Story
Carers & Parents Support at MBDA UK
Senior Engineer, Bill shares his personal story of being a carer, and the support available to himself and colleagues, since working at MBDA Bristol.
My Story...
“I met my partner a year after she had finished chemo for Hodgkins Lymphoma, a white blood cell cancer. The treatment means she will never have a strong immune system, and had also left her with a number of side effects. The most obvious in daily life is peripheral neuropathy - a condition that reduces or removes feeling in her hands and feet. This can make walking difficult, as the subconscious feedback of pressure through her feet makes uneven, slippery or unstable surfaces difficult for her to manage. Additionally, the lack of feeling in her hands means that using knives and other kitchen implements has to be approached more carefully.
Unfortunately, she has since been diagnosed with Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis, a condition that forms lesions in the brain, affecting her long-term cognition and capability to work on mental tasks for long periods. She faces a lifetime of treatment sessions to slow progression and manage symptoms. These symptoms affect her ability to complete sentences, maintain expected life patterns and affect her memory.
As her carer, I help her find ways to manage her daily life, take her to appointments for treatment, symptom diagnosis and support groups. I help simplify decisions and problems, as the mental load to go through contracts, small print or legal documents can overwhelm her. I enable her to live her life as close to pre-diagnosis as possible. Sometimes my role is reactionary, and the knowledge that I am supported to take Dependents Leave when something happens unexpectedly gives me the freedom I need to ensure she’s looked after.”
Parents and Carers Support at MBDA UK
It’s difficult to know before you start whether a company will support you and the needs of the person you care for. Coming to MBDA however, I was immediately directed at the Parents and Carers Community by my manager.
In the community I found a place where others who worried about the same concerns I did. They shared experiences, solutions and tools that helped them through difficult times. My manager found policies that would help me to ensure I knew what support was available as standard, and made time to talk through them to ensure we agreed the implementation and understanding.
Through the community, I’m able to start helping others the way I’ve been helped. There are people who join, not knowing what help they can get through councils, work, or even simply in external communities. Having now been helped, I can support others, and know that the struggles I felt are being lessened in the same way.
The support in the Community spreads wider because of the combining of Parents and Carers. Colleagues with older children are aware of the support available for carers, making knowledge sharing faster. The Community shares information that may not have ben targeted for carers (finances, time management etc) because the wider inclusion makes finding resources more likely. The community itself organises talks, meetings, and events to highlight solutions and allow people space to feel included.
The Community being visible allows me and my concerns to be visible and helped. I don’t need to hide the effort I put in after work, and I’m supported to ensure I can still be an effective carer. It also makes the addition of support more likely, with a third-party caring benefit by Lottie giving additional support without having to discuss sensitive things at work.
Want to find out more about our range of employee-led support networks?