Tom is nine. He lives with his mother who is bed-bound on an inner London council estate. Tom and his mother are very isolated as neither of them leaves the house very much. Tom’s mother gets very depressed as she is not able to care for Tom adequately but is herself cared for by him. Tom loves and cares for his mother and worries a great deal about her but he gets frustrated and angry because he has so few opportunities unlike the boys he goes to school with. Tom was worried that he might be bullied if he went away on his own with CCHF as he is bullied at school. Working with our skilled staff Tom has now been on two CCHF weekends. He has been cared for and given the opportunity to talk about himself when he wants to and encouraged to play, make friends and be as energetic as he wants to be.

Tom’s confidence in himself has risen and he is making friends at school and now attends a youth club local to him, once a week, which he had previously said he couldn’t as he would be bullied.