Our People - Support Worker, Ocean Community Services
Name: Matt
Position: Support Worker
Location: Ocean Community Services - Caerau Manor
How would you summarise your role?
“My role is based around providing support to clients with various mental health issues and learning disabilities who can demonstrate challenging behaviour. At the moment I am doing a lot of work with our clients who have some form of brain injury. My role is to provide support and guidance to help them to live as independently as possible. I work closely with other members of the team to implement care plans and regularly take clients out on trips to shops, the cinema and various other activities. I also work with the Occupational Therapy teams to provide stimulating and challenging activities for the clients.”
Why do you like working for LSH?
“I find the job really rewarding. When I started I had no experience of this type of work at all so it was a steep learning curve. I had done some voluntary work with people with learning disabilities but never actually worked in this field professionally. I like seeing clients improve their lives, develop and progress. We have recently helped one client to the stage where they can go out on unsupervised leave. This is really satisfying as gives me the sense of making a real difference.”
How have you developed since joining LSH?
“Massively! I feel I’ve progressed in leaps and bounds because of the staff I work with at Careau Manor, who have a great wealth of knowledge. The whole team has a very good relationship which is highly beneficial in such a small unit. As I said, when I started I had no experience at all. Part of my training was spent at Llanbedr Court, our hospital in Newport and I learned a great deal during my time there. I’ve been with the company for over 2 years now but I’m still learning all the time. I definitely hope to progress my career with LSHG and am keen to take the next step to the position of Senior Support Worker as soon as possible.”
Would you recommend working at LSH to a friend?
“Yes – I already have, they are working as a Support Worker at Llanbedr Court Hospital!”