News / Sponsored Feature
Change lives in Bristol with your next career move.
At Bristol 24/7, we think that everyone should be given the very best chance to thrive in life, whatever obstacles might stand in their way. These are values very much shared by United Response, who are a large national charity supporting people with learning disabilities and autism across the country. United Response run four supported living services in Bristol, and many more in the areas surrounding the city. Supported Living is when 3 or 4 people with learning disabilities share a house, and support workers are on-hand to help them with everyday tasks and to be as independent as possible.
Anastacia Medcraft is a service manager in one of these services, and says it’s been a challenging few years. “It’s well publicised that there’s a national shortage of people to work in social care and it’s no different in Bristol. So we’re really happy to train up and inspire a new group of support workers so we can continue to provide the brilliant support that people with disabilities deserve. If you’re job hunting or considering a career shift, come and speak to us!”
So what makes a good support worker?
Bristol 24/7 asked Nadine Crisp, one of the managers in Bristol, what she thought: “Being a great support worker is about having the ability to understand what people would like to achieve, tenaciously finding ways to support them to do it – and then sometimes becoming ‘invisible’ as the person you are supporting finds their confidence.
If you have health or care in your background, you’ll certainly make use of those skills. But it’s in no way essential. I’ve heard stories in United Response of pub landlords, army officers, and people more used to office work transferring into support work and thriving. It’s not all a walk in the park – literally! The role can be challenging, so you must have patience and compassion. But I personally think that that there is no job which is more varied and fun, and there’s so many ways you can develop and progress.”
Open day event
United Response are running a drop-in open day in the well-known Greenway Centre on 8-9 April.
“This is your chance to grill us on what a career in Support Work could be like. If you like what you hear, we can interview you straight away and then will let you know within a couple of days whether we think it will work out. Why not pop along and meet us – we’re a friendly bunch!”
Sign up to attend the recruitment open day here.
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