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Luen’s blog: Difficult choices

Last week I attended an All Party Parliamentary Group event in The House of Commons about the impact the rising cost of living this winter is having on families like those we support.

We heard from a family using significant amounts of energy to support their daughter to live. Everything they do with their daughter is electricity dependent, whether that’s getting her out of bed using a hoist, helping her to breathe with suction equipment or using a hydrotherapy pool to take away her pain. 

They had made the incredibly difficult decision to stop using the small hydrotherapy pool in their garden so they would be better able to manage the other costs of her care. The pool needs to be heated 24/7 and kept at an even temperature in order to be safe. But using it is the only time their daughter is pain free. What a hideous choice they have had to make just to manage their household bills.

Here at Forget Me Not we have a hydrotherapy pool, a physiotherapist who can offer this kind of therapy and a number of trained staff who can run our service. We know how incredibly beneficial this service is to manage pain, promote movement and build muscle. But, just as with this family, this all costs money to run and our electricity bills, despite putting a fix in place in April, have doubled in cost to over £30,000 a year.

We can help many families facing horrendous choices, like the one I met last week, But only if we can keep our hydrotherapy pool running. 

If you can support us this Christmas whether that’s by playing our raffle, donating to our shops or volunteering your time, you’ll help us be here for families facing difficult choices this winter.