Louise
I have been working for Thera East Anglia for almost 15 years. I have always worked in health and social care and I love the variety that the role brings – no two days are the same.
In 2009, I was working as a registered learning disability nurse and Thera took over as the provider for some of the people I was supporting. My role became redundant so I applied for the Team Leader role and was successful.
I love making a difference in people’s lives and together with my team, we have achieved lots in the last 15 years including supporting people to holiday in Florida, going on cruises, and empowering people to have their own bank accounts with debit cards, to name a few!
I have had the opportunity to set up supported living for two groups of people during my time with Thera, and have managed other areas on an interim basis. With the support of my team, I feel I’ve had a real impact on the people I support to have better and more fulfilled lives.
I have had lots of training over the years, including at Community Support Leader days, and have been lucky to have had the same managers for almost 10 years now, which I feel has been important for maintaining consistency, not just for me and my team, but for the people I support as well.
I have been a key mover trainer for almost 6 years, a role I enjoy and it enables me to meet other teams and ensure good practice. I won the Motivational Team Leader Award and this was a proud moment for me.
I continue to strive for improvement for the people I support, and I am a great believer in investing in my team and giving them opportunities to grow and develop with the organisation, especially making use of the free NVQ funding. Although we face challenging times in social care particularly around recruitment and retention and access to services, I continue to try my best to make a difference each and every day.