Eileen Garbutt works as Haviland House’s Health and Wellbeing Co-ordinator. She was kind enough to answer some questions about her role.

What’s the best part of your job?

This would be the immensely personal and emotional relationships I build and have with my residents (family members). The trust I gain and the love and care I both give and receive is tremendous. I’d truly say it’s ‘all about the person (the family member) and it’s all about that moment’.

What would you say to others interested in a career in adult social care?

In a heart-beat, I’d say do it! It doesn’t matter if you’ve got no great experience in adult social care (ASC), because if you can show sympathy and have empathy then you qualify. If you are caring and careful, again you qualify. The guidelines in ASC are stringent and the training is great. So if you already wear your heart on your sleeve for children, people with disabilities, and older ladies and gents that need extra help, then you qualify!

I personally have never felt such a personal sense of belonging and a sense of trust and love as I have since I started to work in ASC and I truly know that I couldn’t go back to the blue chippers and white collars of the commercial world. ASC ticks all the boxes I didn’t even realise I needed ticking.

What do you love about your job?

I love the personal connections I get. I love the ‘getting back’ feeling of receiving a sense of what I give my family members. I love the challenges that come about and enjoy the achievement of overcoming them. I love the freedom I’m given to ‘get on with it’ and I love raising the bar every month with my activity planner in seeing what’s around the corner of the next week.