Mid-way through my Undergraduate Degree in Criminology, I started volunteering for Hull’s Independent Visitor’s project as an independent visitor.
My role was supporting a young person throughout their time in care, seeing them every 2 weeks, attending their Looked After reviews and sharing their views as appropriate.
I absolutely love this work and it sparked an existing interest for me in supporting children and young people in the care system, from this point on, I knew social work was the career for me.
Shortly after volunteering, I attended a university open day and went on to complete the Masters in Social Work the following year.
I had some amazing experiences on my placements and got to spend 5 weeks in Uganda working at Hospice Africa, supporting those with HIV and cancer.
This was an incredible experience that really enabled me to consider the cultural elements impacting upon those service users and to see the significant impact of social care intervention and support.
I have been working with children and their families for around 7 years now, working across 3 different Local Authorities in Yorkshire.
I feel really privileged to be in this position; to develop relationships with children and their families from all walks of life, all while supporting them to make changes in order for children to remain with their birth families, where possible.
It has been extremely rewarding and, at times, tough. It’s safe to say no 2 days have been the same, which has always kept me interested and focused on my work.
I thoroughly enjoy working as a team and supporting colleagues to develop their practice. As a proud Signs of Safety Champion, I feel strongly about getting workers on board with the model and embedding this into their practice.
I also have keen interests in sibling relationships and their attachments and adoption.
Outside of work you’ll find me socialising with family and friends, going for walks, gardening and growing any fruit and veg that I can get my hands on.