A career that grows with you

Warren

from Support Worker to General Manager...

Hi I’m Warren and I started as a Support Worker with Hesley Group in August 1997.

Due to many opportunities along the way, I have held various roles within the Hesley Group over the 26 years which have included Support Worker, Senior Support Worker, Assistant Team Leader, College Lecturer, Vocational Manager, Workforce Mentor, Assistant General Manager and now General Manager at Low Laithes.

During my years with Hesley Group I have been supported to develop and learn and in turn I have completed some qualifications to support my future aspirations. I gained a teaching qualification which supported me to become a College Lecturer and also completed a Level 5 Leadership and Management qualification which supported me to become a registered General Manager.

I am passionate about people and I strive to support people in the best way possible and I am very proud of the support and work that we do every day. My most treasured memories from my years of supporting within the Hesley Group are based around the people we support. I have fond memories of being a ‘key support worker’ for a young man in 1997 whom I supported to go on his first holiday and have his first hair cut – these were massive steps for him. More recently I have also supported people to go and see ‘lion King’ the musical show in London.

Hesley Group will support you to learn and develop, all we ask is for you to have a positive attitude to learn and support the people who live here.

Alison

From Receptionist to Estates Manager...

Hi I’m Alison and I joined Hesley Group in April 2008 after redundancy from Barclays Bank where I had worked for 24 years. I had 2 young children so decided on a career change and came as receptionist, job sharing for Central Services.

I loved being there, Hesley Hall had just been renovated and was a stunning place to work in. There was a variety of people l came into contact with which made the job interesting, plus the purpose of the business was not something I had been exposed to before and I enjoyed learning about a new industry. Hesley Group is a place that supports improving qualifications and I used that opportunity to do a variety of NVQs whilst on reception and have continued to do so in my years at the Group to continually develop and learn so I can do my job well.

In 2011 an opportunity came up for a move to Low Laithes as Hotel Service Manager. I wasn't expecting to return to a management role in my career, but knew this was a role I would enjoy, could use my strengths of organisation, budget management and people skills to build a strong team and deliver the support needed for the site. Low Laithes is a fabulous site and it was rewarding to see it develop and grow from 11 people we support to final capacity of 35 over my 10 years there. I was involved in projects to open the central kitchen, add 5 extra properties to site, personalise flats to specific needs of individuals and set up the parents’ accommodation. We had the floods of 2019 where the site was cut off for 24 hours and everyone on site pulled together as no-one could get on site or others leave after shift. It's amazing how in adversity everyone always comes through together at Hesley Group.

Change came again in 2020 with a move back to the main Hesley site which is now Meadow View, as Estates Manager. The site is impressive and coming up the main drive, seeing lambs in the field and the other wildlife around is uplifting. How lucky are we to have this environment as our workplace? The challenges of the role were the same as at Low Laithes but on a bigger scale due to the size of the site. The responsibilities of the role changed over the years, with increased facilities management compliance, plus external regulation has increased bringing new challenges.

I feel Hesley Group works best when all sides work together for the benefit of the people who live here. We all have our part to play in Hesley Group and I can honestly say the people we support have changed who I am, how I feel about the job I do and are why I stay when things can be overwhelming. I continue to want to make a difference and still feel privileged to work in the surroundings we have at Meadow View.

Jill

from Assistant Secretary to Administration Manager...

Hi my name is Jill and I am the Administration Manager at Meadow View.

I have worked for Hesley Group for many years now, having joined in January 2008 with my journey beginning at another service as an Assistant Secretary. I moved over to Meadow View in January 2012 as I gained a promotion to Senior Secretary and was then successful in my application for the Administrator role in August 2017. More recently that role has developed into my new Administration Manager position.

I really enjoy working for Hesley Group as I have always felt supported within each role and have always been encouraged to progress. I have built up relationships with various teams across all sites and have worked together on various projects.

It’s a real team effort working here, it’s great how all the roles come together to support the people within the services of Hesley Group.

Laura

from Activity Co-ordinator to Assistant Principal...

Hi, I’m Laura, right from leaving college and then going on to study my degree in Early Childhood Studies I always knew that I wanted a career with a difference, something out of the ordinary, where every day is different, exciting and challenging. I can certainly say that, that has been the case for me over the last 13 years.

After completing my degree, I worked for 18 months for another health and social care provider, whilst I was trying to figure out if I wanted to work in social care or education. One thing I was sure about was that I wanted to work with young people with complex needs.

I first joined Hesley Group as an Activity Programme Co-ordinator and for five years working in this role I got to have fun for a living. I organised and led adventure mini breaks, co-ordinated and lead after school clubs and organised activities in the school holidays including special events. I was also given the opportunity to work closely with education teams as well as with social care, this role kept me busy to say the least, allowed me to be creative whilst being fun and exciting.

Whilst in this role I was lucky enough to have the most supportive manager who was able to guide me to success. I was also given the opportunity to attend an array of different courses that would benefit the offer to the young people in our service, for example I completed my gym instructor qualification and Rebound Therapy Coach award. During this time, I also completed my Diploma in Teaching, of which supported me to become more outcome focused in the provision I developed.

After I had accomplished what I had set out to achieve in that role, I was ready to move on. A teaching opportunity became available at one of Hesley Group’s other services, I was successful in my application and before I had completed my first year teaching I had proudly achieved my Qualified Teacher Status. Before I knew it I had been teaching for five years and was ready for my next challenge. In 2020 I gained a new title of SENCO and became part of the Senior Leadership team. Within the first year of the post I achieved my Postgraduate Certificate in Special Educational Needs Co-ordination with Sheffield Hallam University. My proudest qualification to date, I thoroughly enjoyed studying for this course and took a lot from it to use in practice to improve the lives of those I have always passionately and strongly advocated for my whole career to date.

