A-level students chat with our carers | News from Saxonwood

What’s the most rewarding part of your job? What do you find the most difficult?

These are just some of the questions Year 12 Health and Social care students at Beacon Academy in Crowborough asked our carers Ana, Maureen and Tom this morning at our live ‘chat with our carers’ event.

Held as part of our celebrations for Care Home Open Week, this virtual chat gave students and families of our residents, an opportunity to hear directly from carers in our homes in Battle, Haywards Heath and Crowborough.

Ana, Maureen and Tom introduced themselves and spoke about their careers in care. Maureen has worked in the sector for over 40 years, Tom started in the kitchen and now fulfils both caring and chef roles, and Ana was promoted to senior carer and is currently studying her Level 5 in Leadership and Management.

Everyone had a different story to tell, but from what they all said, the common thread between them is their passion and drive for making a positive difference to someone’s day, and the satisfaction they get when residents are happy.

The students asked how Covid has impacted on the carer’s roles. We all took a moment to reflect on how the unprecedented situation was very tough but has in fact united our care teams and made us all stronger. With clear policies and procedures to follow, the team felt they had the support they needed from each other and Sussex Housing & Care's management, and now feel a real sense of accomplishment.

Students were also interested to know about the ratio between staff and residents, and the challenges of the role. In addition, we discussed the difference between working for a not-for-profit organisation versus the private sector, and the difference it makes to our values and residents lives. Jenny, daughter of a resident at Saxonwood who was on the video call, shared her personal story about her mother’s care in both not-for-profit and private settings and sung Saxonwood’s praises, which was lovely for us all to hear.

With the success of this event, we will be arranging more ‘Chat with our carers’ in the future. If you would be interested to join us please contact lizzie.gurr@sussexhousing.org.uk.

To find out more about working for Sussex Housing & Care please visit our jobs page.