From banker to carer - life’s so much more fulfilling now
Craig Macauley was working in finance in a well-paid job when he decided to quit and become a carer like his mum.
It’s not a route many people take, particularly given the low status of the sector, but Craig, 32, believes caring is not just a job, it’s a lifestyle, and it’s one he would choose any day.
“Working in finance, there was no satisfaction in the job for me,” he says. “Day in day out I was just looking to make money for other people and that didn't fulfil me.
“But when I was stepping in for my mum in her caring role, it was rewarding seeing the things that we could put in place for people who just needed that extra little bit of support.”
Craig didn’t just sign up with a typical care agency… he and his wife decided to offer their home to a person needing 24/7 support.
They work for Shared Lives, which places adults with people in their communities as an alternative to residential care home or supported living accommodation.
The scheme was founded in 1978, and today there are 150 Shared Lives projects funded by local authorities employing more than 10,000 self-employed carers across the UK.
Ewan King, Shared Lives chief executive, says: “Shared Lives started out as a response to people, often with learning disabilities, who had been stuck in hospital for very long periods of time.
“We offer an amazing option for people to come out of hospital and be part of family and community life again.
“The programme involves an approved carer being matched with someone who is seeking support, and that person lives with a Shared Lives carer or regularly visits through day support or respite.”
The Care Quality Commission rates 97 per cent of Shared Lives schemes as good or outstanding. Craig describes it as a “rights-based” and “relationship driven” approach, connecting people and making sure they fulfil their ambitions.
“Growing up I’d never thought about going into a caring role," he says. "When I was a kid, it was probably a bit taboo to talk about. There wasn’t much talk about what being a carer actually entails.
“But helping mum, all that changed. Me and my wife spoke about it and we said, let's just do it. Let's just come away from banking, go through all the training, and qualify as carers.
“I'm glad I made that decision. Life is so much more fulfilling now.”
Meeting Mark
When Craig and Beth first met Mark, he was only 59 but living in a care home. He had lived for most of his life, in fact, in institutions as he had undiagnosed learning difficulties.
Nobody involved in his care up to that point had heard of Shared Lives. Mark had recently been in hospital and then got transferred to a care home, where nobody else was remotely near his age.
Craig says: “My manager picked up his case on the portal. Me and Beth went to see him and when we got to meet him, we just knew instantly.
“Mark loves sports. He loves football, so me and Mark clicked on that straight away, because I can’t really have a football conversation with Beth. Me and Mark started talking, and we just knew instantly that he didn’t need to be in a care home.
“He was a lot younger than all of the other residents. He couldn’t really have conversations with them. He just needed that extra bit of support to do things. We knew instantly that he was going to be a match for us.”
Shared Lives works in a similar way to adoption services in that there is a matching process involved. Carers have to complete a six-month recruitment course, a DBS check and a home assessment. They typically earn up to £23,000 tax-free living with one person, increasing to £36,000 for living with two people.
Changing lives
For Mark, going to live with Craig and Beth was life changing. He says: “We just clicked straight away.
“It’s just been nice to come and live with Craig and Bethany and the family.
“I'll go out and about and do my own thing. I've got two friends, Lee and Kevin, and we get on quite well – we’re all sport fanatics. So I just go from there, from day-to-day. Just enjoy my life, you know, and take it day by day.”
Since going to live with Craig and Beth, Mark has become able to do more things for himself.
Craig explains: “When Mark first came to us, he wasn't able to make his own cup of tea, or a piece of toast – he might have never been shown how to do that growing up. So that was one of our first ports of call.
“He didn't have any friends, or his own bank account, anything like that. So we put those steps in place over four years.”
Mark is now very much part of the family.
Not everyone understands, and Craig admits: “I’ve lost friends, but it’s their loss, not mine.
“They just don’t understand it, they go, ‘Why would you ask someone in your house who's a stranger?’ but he’s not a stranger, not to me.”
Mark and the family celebrate birthdays, special occasions and Christmas together and Craig says: “Mark is basically the grandad of the house. He’s just a massive part of the family.
“Whatever we do, Mark does, and vice versa.”
Social work role
Social workers play a crucial role in Shared Lives schemes, championing the service, making referrals, and checking in to see how things are going.
Craig says: "When Mark first came to us, he was unsure about day support. Now he's quite able to get out and about on his own.
"He doesn't want us walking around with him. He's 60.
"So we got a social worker in place, and they put in three days a week of support.”
The government has provided £46 million to Shared Lives schemes in the last three years, but awareness still needs to grow, Craig adds: “We either get a lot of referrals but they aren’t quite suitable, or we see a lot of people on the portal who absolutely would be, but they aren’t referred.
“I could probably walk into the local hospital and pick 100 people suitable for Shared Lives, but it’s just not being used enough. The information isn’t getting to the right people.
“A lot of people are missing out – people in care homes or in hospital who aren’t supposed to be there. There are places for them that would enrich their lives, as much as they have enriched the lives of the carers.”
Craig thinks caring roles need to be promoted more in schools, as a career option.
“I would have loved to have come straight into this job but I had to wait until I was 28 to make the move.
“Growing up it was always the negative side of caring that you heard about. But the positives completely outweigh the negatives.
“When you do this role, you realise there are no negatives. You're just providing extra support for somebody who needs it.
“Every day's different. And that's what's so rewarding about this job. You can wake up and you don't know what's going to happen that day. It just depends on how Mark's feeling.”
If you would like to find out more about your local Shared Lives initiative, find out more at https://startyoursharedlife.today