"It’s satisfying knowing you played a part" - Melissa
Take us through a typical day.
There’s no such thing as a typical day because every person we support is an individual. They all have different needs and like to do different things, so no two days are the same.
On a morning shift, I might support someone with personal care and making breakfast. After that, it is up to them – college, shopping, bowling, off to town or the resource centre.
Or maybe it’s dinner later and meeting with friends. My job is to support them to do the things they choose and live their life the way they want.
What do you like most about your work?
I really like knowing that I am supporting people to be happier and live as independently as they can. We do a lot of work with individuals to develop their daily living skills to make this happen.
Each person has a plan saying what their aims are and how we can support them to achieve their goals. It is really satisfying knowing that you played a part in supporting someone to go on holiday or use a computer for the first time. We also support people to manage their money, so they know about budgeting and saving.
I get on really well with my team. The manager and deputy manager where I work are very supportive and I have regular supervisions to talk about how things are going.
Why did you want to do this job?
My Mum works for Walsingham as well so I knew exactly what the job was like! She has been at Walsingham Support for a few years and she really enjoys it. I could see the amazing difference she was making to people’s lives and decided that I wanted to do that too.