On film, inspiring story of care home couple who fought to stay together
The story of an elderly couple forced to live apart by social services has inspired a poignant film after the director read about their plight.
Jessie and Ray Lorrison had not spent a single day apart since they met in 1946, but last year were forced to live separately after council bosses refused to let her move into his care home.
Now their story will be echoed in a film starring Sylvia Syms and Peter Bowles as a married couple of 60 years who, still deeply in love, have to fight the care system to spend their final days together. The touching tale, called Together, was written and directed by Paul Duddridge, and will be released in cinemas next month.
Mr Duddridge said he wanted to shed light on the bureaucracy of the care system, and how the wishes of older people are overlooked. ‘It’s practically a horror film for people over a certain age,’ he said. ‘There were a lot of those stories coming out of the Daily Mail at the time spotting this type of injustice.’
Last year former merchant navy chef Mr Lorrison, then 95, was moved to Westoe Grange Care home in South Shields for respite when his 88-year-old wife was in hospital.
But when Mrs Lorrison was released from hospital she was told by South Tyneside Council that she did not meet the criteria to join him in the home. Instead she was forced to live alone with daily carer visits, leaving her lifelong companion ‘confused, anxious and lonely’ without her.
It was only after their grandson launched a petition that gained 25,000 signatures that the council changed its mind.
Mrs Lorrison passed away earlier this year, but her husband, 96, is still alive, although he has Alzheimer’s. Mr Duddridge says he hopes to hold a screening of the film at his care home. The couple’s daughter, Cheryl Bates, from South Shields, said: ‘I feel a bit emotional after watching the trailer. It was heartbreaking for me seeing my mum that upset.
‘It is a really nice idea ... They are bringing things to the forefront so people realise this is happening. It’s an issue that affects other families all over the country.’
Mr Duddridge said the system was ‘a perfect storm’ of bureaucracy, taking away people’s rights.