As a family, we hold Chestnut Tree House as a special place in our itinerary of places. Our family consists of Dave, Phillippa (Mum and Step-Dad) Zoë aged 1: Daniel aged 13, who suffers from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and Peter aged 6.
Daniel’s condition is life-limiting as it is a muscle wasting disease and there is no cure. At the moment he is wheelchair-bound and awaiting surgery on his spine to straighten him up.
Chestnut Tree House is a place of joy, peace, laughter, tears and many other thing all wrapped up together. We can come together as a family, or Daniel can come and stay on his own if we need time at home to do things. He is always well looked after. Spoilt with all the female attention and gets to do things without Mum breathing down his neck! He also gets to spend loads of time on PS2’s and computers!
If we come here as a family, there are things for all of us. Zoë sorts herself out with the Teen Room, has access to the internet, checks what new DVD’s are around for her to chill out with and, if lucky spends quality time with her Mum, either in the House or going out for some retail therapy. There are so many toys Playstations and other activities that Peter’s day is filled from beginning to end. Dave and I? Well we chill out, read books, relax, catch up on sleep and spend quality time with Zoë and Peter, which in the home environment, we don’t get time to do. We also have time for each other, which is very precious.
I suppose all in all, we act more like a normal family when we are here with all the pressures of Daniel taken off us.
The Staff are very thoughtful and caring. The family facilities are excellent and there has been a lot of attention to little details to make it a wonderful stay here.
If we want to escape and find peace and quiet, there is always a little room somewhere where we can be undisturbed. Something that we can’t do at home, as the space is not there.
Chestnut Tree House helps us through the stresses of everyday life with Daniel by knowing that there is somewhere for us to run to, to renew our batteries. Without its facilities and the Staff support our lives would not be as enriched as it is.