If there’s somewhere to go, something to see or an activity to get stuck into, Alfie is usually interested.
Alfie lives at Ashfield Place in Colchester and likes his days busy. He loves bowling and swimming, trips to the farm and cinema, watching planes at Stansted Airport and getting out into the community. At home, there’s darts, his Bob Marley poster, his teddies and a bedroom he’s proud to call his own.
His mum Sacha describes him as a “social butterfly”, and it’s the only way to describe him really. Cinema trips, pottery painting, bowling, zoos, climbing, discos, shopping, meals out, theme parks and days by the sea have all featured in Alfie’s busy social schedule. There is plenty going on, an that’s just the way he likes it.
Ask Alfie what he thinks of it and the answer is uncomplicated… “I like living at ivolve because I go out all the time and have fun.” And that simple sentence tells us a lot, because behind all those days out is something bigger. A home where Alfie feels safe, people who know him well and support that has been built around who he is.
That’s what person-led support at Ashfield Place means in Alfie’s life.
“I like living at ivolve because I go out all the time and have fun.”
Alfie, Person We Support
Finding somewhere Alfie could truly call home
Getting here mattered. Alfie has Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS), a rare chromosomal condition, and needs consistent support across his everyday life. Before coming to ivolve, he had been living in another supported setting which was no longer meeting his support needs.
After leaving, Alfie spent around three months back at his family home while everyone looked for something different. They wanted a setting where he could have his own space, while still having social contact, activity and support that’s so important to him.
For Sacha and the family, finding the right place also meant being able to trust again. Then they found Ashfield Place. She said, “From the first phone call, the team at ivolve and Ashfield Place were attentive to Alfie’s needs. When we visited, we knew it was the right place for him. It was a place he could call home.”
Today, Alfie lives in his own self-contained home within Ashfield Place. But Sacha doesn’t describe it like that. She calls it what Alfie calls it – “Alfie’s House.”
Two words with a lot of meaning. His dartboard is there. His favourite things are there. His family have helped personalise the space around him. And, importantly, it feels like somewhere that belongs to Alfie rather than somewhere he simply receives support.
Through Strive, our model of support, we’ve helped Alfie to create the foundations from which everything else can grow. For Alfie, those foundations have been familiarity, predictable support, people he trusts and a home he recognises as his own. Sacha says, “He is safe and happy here and as a parent that is priceless.”
“From the first phone call, the team at ivolve and Ashfield Place were attentive to Alfie’s needs. When we visited, we knew it was the right place for him. ”
Sacha, Alfie's Mum
Trust came first. Everything else followed.
When Alfie first arrived, the goal wasn’t to immediately fill every hour of his week. The team needed to know Alfie first. What did he enjoy? What helped him feel settled? How did he communicate when something wasn’t right? What made a good day a good day for him?
Alex, Manager at Ashfield Place, explained, “We really made sure we got to know Alfie and his likes and dislikes before we started to introduce more activities and outings, ensuring we built our relationship with him so he knew he was safe and could trust us.”
That relationship-building shaped the support that followed. Colleagues completed Makaton training to strengthen communication with Alfie and Active Support training with our in-house Positive Behaviour Support team. His existing Positive Behaviour Support plan was reviewed and updated too, helping colleagues better understand what Alfie may be communicating through his behaviour and responding proactively to support his wellbeing.
A pictorial daily planner was developed with Alfie so he could see what was happening and what was coming next. These might sound like individual tools or interventions. Together, they did something much more important: they made life easier for Alfie to understand and gave the people around him a better understanding of him.
That is Strive in action. Not a checklist sitting alongside someone’s support plan, but a way of asking: What will help this person feel secure? What matters to them? And what can we change around them so more becomes possible?
For Alfie, it was more than he ever imagined…
"We really made sure we got to know Alfie and his likes and dislikes before we started to introduce more activities. We built a relationship with him so he knew he was safe and could trust us.”
Alex, Registered Manager
A busy life built around Alfie’s choices
Once trust and routine were in place, Alfie’s world had plenty of room to grow. And grow it has. Watching the planes at Stansted remains a particular favourite. Then there’s bowling, swimming, farms, zoos, cinema trips and days at the park. But it doesn’t stop there. The list keeps going… pottery painting, climbing, discos, shopping, eating out, trampolining, the seaside and theme parks. You name it, Alfie does it!
Alfie receives 24-hour 1:1 support at home and 2:1 support when he is out, giving him the support he needs to enjoy these experiences safely. But the outcome isn’t simply that Alfie “accesses activities”. It is that his life has colour, variety and choice.
Within Strive, being part of something, enjoying interests, having meaningful opportunities, connecting with the community and spending time doing things you love genuinely matter.
Alfie is very clear about the change he sees himself. sked what is different in his life now, he said, “I go out every day, with the staff I like, to the places I want.” His days aren’t busy because a timetable says they should be. They are busy because Alfie likes being busy. There’s an important difference.
