A Fresh Start

With the loss of my boss's last horse I found myself in an unusual position of being without a job - aged 42 - and not wanting to continue in my lifelong career of horses. Although I'm now fairly well established as a writer of equestrian articles it's not something that will pay the bills in the long term.

A chance advert on our local butchers ignited the spark for my next choice of profession. The advert was for a carer to help with the daily home care of an elderly lady.
"Now that I can do," I thought.
The more I thought about it the more I realised I actually wanted to do it. And the more I realised I'd actually be quite good at it too.

Working with horses has taught me many things about myself.

1. I have endless patience with people and animals.
2. I value quality of life over money and material things
3. I've learnt self respect comes from being your own person - not from what you own
4. I'm good at working for people - I'm not a doormat but I'm happy to provide customer care with a smile on my face - I enjoy it.
5. I'm driven and self motivated.
6. I like my space but am always willing to help anyone
7. I listen 
8. I'm not squeamish and am happy to get my hands dirty
9. I can bite my tongue!
10. Tact is my middle name :)

The job in question had long gone but I followed up a few leads and found myself on the JobCentrePlus website. There I typed in 'no experience' 'no qualifications' and came up with a list of about 30 jobs all in the caring profession. Scrolling through I found a few that were within a 20 mile drive. I bookmarked a care home in Redcar - they were willing to train anyone who was willing to start asap. And then I struck gold!

The very next advert was for a care in the home company that was actively looking for people in the Great Ayton area. No experience was necessary and they were offering to train me. I rang them straight away - they asked me to go in for an interview the next day and I got the job. 

Before I start properly I have to have a Criminal Records Check. I also have to do a five day training course. Then I have to go 'shadowing' for 16 hours with an experienced senior carer so they can show me the ropes and check I'm suitable. Then I'm off on my own with my own round of people who will hopefully be in a regular circuit.

I thought this would be something anyone would be happy to do but now I've got the job it seems that everyone has an opinion as to why I shouldn't do it! Rest assured I may sit on the fence about some things but when it comes to my life and my choices then it's only my opinion that matters. And my husband's. He's behind me every step of the way. Naturally.

I'm doing this job because I have a genuine desire to help elderly people stay in their own homes and live as normal a life as possible. It's the exact same thing as working with horses - you do it because you really want to. If you didn't you just couldn't do it. I don't know if the money is good or bad. It's enough for me. It will pay the bills and mean that I can cover all costs, take more training whenever it's offered AND thoroughly enjoy what I do every day because I know what I do will be valued by others. That's all that matters. 

To me anyway.

So this is how it all started. The next step is the training - watch this space. I'm going to write it all down so I remember and so that others can learn from my experience - and probably my mistakes!

Here we go ...