Christmas Sparkle in North Tyneside
In North Tyneside ubu team members and some of the people we serve heard about a family from their area who have been having a very tough time. Over the last few years the Johnson family have had a series of particularly challenging things to face. As the people we serve and ubu team members began to understand more about the difficulties that this family have had to cope with they decided that they should try to help to bring a bit of Christmas sparkle into their lives.
The Johnson’s son, Joshua, now 6 years old was born with a very rare birth defect which means that Joshua doesn’t have the structure that connects the two hemispheres of his brain. It is known as agenesis of the corpus callosum.
Joshua’s symptoms include a long list of difficulties that he has to deal with including vision impairments, low muscle tone, speech and language problems. He also has a learning difficulty, various sensory impairments and low pain perception. Joshua also has problems with chewing and swallowing and he doesn’t sleep much and only gets a few hours each day at the most.
His mother Sue, is a full-time parent carer who has had little or no support over the last 6 years and no respite services. The North Tyneside Carers Centre have been working with Joshua’s family to offer them whatever emotional support they can over the last year. Staff at the Centre are trying to help her to gain access to community support services.
Mrs Johnson’s daughter is 13 years old and she has been experiencing mental health problems. Mr Johnson works long hours each week to provide for the family. Life is not been at all easy for them and they are all having a very testing time.
Mr and Mrs Johnson used to enjoy going to the theatre together quite regularly but with everything that has happened in the family it has become something that they just never have a chance to do these days.
The ubu team and people we serve wanted to let the Johnson’s know how amazing they are in their unfailing commitment to their family. Some vouchers were bought with a donation of £50 given by ubu so that the Johnsons could choose tickets to any show they fancy seeing at the Theatre Royal in Newcastle We are hoping that it will give them an opportunity to spend some much-deserved restful time together and enjoy a sparkling evening of fun and entertainment.
