Meet Hannah, Assistant & Staffing Co-ordinator
Hannah is an assistant and staffing co-ordinator at Lawford Lodge, our respite home for 18 - 25 year olds. Hear what she has to say about her career with us:
Before Diverse Abilities I worked in retail as a manager of a village store. I’d always had a passion for working with young people and was ready for a change. That’s when I saw a job here advertised and I really loved the vision of offering choice and tailored care for the individual.
As Lawford Lodge assistant and staffing co-ordinator, I am based in the offices at Lily’s Place where I support Claire, the manager of Lawford Lodge, in the day to day running of our respite service for 18 to 25 year olds. As well as this, I am responsible for overseeing all the staffing needs and rotas for the children’s team.
My biggest challenge professionally has probably been the COVID pandemic. As a service we tried to remain open the whole time, which wasn’t always easy. At the start of it all I was a lead support for the children’s service and adapting to a different way of working with full PPE, testing, and added staffing pressure was hard. However, as a team, we kept going to provide quality care for all the families we support. I think what our team achieved during that period was amazing.
Working for Diverse Abilities has given me some of the most amazing memories supporting some of the most inspirational and resilient families. I have great memories of taking families to Grooves on the Green, with lots of glitter and music, as well as our themed days over the summer holidays - The Greatest Showman day was probably my favourite; in the morning all the young people helped to make costumes, and in the afternoon we had a show where everyone joined in singing the songs and dancing.
I’m really pleased to have received my promotion supporting Claire and I’m enjoying taking this on - I also hope to build on this and continue to develop the role.
My advice for new starters would be to go in with an open mind. No two days are the same but if you are open, willing to take on a new challenge, and enjoy working as part of a team, then you’ll fit right in.