Help to feel valued

Sometimes holed up in institutions on the outskirts of towns and cities, they had no reason to feel at home in a society where people are often valued according to what they can do rather than who they are.

However, while a different approach was coming into focus, a project in Bognor was already gaining momentum. L'Arche, which has just celebrated its 25th anniversary, is a branch of a world-wide scheme which helps people with learning disabilities to truly feel part of a community.

A cluster of shared houses is home for both them and carers or assistants, where workshops and other activities help develop a sense of togetherness.

Deputy community leader Chris Bemrose emphasised the benefits of living in the community worked both ways.

He said: "The main goal of the project is to give people, some of whom may have no friends of their own, a sense of belonging.

"It is important to give them a sense they are valued as people and not simply because of their difficulties. They can be often on the fringe of society but the ideal now is for integration.

"And the people who work or help here get as much out of it as they do.

"We tend to put up boundaries because we want to give the impression we are strong and independent and can deal with anything.

"People with learning disabilities tend to be much more open and are much more welcoming, and people can learn a lot from them because they can be very perceptive. Assistants have come up to me because they are feeling low but the people they are caring for have already picked up on it and have come up to ask if they are OK.

"People often first come here with the idea they are helping but the ones who stay long-term realise they are being helped too. There is something about the spontaneity of working with people with learning disabilities which makes it exciting."

Chris said he passionately believed those in care had great gifts, such as compassion and patience, which not all people have.

L'Arche began in 1964 in a town in France, Trosly-Breuil, when the founder Jean Vanier, invited two men with developmental disabilities to live with him.

He named the home L'Arche after Noah's Ark - a place of refuge and new beginnings.

The idea grew into a global Christian organisation which places an emphasis on helping people with learning problems and spiritual development.

The project provides a home for the disabled and their carers and runs activities, including garden projects, carpentry and candle-making.

The majority of the assistants and carers are single but there are also couples.

Chris said: "People who come here may have families of their own. But those families may have decid-ed they can't provide an adequate level of care because they are getting too old.

"The carers may come to live here either to train in care provision or to stay longer."

Chris, 46, who used to be a man-agement consultant in London, said one of the reasons for his moving was disappointment with city life.

He said: "An increasing number of people who are coming to live here as helpers in mid-life rather than just on a gap year or to train.

"I used to work in the voluntary sector but I felt charities were becoming more and more business-like and losing some of their soul.

"L'Arche retains a sense of what a charity is meant to be and there is also a strong sense of togetherness here.

"There is a lot of emphasis on individualism and independence in the Anglo-Saxon world but there is sense of inter-dependence here and being together, which I think has been lost in other areas.

"Community organisations developed a lot during the Sixties but then they declined.

"I think they are developing again be-cause people are looking for a sense of meaning and value in their lives."

However, he added, the community did not want to detach itself from the rest of society.

He said: "We still involve ourselves in the local community.

"We are keen to be integrated into the town as much as possible."

"Overall, this is a place where people feel fulfilled and feel that they belong."