“I go out every day, with the staff I like, to the places I want.”
Alfie, Person We Support
Big progress can look like making your own lunch
Of course, not every achievement happens at a theme park or bowling alley. Sometimes it happens in the kitchen. One of the things Alfie is proudest of is making his own packed lunch. He said, “I make my packed lunch with only the staff watching. I can make it myself now. I am proud about that.”
It is exactly the sort of everyday moment that can be easy to overlook. But independence is often built like this. One task, one choice and one opportunity to take the lead at a time. Rather than automatically stepping in, colleagues stay nearby and give Alfie room to use the skills he has developed.
That is Independence through Strive made real. The aim isn’t to do everything for someone. It is to understand where support is needed, where it can reduce and where someone can be encouraged to say, in Alfie’s own words, “I can make it myself now.”
The same thinking appears elsewhere at home. When colleagues discovered how much Alfie enjoys darts, they learned to play too. Not because darts sits on a care plan, but because relationships are built in the ordinary moments people enjoy together.
A few throws at the dartboard can be fun. They also say, “I know what you like. I want to spend time with you. Your interests matter here.”
“I make my packed lunch with only the staff watching. I can make it myself now.”
Alfie, Person We Support
Making space for family again
One of the most meaningful parts of Alfie’s story has been the change in his relationship with his family. When he first moved to Ashfield Place, family contact could be difficult for Alfie and sometimes coincided with high levels of anxiety and behaviours of concern.
The team worked alongside Alfie and his family to understand what might be happening for him, develop coping strategies and recognise earlier when he was becoming anxious. Over time, colleagues have seen a significant reduction in behaviours of concern. But that isn’t the most important part of the story. What matters is what that change has made possible.
Family time has gradually become more positive. Alfie has been able to enjoy outings with his parents, and another milestone has happened through something many of us barely think twice about: a video call. Sacha explained that previously Alfie had found it difficult when colleagues joined calls with her. Now, they can.
“He allows all his staff on the call to talk to me, which is amazing for Alfie,” she said. For another person, that might be an ordinary Tuesday phone call. For Alfie and his family, it represents trust, greater emotional security and a relationship finding its way into a new and happier rhythm.
It is where several parts of Strive naturally meet: Relationships, Emotional Wellbeing and Safe and Stable. Not as separate outcomes on a page, but as one very human thing: being able to enjoy time with the people who matter. Sacha said, “We have a good relationship now. We miss him loads, but we cannot put a price on his happiness.”
“He allows all his staff on the call to talk to me, which is amazing for Alfie!”
Sacha, Alfie's Mum
Great support starts with knowing Alfie
For Alex and the Ashfield Place team, consistency has come from knowing Alfie well enough to notice what helps, what matters and when something needs to change.
That could mean using his pictorial planner to make the day clearer. It could mean planning an outing around a long-standing interest, learning Makaton to support communication, playing darts together at home or recognising the early signs that Alfie is becoming anxious.
Alex said the team’s approach is simple, she smiled, “We tailored each activity to Alfie and his interests. That’s always at the heart of person-led support at Ashfield Place. Decisions start with Alfie rather than asking Alfie to fit around a fixed routine.”
The result is not a perfectly straight line, and it shouldn’t be. Good support leaves room for different days, changing support needs and new goals. What matters is that Alfie is listened to, has people around him who understand him and is supported to keep building a life that feels good to him.
That is also why his own answers to those questions carry so much weight. Alfie says he feels happy. He says he feels safe. He says people listen to him. And he says he makes his own choices.
They are short answers, but together they describe exactly the kind of life Strive is designed to support.
“We tailor each activity to Alfie and his interests. Decisions start with Alfie rather than asking Alfie to fit around a fixed routine."
Alex, Registered Manager
What comes next for Alfie?
There is still plenty Alfie wants to do. He would like to do more swimming and spend more time watching planes. He has also said he would like to go and see Peppa Pig.
Alongside the fun, there are meaningful relationship goals too. The team is continuing to support Alfie to build his confidence around family time, with the hope that visits to his parents’ home and more time with his brother and sister can become part of his life when he feels ready.
Progress will continue at Alfie’s pace. That is important. Support at ivolve isn’t about reaching a finish line or ticking off outcomes. Our Strive model gives colleagues a way to keep asking: what matters now, what might be possible next, and what support will help this person move towards it?
For Alfie, person-led support at Ashfield Place has meant a home he calls his own, days filled with interests he chooses, growing everyday independence and relationships that are finding new space to flourish. Perhaps Sacha says it best, “As long as Alfie’s happy then we are happy.”
And Alfie? Well, he’s already thinking about the next day out!
A home shaped around what matters
A good home is about far more than where someone lives. It is about being understood, having choices and being supported to build a life that matters. Find out more about Ashfield Place and how we support people to build safe, active and fulfilling lives.