance of goals and putting Hannah’s needs at the heart of her care, our team at South Highnam worked with Hannah to make this big dream come true!
Building confidence and independence
Since joining us at South Highnam, our team have focused on building Hannah’s trust in others, so she can establish strong relationships with those around her. Investing time into getting to know her, her interests and her ambitions, they learnt she responds best to open, honest conversations with people she trusts.
Using a person-centred approach to Hannah’s support enabled our team to build a strong, trusting relationship with her – particularly her Key Worker, Karen. Supporting Hannah to take control of her life by establishing daily routines, Hannah’s confidence quickly started to grow, and she began to think about her bigger life goals.
One of those goals was returning to college. Having established a structured routine, this helped give her the stability and support she needed to start attending college again.
At first, Hannah enrolled on a course that didn’t quite suit her. Knowing Hannah very well, Karen noticed she was disengaged from her studies. It was clear to Karen that Hannah wasn’t enjoying the course. Recognising this, Karen worked closely with Hannah to explore other options and find something that truly interested her.
With Karen’s guidance, Hannah enrolled on a new course that felt like the right fit. She now studies Esports at college, and travels independently to her classes four days a week. With this new branch to her independence and empowered to make decisions about her life, Hannah’s thriving! This year, in 2026, she’s due to graduate. A huge milestone that reflects the power of person-centred support.
The Big Weekend
By far, Hannah’s biggest achievement so far is her ‘Big Weekend’, which was her first holiday since joining us. To prepare, she took her time researching where she wanted to go, deciding on a ‘Back to the 2000s Big Weekender’ at a nearby Butlins resort. It was the perfect choice for her – her favourite music era and an adult-only event. Hanah sometimes found being around children overwhelming but was reassured this wouldn’t happen.
The weekend was a big challenge for Hannah. Large crowds and busy events can trigger her anxiety, so lots of careful planning was needed. Our team helped her plan exactly how the weekend would go, from which artists she wanted to watch and the parties she wanted to attend, to organising her ID documents and arranging access to quieter areas.
Hannah also chose to book the VIP package, which meant she had access to separate quieter areas, could skip queues, and avoid the most overwhelming crowds. Having those quieter spaces meant she could enjoy the weekend at her own pace, while still being part of the atmosphere.
Hannah embraced the whole experience and had the best time. For the first time in a long while, she was able to fully enjoy herself and simply feel like a 26-year-old having fun.
When I asked Hannah to sum up the weekend in one word she said ‘I’ve got two – absolutely amazing’.
Her face hurt from all the smiling and laughing.
Karen, Service Manager at South Higham
Motivation to do more
The Big Weekend gave Hannah a huge boost in confidence and motivated her to keep doing more of the things she loves.
Since then, she’s planned and organised a day trip to ComicCon in Liverpool. With the support of her team, everything from travel to what she wanted to see when she arrived was planned. It was a huge moment for her. And while she was there, she even got to meet one of her favourite Harry Potter actors!
She also researched and booked her own tattoo appointment, travelling there independently and confidently sitting through a three-hour session. This is a big step for Hannah, as she previously struggled with making decisions for herself. But with the support of our team, the confidence to take control of her life is blossoming. Making this big and personal decision on her own shows just how powerful person-centred support can be in building confidence and independence.
An exciting fulfilling future
Hannah has made incredible progress since joining the South Highnam family. She’s gone from needing 1-1 support, to being able to go out by herself. She’s built strong connections with her team and has grown her confidence in social situations – spending time with friends and visiting social clubs. She has also developed the confidence to set boundaries and has more autonomy over her life.
Hannah wouldn’t have made these achievements at the beginning of her journey. She’s now managing her anxiety, has learnt to have boundaries, and make her own informed choices.
Karen, Service Manager at South Higham
Hannah’s very loved at South Highnam and is known for her sense of humour, kindness, and empathy. She supports to her housemates and has built strong bonds with the team around her.
Hannah has big plans for her future. Right now, she’s focused on completing her college course, but the success of the Big Weekend has empowered her to try more new experiences. Eventually, she’d love to go on holiday to Tenerife.
She’s also continuing her journey towards greater independence and has started looking at supported living properties for the near future. Hannah and her team feel she’s ready to take the next steps towards living more independently. Her team are incredibly proud of how far she’s come and how her life has changed. They’ll be sad to see her move on, but are proud she’s made big progress and can embrace this next chapter!
Through person-centred, tailored support, Hannah has been able to build confidence, independence, and a life that feels exciting, fulfilling and truly her own.