Great Places knows the importance of family life, and we were delighted to be able to help bring Malcolm Horrocks and his family together.
Malcolm and his son Aaron, who suffers from Autism and ADHD, have been reunited and are able to live together thanks to the work of Great Places and its partners.
Their Blackpool home has been specially adapted to allow Aaron to live with his dad, an outcome that has helped Malcolm on his own recovery journey.
The 46-year-old went into rehabilitation in 2016 to deal with his addiction following the break down of the family unit.
His son Aaron went into care a year later as the family battled with mental health issues.
Once out of rehab, Malcolm reconnected with Aaron and the support services to rebuild his relationship with his son.
Their relationship blossomed and Malcolm decided he wanted to bring Aaron home.
But given Aaron’s condition, his home wasn’t suitable or safe in its current condition, despite being a new build.
So Great Places, alongside Blackpool Council and other partners, helped to remodel his home by putting up stud walls the enclose the kitchen and fitting special doors to keep Aaron safe.
They also enclosed the open staircase to make it impossible for Aaron to get over the bannister and make it potentially dangerous.
And also fitting new doors at the top of the stairs, with special raised handles so that access to the staircase could be controlled and also special handles on the windows.
Once this work has been completed, the partners worked with the family to organise visits, then overnight stays to help Aaron settle in to his hew home and family life with his dad.
Now the pair live happily in their home and Malcolm said he was happy to have his son home. He said:
I can’t thank Great Places and all the other organisations enough for everything they have done for us.
From the moment I went into rehabilitation, I knew I wanted to try and provide a normal life for Aaron, but I couldn’t have done it with the problems I had.
But I’ve worked through them and, with help, I’ve reconnected with my family and rebuilt my relationship with Aaron.
Having Aaron here has changed our lives completely and I can’t thank Great Places and all the other bodies who have helped us.
The changes that have been made will help to keep Aaron safe while allowing to live a normal life. I can’t put into words what this means to us.
