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Kelly’s story

1st February 2022

Kelly recently joined our team as a Care Assistant, and was one of a growing number of people who during the pandemic took the decision to move into social care from a completely different profession. Covid has been an unexpected recruiter by shining a light like never before on a role that combines some of the toughest challenges with some of the greatest rewards.

“I used to be a Customer Service Assistant at a local supermarket. I’m a real people person, so I really enjoyed the interaction with customers and helping them. But during Covid I’d often see the news reports about the amazing things that carers did every day”, said Kelly. “It was obviously a hard job and for some people it might have put them off, but for me it had the opposite effect! It was amazing to see the difference these carers made to people’s lives and to their families, and I really wanted to be a part of that.

“I live locally so I knew about Whiteley Village. It’s a beautiful place but I didn’t realise it was run by a charity and so that made it even more attractive as a place to work for me. When I talked to the team at Whiteley about becoming a care assistant I was surprised that I didn’t need any specific experience. It was just your attitude, commitment, and people skills they were interested in, as they train you on the job.

“I’ve been working for the Trust for a couple of months now in Ingram House, their residential care home, and I’m really enjoying it. It’s been great getting to know the residents – there’s some lovely characters and we often have fun together. Of course, it’s hard work but it’s very rewarding and there’s lots of training, and the team have been friendly and supportive too.

“It was a bit of a leap of faith but I’m so glad I made the change. I enjoyed what I was doing before – but the big difference for me is that was a job, and this feels more like a career”.

Learning, personal development and support for staff is something our charity has always been committed to, and is one of the reasons our staff say they stay with us. We’re proud to be a Silver Investors in People employer and have fantastic feedback about what a great place Whiteley Village is to work. If you’d like to join our brilliant team, you can find out more about us here and the current vacancies we have.