“I first joined Alternative Futures Group right after finishing my A Levels at the age of 18, and 24 years later I’m still here!
After caring for the elderly since the age of thirteen, I applied for a vacancy for a Support Worker role at Alternative Futures Group supporting people with learning disabilities, which was supposed to be a stop gap before I began a retail management programme but I immediately fell in love with the job.
Making a positive difference and teaching people to learn new skills and increase their independence and supporting them to have new experiences… it was so enjoyable and rewarding. That’s when I knew I wanted to pursue a career in health and social care instead.
After six months, I obtained a Service Manager position. I really enjoyed being able to shape and improve the services we offered and see the difference my decisions and actions made. Where previously people we support may have had opportunities denied to them, I was determined to change that.
After 16 years managing services and completing NVQ qualifications, I decided to enroll in John Moore’s University and complete a Masters in Business Administration (MBA). AFG supported me to do this whilst continuing in full-time employment.
I then applied to the Head of Quality and Operations role, where I was responsible for leading our teams through a challenging financial period and organisational restructure.
After five years in that role, an opportunity for the Director of Operations came up and I am delighted to have been successful in the recruitment process and am now responsible for heading up our learning disability division.
The reason I have been at AFG for 24 years is because I’ve been encouraged by Managers and mentors who believed in me and valued my ideas and efforts and supported me to achieve my own ambitions.
We truly care about the people we support and our colleagues – there is no better job satisfaction out there!”