Today I am learning the ropes in my most recent role as Assistant Principal in the newly developing service Mercury College, an exciting project, a learning opportunity and a privilege to be part of the support network of people around a group of amazing young adults. Preparing them to lead fulfilling lives ahead of them.

Lisa Mason

from Support Worker to General Manager...

In December 1995 I started work at Fullerton House School as a relief member of staff whilst I was at university.  After I left university I then applied for a Support Worker role at Wilsic Hall School and took on this role from April 1996. I thoroughly enjoyed this role and I loved seeing the person I support reach their goals and felt that I really made a difference.

One of the best days I have ever had was when the person I was supporting learnt to blow his nose.  This took him 8 months to achieve and was broken down into steps.  The day that he did this I remember phoning his mum to let her know and she was crying because she was so overwhelmed.  This may seem like a little thing to achieve but to me and to the person’s mum it meant the world.  We had taught him a life goal and I like to think that I have made a difference to his life.  It was at this point that I realised that I had found exactly what I wanted to do.  What had started out as a 6-week job during the summer months turned into my career.  I wanted to make a difference to a person’s life.  I wanted each day to be different and I wanted to be challenged.

I was also ambitious and luckily Wilsic Hall School was fully supportive of this.  When a company invests in you it makes you feel supported and also provides a work environment that is not only conducive to learning but also makes you want to be there. I originally started as Support Worker and then moved to Team Leader, Deputy Care Manager, Care Manager and then Assistant General Manager.

Hesley Group is committed to staff development and this is evident in the training that I have completed and was funded by Hesley:

• NVQ 2 in Care - April 1998
• SCIP Instructor - 1999
• Makaton Local Tutor - June 2000
• TCI Train the Trainer Instructor - 2003
• Bachelor of Philosophy Degree in Special Education and Learning Difficulties - November 2003
• NVQ 3 in Children - May 2004
• NVQ 4 in Registered Managers Award (adult) - December 2005
• NVQ 4 in Health and Social Care Adults - November 2006
• NVQ 4 in Health and Social Care Children - November 2006
• NVQ 5 in Management - March 2010
• Level 7 NVQ Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership - May 2017
• Regional Makaton Trainer - February 2018

In 2016 after 20 years working at Wilsic I was asked if I would second to Hesley Village for a period of 6 months. This initially was on a supportive basis and also to support new Care Managers that were joining the village.  After 6 months I realised that I was ready for a new challenge and opted to stay at Hesley Village.  I was offered the opportunity of acting up as Assistant General Manager and I completed this for a period of 4 months and also for annual leave cover.

In June 2018 I applied for the permanent position of Assistant General Manager here at Hesley Village and I am pleased to say that I was successful.

In 2019 I took on the role of acting General Manager and then was successful in my application for General manager. I never thought all those years ago that I would still be working for the Hesley Group and in a role I love. The company has invested time in me and I have invested time in them and it is lovely to feel appreciated and still say that 26 years later I still enjoy my role.

At the moment?  I am excited and looking forward to the future.

For a job that was supposed to last over the summer I have realised that it is not a job it is an exciting career and one that I am lucky enough to have and enjoy.

Dannie-Leigh Carpenter

from Support Worker to Deputy Care Manager...

I am Dannie-Leigh and I have worked for the Hesley Group for 3 years. Since leaving school I went on to further studies and completed my A-levels in Health and Social Care which lead me to a career in the care industry. This led me to working for the Hesley Group. I had never supported anyone with a learning disability before, so at first was nervous as I was going into the unknown.  However, after giving it a go I realised that this job was made for me.

There have been days that I have found my job challenging and there have been days that I have found my job rewarding, which have both taught me lessons and improved my skills and knowledge to be able to support young adults and make their quality of life better.

Every day at work is different, one day I have supported someone to make a drink independently for the first time, to the next day supporting someone through a difficult time. This job has given me many rewarding opportunities both for myself and for the people we support. In my time at Hesley I have supported young adults on holiday, on home visits, into the community and day trips.

I was first attracted to the Hesley Group after hearing about them in a local paper, I had completed my studies and was looking for a career in care. Hesley Group provided me with a 4-week induction that was absolutely fantastic and gave me the knowledge I needed to begin my career with them. Within the 4-week induction they covered various things such as First Aid, Health & Safety, Autism & Learning Disabilities, Makaton and lots more which made me feel positive and ready to start the job. I was also given a shadowing schedule before I started to help me see what it was all about without being thrown in at the deep end! Hesley Group also have lots of benefit schemes that you can sign up to as an employee which was exciting.

I began working at Low Laithes as a Support Worker, I was unqualified but they put me through NVQ training with an external assessor to help me gain my NVQ Level 2 in Health & Social Care as well as my NVQ Level 3.  The company have been very supportive towards me in terms of progression and have supported me through my qualifications to be able to progress.

After working for the Hesley Group for 2 years I became a Senior Support Worker/Team Leader. I worked within this role for a while and progressed further to a Deputy Care Manager. Within this time the company have put me through lots of different training courses to better myself as a manager.

For anyone looking for a career in care whether it be a Support Worker or a Manager, I would definitely recommend the Hesley Group.