My name is George and I became aware of Ceartas following an admission to hospital. I was in hospital having a knee operation and suffered a stroke whilst in recovery.

I was feeling very frustrated and felt nobody was listening to me.  My neighbour spoke to my wife about a local organisation called Ceartas. Ceartas was a new name to me and I wasn’t sure how they would be able to help me.

While I was in hospital Lyndsey visited me and introduced herself as an advocacy worker. She told me that she could help make my voice heard by supporting me to tell others what I wanted. This sounded good to me because when you are in a situation you have never been in before it can be difficult to know the right things to ask and who you should be talking to. Having someone there who can help you make sense of things and ask the difficult questions really makes a difference and I feel Lyndsey’s input made a big difference to my situation.

There was talk of me having to move in to a care home but I didn’t feel I was ready for this; I still felt there was hope for me to live at home. Lyndsey helped me make sense of the treatment I was receiving and made me aware of local services that were able to help. A meeting was being arranged in the hospital for the professionals to talk about my future which I didn’t feel able to attend. Lyndsey said she could go to this meeting on my behalf and put forward my views. I spoke with Lyndsey a few times before the meeting and she wrote down the things I told her. Lyndsey took my views to the meeting and spoke on my behalf.

I am now at home and doing well after my stroke. I really appreciate the support I received from Lyndsey as I feel this made a big difference.

I now attend a monthly meeting for ‘Still Game’ at Ceartas which I thoroughly enjoy. I like being in contact with other service users whose abilities are similar to mine and I also like being kept up to date with what is going on locally as well as at Ceartas.