, are very much part of Godalming life, offering training and enjoyable work-related skills to our residents and many other people using the Meath’s services daily. Both have expanded the number of volunteers and professionals that we enjoy working with each day; and we are very grateful, because we couldn’t achieve half of what we currently do without you all!
We are especially proud of the friendly, vibrant and welcoming atmosphere that greets everyone as they arrive and which seems to permeate all our buildings. It’s very special and we never, ever, take it for granted. Our ‘Outstanding’ rating by the Care Quality Commission speaks volumes, but probably better is one family member’s comment, “the Meath is a most exceptional place and should be used as a blue print for all care homes”.
Lady Meath, on the other hand, founded the ‘Ministering Children’s League’, an organisation that went on to establish homes across the world caring for destitute children and whose motto “No day without a deed to crown it” said a great deal about her clear cut philosophy of keeping active and industrious to overcome personal circumstances. In a similar vein, she initiated the Brabazon Employment Society, which helped women in the many workhouses of the day to occupy their time. It was through this Society that she met and became interested in people living with epilepsy.
While she had many other interests in which she invested both time and money, including the churches in the East End of London and the slums of Dublin, we are all thankful that Lord and Lady Meath took the time to research further into the growing numbers of people being diagnosed with epilepsy. There were fears at the end of the nineteenth century that the overall health of the nation was declining, and people with epilepsy joined many others with disabilities in facing a very bleak future in workhouses or in one of the many overcrowded lunatic asylums.
We still share a very special relationship with our friends and neighbours but day to day life at the Meath is a far cry from those early days! We no longer admit people under eighteen years old since there are many specialist schools and colleges that focus explicitly on that age group. However, we do now welcome both men and women, helping each person to manage their epilepsy and to work towards achieving personal goals as they move into the adult world.
We are extremely grateful to Lady Meath for her foresight and are proud of our long history, the many years of highly effective services forming the bedrock upon which we have built our modern, proactive and highly professional organisation.
Usually, epilepsy is treated with ‘anti-epileptic’ drugs or ‘AEDs’. The drugs may help to reduce or stop the seizures and many people find this to be the case once they are taking the right medicine for them.
We will not therefore, be showing potential residents around the Meath in 2018. The main reason for not showing people around is that it is our residents’ home and we have to respect their choices of not always wanting strangers in their homes. The other reason is that most people that visit the Meath fall in love with the organisation almost immediately which makes the decision of finding an alternate provider difficult and for some impossible to consider.
Having won the ‘Excellence through Workforce Development’ section of the Surrey Care Awards in 2012, our focus remains on preparing a competent, skilled workforce to meet the progressive requirements of the Care Quality Commission (CQC), plus promoting best practice within the care sector.
With a wide range of subjects offered, both online and classroom-based, one important feature of our training is the participation of our clients, which provides a supplementary aspect, helping people to further appreciate the significance of the subject. For further information on epilepsy training, please visit:
