My name is Carole Ward, I am 61 years old. I retired in 2009 after working for Social Services for 32 years and I began working as a carer for Shared Lives during the last months of my employment. I knew from the beginning that I had found my ideal job! I can describe this by saying that I wake up on a morning with a feeling of “Oh what a beautiful morning” or a feeling of winning the lottery. One year later, I am pleased to say I still feel the same.

I began by caring for young adults with learning disabilities overnight and weekends, which fit really well into my working life. I then progressed onto also caring for adults with mental health problems. I now have a range of placements which are long term, short term, sessional and emergency. All the service users I support have regular, pre-booked respite care.

To be a carer, I feel that you need to be a non-judgemental person, and have lots of patience and understanding. In my opinion, to be a good carer you need a positive attitude towards supporting people and a love of sharing your life with vulnerable adults. The role of carer does present some challenges but the rewards far outnumber any problems that occur. All the people I support have different needs and interests but they have one thing in common...their unconditional gratitude they give and their enthusiasm to come and stay with me. Most people are happy to share their respite time with other people and they use this as an opportunity to socialise, go out,cook and bake (oh and help out with some chores too!)

The Shared Lives team are with no doubt the best supportive team I have had the pleasure of working with. I feel that I am part of their team as the role of a carer and I feel very supported and valued by them. Their approach is very professional yet unique in the way that they balance the needs of the service users, their parents and the carer alongside meeting their own service objectives.  I feel that my confidence as a carer has grown significantly due to the support and respect the Shared Lives team has given me. I know I can share my opinions, feelings and anxieties with the team to ensure that the vulnerable people I support are provided with a quality service that meets their individual needs.

Library photo posed by model