What is your career background?

I first started out working in quite a quirky punk-rock café in Exeter and then I moved to Reading to be with my then partner (who I later went on to marry!)

Following the move, I took a job in Schuh where I stayed for four years enjoying an enviable discount on a wide range of shoes. Great people and great shoes, but I realised it was not really what I wanted to do for the long-term.

I always had the desire to work with vulnerable people but had never been sure how to get into the field. Fortunately, when I was browsing one day, I came across a role in floating support with the organisation, Ability, where training would be provided on the job. At this time, the council had a number of organisations providing floating support for vulnerable individuals, and Ability was one of them.

My interview was successful and I had a great start to my career there.  The role was centred around housing and mental health, working closely with the Community Mental Health Team at Prospect Park and supporting social workers with housing advice and options for their patients. Later on, I moved into the homelessness team – in total I was there for three years.

What prompted your move to Launchpad?

My departure from Ability was actually necessitated by the council changing their contracts so I was moved over to Launchpad who took over the floating support service.  I have loved it from day one and I have been here ever since, sporting a number of different hats!

What does a typical day look like?

Through five years of undertaking the MEAM (Making Every Adult Matter) Coordinator role, and in close collaboration with Reading Borough Council, it was agreed that the role would be altered to become a Co-Production Development Officer. Through the MEAM work it became clearer that one of the key ways of making services more effective for people who are experiencing multiple disadvantage is to actually involve people with lived experience of this in the design and delivery of the services. This is known as Co-Production and is something that a lot of services agree with in principle, but it can be difficult to prioritise this work in times of budget cuts, high case loads etc. So it was felt that by making it someone’s job to specifically look at how services are currently undertaking Co-Production it would put an emphasis on the importance of this work, and also provide support to our colleagues and partners in other services.

I changed roles within Launchpad and became one of the Floating Support Team Leaders before taking on my current role as Supported Housing Services Manager.

What is your favourite part about your job?

I enjoy the varied nature of our work in Floating Support, especially with the Drop In service; you never know who will walk through the door and what situation they may need support with. I feel so proud of our team and the work they do. They are fierce advocates for people who often come to us in desperate situations and will go above and beyond to ensure that we have done all we can to help.

I’ve only been Supported Housing Services Manager for a few months, so I’ll let you know!

What do you like to do in your spare time?

On the weekends we often travel to visit our family who live across the country, from up in North Yorkshire and down to Devon. If we are home, we can usually be found in a play park with my daughters running wild!