I began my professional career 35 years ago as a sports coach and teacher, working as a swimming teacher and coaching squash, football, and tennis.
Several of the sessions I coached were attended by young people from around Hull who were living in Care, and as I got to know the young people individually, I also found out more about this specific area of work, it was of great interest to me having spent the early part of my life in the care system.
I felt it was my calling to move into this field so began working in each of the cities children’s homes as a Care Officer.
This led me to work in a therapeutic family campus in Market Weighton were the team and I worked intensely with children and families who had multiple and complex needs, helping them to address their issues and make positive changes to their lives.
I moved to work with young people with learning difficulties in a semi-independence unit where we helped them to develop the life skills necessary to enable them to thrive independently as they reached adulthood.
My next role was within Sutton Place Secure Unit where I worked for thirteen years as a shift manager.
Sutton Place was a regional secure unit who worked with young people who had been placed there by the courts either for their offending behaviour or because their lifestyle was putting them at risk of significant harm.
I found this work both highly challenging and highly rewarding in equal measure and took on various other roles such as training the staff team in ‘Therapeutic Crisis Intervention’ and ‘Protecting Rights in the Caring Environment’.
I also became a qualified Assessor or Verifier for NVQ.
This then led me to my current role within Learning and Development for the Children and Young People’s Workforce were my colleague and I deliver -
- level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare
- level 3 Diploma for Foster Care
- level 4 Award in Work with Parents (Intense Support for Families with Multiple and Complex Needs)
- level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare
I love working directly with the young people to try to make a positive and measurable difference to their lives, and now enjoy working with and mentoring new workers to enable and empower them to become positive role models, be great practitioners and to bring consistency and a knowledgeable and professional ethos to the workforce in Children and Young People and Family Services in Hull.
In my spare time I enjoy spending time with my family, watching my sons play rugby, you will often find me getting muddy on the Wolds on my mountain bike and I love walking our 2 Sproodles Douglas and Freida.
We also have an allotment where I enjoy growing all the fruit and veg we eat with varying degrees of success.