A day in the life of an ENS Star of the Month Support Worker

We got the opportunity to sit down with Leonel, one of ENS’ delightful support workers and our Star of the Month winner for September, to ask him a few questions about what it’s like to work as a Support Worker for ENS!

Q: What is your role as a support worker?

A: I’m a Support Worker who has been working with ENS for just over 4 months, supporting a variety of service users such as elderly individuals with dementia and people with a learning disability in the Essex area.

Q: Favourite aspect of the job?

A: I love working in the care industry, its great making an impact on the lives of those I care for. From older people living with dementia, to younger people with a learning disability, it’s good to help people reach their full potential. I like helping the people I care for access the community, getting them out and about and enjoying different social activities.  It’s great helping each individual to live the life they want to live; this often means I get to accompany each service user on interesting activities, like wood working and bicycle riding!

Q: What are the challenges you come across as a support worker?

A: While care is an extremely rewarding career, you do face a range of challenges in the role. Supporting individuals with challenging behaviours, and people with a range of learning disabilities can be difficult, but through expert training and enough patience, you can earn the trust of people. One of the favourite parts of my job is when you get that breakthrough and the person you’re caring trusts you to help them!

Q: What is the best thing about working as a carer for ENS?

A: I really enjoy being a part of ENS as they make me feel valued; from the recent Star of the Month win, to the weekly Staff Forums they  hold for our agency staff, there’s always an avenue for staff to be heard and heralded, something that many of the agency staff at ENS really appreciate.

Q: How does your work make a difference to the lives of our service users?

A: I provide person-centred care for a range of individuals, each with their own rewards and challenges. The ultimate goal of a carer is to help every service user live how they want to live; and everything I do in my day to-day role is always with this goal in mind.  It might involve accompanying a service user on walks around the park or helping them shopping. Over time, I’ll help individuals establish themselves within the community and become more independent.

Q: Lastly, what advice would you give to people joining the care industry for the first time?

A: Although care is a challenging profession, it’s an industry that will allow you to do life-changing work for society’s most vulnerable every day, which is incredibly rewarding. Most importantly though, it’s important to enjoy yourself and have fun, where no two days are the same!