I enjoy setting goals and seeing the team achieve them together

It was 2012 when I joined Bluebird Care. I really like being around people and have a caring nature and that’s why I became a care assistant.

After about six months I was promoted to Supervisor. I went on to become Lead Supervisor, then Deputy Manager and finally Registered Manager in 2020. I’ve recently celebrated ten years with Bluebird Care.

My role includes making sure the service we deliver is safe and effective and that our care plans are people centred. I deliver training to our new care assistants, and I support the whole office team. I enjoy setting goals and seeing the team achieve them together.

We recently had an audit and we scored very well. It’s great to know that all our hard work and my direction to the team is being noticed and that we’re providing a great standard of care.

I still have contact with our customers. I pop in and see how they’re doing; I’ve known some of them since I started.

We hold cream teas for customers so they can get together, and I help out, making the teas, and serving the cakes and sandwiches.

I’ve had such special moments in my career. It was a huge privilege to be able to hold the hands of two of our customers as they passed away in their own homes. I was a supervisor when one passed away, and a deputy manager when the other passed away, but I had previously supported them as a carer and knew them very well, they felt comfortable with me.

We often talk about the many fond memories we have of our customers. You get to know them and their families.

A really important part of the care visit is to have a chat to them. For some customers you may be the only person they see, they rely on you.

It’s so important to many people to be able to stay in their own homes, it’s where they want to be, surrounded by their belongings, and their memories.

I absolutely loved the job, right from the start.  I found it rewarding and felt like I was making a difference

Our carers go the extra mile and sometimes it’s the small things that make a difference. In the spring, for example, I’ll ask the carers to buy bunches of daffodils for their customers.

When I interview for care assistants I’m looking for people who genuinely care and have a passion for people. We have many mums who have children at school. We have ladies who have had HR backgrounds, some were ex bankers. Some people reach a stage in their life where they feel they want to give something back; they want to have a rewarding role where they’re going to make a difference.

Being a care assistant offers flexibility and there’s great potential for career progression. Four people in my office have come from the care team.

At Bluebird Care we see ourselves as a big family. We have a supportive approach. There isn’t anything we’d ask our care staff to do that we wouldn’t do or haven’t done ourselves.

If anyone is thinking of becoming a carer I’d say: ‘Do it, take the leap.’ If you are a genuinely caring person it’s fulfilling to enable people to remain in their own homes. It’s a privilege to be able to do that. I’m very happy in my role and I’m super proud of what I’ve achieved.