Growing up
Jon was born in Plymouth and spent his Childhood between Plymouth and Bristol. Jon moved out of the family home when he was 16 and made friends with people who did not have a positive impact on him, he started smoking cannabis and became very paranoid, pretty soon Jon became really unwell and was sectioned under the Mental Health Act and admitted to the local Mental Health Hospital.
Where the care began
Jon was diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia, he was really unwell for a while and had several hospital admissions over the following years.
In 2017 Jon was referred to Arrow and he moved into a supported living property with one other person. At the time Jon had someone around to support him all the time and daily visits from the community Mental Health Team. About 8 months later Jon moved out of this property and into a two bedroom house on his own. Jon now has just 22 hours of support a week and has been living in this house for 5 years. Jon loves living on his own and has nailed it! Jon is really proud of his home and works hard, with a little encouragement, to keep the house clean and tidy. Jon enjoys cooking for himself with his new air fryer, although also confessed that he still has a healthy relationship with McDonalds. Jon has worked hard tidying up his garden with new furniture and lighting so that he can enjoy the summer outside.
Taking action with football
This year Jon decided that the relationship he has with McDonalds was getting the better of him so he joined a local football group playing five aside football, with his preferred position as left back! Jon has really enjoyed meeting new people who are genuine friends, not people who would bring trouble to him.
Jon did say that he has found football to be more tiring than he expected. He used to watch the footballers on the TV and think ‘why don’t you just run a bit faster’ Jon says he now understands it might not always be that easy, after the first match Jon reportedly couldn’t move the next day!
Jon has shown real commitment to his football team and last month Jon was very happy to be nominated the ‘man of the match’ award. This is chosen by all the other people in the team and was a really proud moment for Jon. Jon told me that he sleeps better and feels better for doing the exercise.
Jon says he has overcome his paranoid ways and he has a much better way of thinking, he deals with things that bother him and most importantly he has learnt to look up, rather than look at the floor. Jon says he always tries to be a nice person and this helps him understand things that happen and that he enjoys feeling happier and less stressed out by looking after himself.
Jon is looking forward to the future and has new goals to get a girlfriend and a car!
