Award-winning Christow carer goes way beyond the call of duty

Claire Northmore is the proud proprietor of the Friendly Faces enabling agency. She's especially proud because one of her 28 staff, Frances Peake (Fran), has just been named Carer of the Year in the Pride of Devon 2020 awards.

Claire founded the agency in 2015 after her career as a paramedic with the Ambulance Service, with the main aim of helping the elderly and those with dementia live as independently as possible for as long as possible in their own home.

Fran is an exceptional example of how much can be achieved even in an extreme case. She was nominated for the award by Bev Hopkins for looking after her brother, Kevin Mears, at his home in Christow. Kevin was a well-known figure in and around Christow, not least from his days doing the butcher's delivery round. Then, five years ago aged only 63, he was diagnosed with early-onset dementia and his sisters were soon struggling to cope. 'You can look back and in hindsight realise that Kev was probably on the autistic spectrum,' says Bev. 'He always liked order and routine.'

'A sense of routine is really important for someone with dementia because that helps them to keep their everyday skills and abilities going," explains Claire, who trained in dementia studies at Worcester University. 'Going food shopping had become an important part of Kevin's routine and with a little help he would choose his own things. But unfortunately he'd forget that they had to be put in a trolley and paid for. So Fran and a colleague persuaded Tesco to let a security guard shadow them. Then every time Kevin put something in his pocket they'd put a duplicate in the trolley so everything could be paid for at the till without any upset.

'Fran's skills working with people with dementia are fantastic because she's patient but she also has a knack of finding out what really mattered to that person in their past life and she uses that knowledge to try to give them the best quality of life possible,' adds Claire. 'So with Kevin we used to take him out for drives on his old butcher's round which he could still remember clearly.' 

Bev recalls how Fran then began cooking Kevin's dinner. 'He'd forgotten how to use a knife and fork and liked to eat with his hands so she'd cut it all up for him. He hid food all over the house so she'd be finding potatoes under the bed. His personal hygiene took a dive so she'd be taking his washing to do at home. Then he lost track of the time especially when the clocks changed. He'd be out walking on the roads in the dark but she'd go driving around to find him. The thing is she was doing all this in her own time but I think that's just in her nature – she's amazing.

'In the end we had to have Kev sectioned which was awful,' concludes Bev. 'Fran – bless her – was going to his place five or six times a day. I live in Exeter and my sister Sheri's in Newton Abbot. Our other sister Dawn was ill at the time. We didn't have time to do all the things Fran did and he'd never have managed to stay at home for those last two years without her.'

But you won't catch Fran blowing her own trumpet. 'He was a bit of a character,' she reminisces fondly about Kevin when asked if she ever struggled with his restless energy and repetitive behaviour.  'And his family were so supportive. Whatever I asked for – such as a bell on his back door so I could hear him going out – they got it.  

'I was an auxiliary nurse for years but it was never really my thing. I always wanted to spend more time with the patients talking to them and getting to know them and of course that can't be done in hospital. Finding Friendly Faces changed my life. It's a small company and Claire's really hands on. She genuinely cares for every client and she understands the difficulties of caring for a relative with dementia.'

In a sad twist of fate Kevin died unexpectedly on 1st November, the day after we'd spoken to Bev, but she bravely decided this article should go ahead as Kevin would have wanted Fran to get the recognition she deserves.

Radio Exe will broadcast a livestream of this year's Kütchenhaus Pride of Devon Awards virtual ceremony on YouTube at 7pm on Thursday 19th November and the video will be hosted on the Radio Exe YouTube channel at https://bit.ly/32mZYt9  For Twitter/Instagram users see #POD2020. For more details about Friendly Faces visit www.friendlyfacesuk.co.uk