Here at SWAPS we have countless sucess stories, read about some of them here.

An active 80 year old SWAPS service user helps out at various homes and centres across Exeter.  She received the Express and Echo’s Bouquet of the Week in November 2007 following nominations, she also knits lots of dolls’ clothes and blankets for Hospiscare and does a lot for the Dream-A-Way charity.

A SWAPS service user did a sponsored Swim for Life in aid of The Wrights Foundation Research, Heart and Lungs Activity and raised £151.  Originally nervous of water she now swims every Friday (20 – 30 lengths!) and she does a sponsored Swim for Life every year for a different charity.  She has raised hundreds of pounds whilst keeping fit, building her confidence, socializing and enjoying herself.

A research scientist from Kingsteignton raised £1099.50 for SWAPS in June 2006 by successfully completing the Welsh 3000 challenge.  A gruelling 27 mile walk over 15 Welsh Peaks. The money raised went towards organising social events for service users and providers.

A SWAPS service user with a real passion for planes went flying for the first time in a four seater plane as 50th birthday treat organised by her carer.
Quote "On Saturday we went to Dunkerswell and I had a flight in the plane we took off in Sky Hawk at 10.30am and had a very good time in it.  Can we do it again? Please let’s do it again.  We went over our house, we saw the sheep and they looked tiny and we went over the sea.  I steered the plane for a while, did you see me bring it down the runway?  Can we do it again I would love to go up as I enjoy it very much".

ORDINARY PEOPLE DOING SOMETHING AMAZING
(extract from Mid-Devon Advertiser, reporter Nigel Canham writes:)

A Kingsteignton-based charity which finds family homes for potentially vulnerable adults in Devon and Cornwall has said the number of hosts must double to meet demand. The South West Adult Placement Scheme (SWAPS) was established in 2004 by several authorities including Devon and Cornwall County Councils. The group identifies places for people with needs such as, but not exclusively, learning difficulties. It currently works with 100 families who have 150 people placed with them.

It is the embodiment of care in the community and a chance which many more people would like to experience. The model very much fits the government’s wishes to provide tailored, very flexible and non-institutional care. It bridges a gap which nothing else does. Many who choose to provide care are couples whose children have left home although many different family set ups are involved. Being placed has great benefits for an individual’s independence and many who had spent a year or two with a family had progressed to their own accommodation. Alternatively, some people had found a home for life. Many people seem to understand the system best when likened to adult fostering. It can be an arrangement entered into with no fixed end date in mind. It can be whatever people want it to be.

SWAPS undertakes a comprehensive assessment of all those who express an interest in becoming what is officially referred to as service providers. Personal attributes, life experience and practicalities all come into it rather than professional qualifications. SWAPS wants to make the right matches, not see the right bits of paper. SWAPS states that there are more individuals needing care than families offering it. We need diversity, a wide pool of people, many of those waiting are either in inappropriate care homes or with birth families, often older parents. Apart from the personal reward which comes from being a provider, and support from SWAPS, there is also financial help.

Each person placed with a family attracts between £260 - £400 per week depending on their needs. After expenses it¹s unlikely to make anyone rich but it does allow some people to make it their full time job. Others take people in only occasionally providing periods of short-term care. All the providers have one thing in common - they are just ordinary people doing something amazing for other people.