Now 15, Noah has been visiting Nelson Lodge since he was 9 years old. He has complex needs and was diagnosed with global developmental delay, cerebral visual impairment and autism at a young age. More recently he has been diagnosed with epilepsy.

“It can be incredibly full on caring for Noah,” explains Noah’s mum Kelly. “But Nelson have been absolutely amazing. He goes one night a week in term time and two nights during the holidays and I honestly don’t know where we would be without them. 

"As Noah got older, it became more challenging for us as a family. He was rarely sleeping, would have frequent meltdowns and needed constant attention. We were reaching our breaking point. We were looking at getting another property so we could both get a break. It was at that point we realised we needed to do something. That’s when we found Nelson.

"It was pretty emotional at the beginning. You’ve got to put your trust in these people, but from the first meeting, Pete put us at ease, and we just knew they had his best interests at heart. Noah absolutely loves his stays. It’s like a home from home now.

"He’s obsessed with Super Mario, so he always gets the Mario themed room to stay in. They help him to work towards his independence targets like cooking, making his lunch and washing. They’ve even be able to help him feel comfortable getting his hair cut, which is something we could never do before. He washes his own hair now and they take him to the hairdressers. The next step is for me to be able to take him to our local salon which we’re working on together. I never thought I would be here now with a boy with a neat haircut!

"They’ll also tailor activities around what Noah likes. He has a huge love of trains so they’ll take him to train museums and at Christmas he visited the Polar Express. It’s great that he gets to have these experiences.

"When he comes home, we get a full report on how his stay has been; what he’s eaten, what activities he’s done, what targets he’s met. It reinforces the fact that he is in safe hands. You know exactly what he’s doing and that he’s being properly cared for. Everyone is so approachable. I know that I can talk to anyone there and just say, this is happening, have you heard of this before, any advice, tips, or tricks, and they are always there to help. 

"Our lives revolve around Noah’s needs. But by having that one night away, we can make time for his brother and sister as well as ourselves, and just sit in the evening and watch a film all the way through. It’s those little things.  

"Having that space has definitely helped my relationship with Noah. He such a wonderful, scrumptious boy. His meltdowns are less frequent now, and we can cope with them more. I mean, you can manage anything when your batteries are recharged. If I’ve had a full night’s sleep, I can feel like ‘Yeah, I’ve got this’!  

"I say I don’t know where we’d be without Nelson Lodge, but I do. We’d be living in two separate homes. That was where we were. It’s saved us as a family and kept us together. Just the fact that there is somewhere like Nelson Lodge is amazing. There should be more."