Testimonial

I applied for a position at UBU on 15th March 2021 and was fortunate to be invited to an interview. The interview was done differently from what I am used to due to COVID restrictions it was done over Teams. The best part of the interview for me was I got to interact with one of the People We Support. Later that day I got a telephone call to say I was successful.

Over the next couple of day's I was filling in the employment form which was really easy as they were all electronic, it was just now a case of waiting for my DBS to come back.

During the time I was waiting for my DBS to come back, the manager of St Andrew's where I would be working reached out to me, to introduce herself and asked me to get in contact if I had any questions which I found reassuring.

My checks had returned and I was able to start on the 10th May 2021. I remember getting the bus and feeling very nervous but excited at the same time. I got to the front door and I remember thinking to myself, right this is it, this is the kind of job you have wanted to do for a long time. I rang the buzzer and a voice came over the intercom, I introduced myself. Karen came down to the front door and introduce herself in person, I found her very friendly and welcoming. She took me to the service area where she introduced me to James the assistant manager and said he will be your mentor during your training.

Me, Karen, and Jason sat down and they discussed who the People We Support (PWS) was, went through the policies, showed me Learning and Growing they then took me around the flats to introduce me to each of the PWS's and staff who were in. On the first afternoon, I did my first Learning and growing modules which I found very useful. Over the next 8 weeks, I was given time to be able to do my Learning and Growing modules plus have time to shadow different staff when they are giving support. James was always on hand if I had any questions and would often sit down and talk to me about procedures and show me how to do other things like Health and Safety checks.

Once I had finished my training and it was time to do it alone, I felt confident enough to be able to offer to support by myself. I am not going to sit here and tell you every support is easy, it is not, it can be quite challenging. I enjoy the challenge it brings and in some ways it made me see that some of my problems are not that bad. I am able to teach them the life skills they need so they can be more independent, to support them in daily routines of cooking and cleaning and in some cases they just want company. Yes, some days are challenging when they are not feeling well but you also get to do some amazing things too. I have been to the circus, I have been on away day football games, I have sat in a pub watching football, I am going to Comicon in Liverpool in November.

Over the last few weeks, I have also been doing Background support and have just started doing sleeps. I am looking forward to what the future brings and I definitely want to do all the training UBU provides, so I am able to give the PWS the service they deserve.

I really do enjoy the work I do and I could see myself doing this for a long time to come.