Holmfield Care’s ‘Shining moments’ celebrates what their staff love about working in care
05 Apr 2023
5 min read
Holmfield Care, run by Age UK Manchester, share the work they've been doing on their 'Shining moments' project.
Holmfield Care has been celebrating staff’s ‘Shining moments'. These are key moments such as the moment they realised they wanted to work in care or a moment where they really felt they’d made an impact in someone’s lives.
The team plan to collate all these ‘Shining moments’ into a book which they’ll be sharing with the people who they support.
Sally Dervan, CEO of Age UK Manchester, told us that as they entered 2022, the senior team were reflecting on the past two years and the impact of covid.
They knew that all staff – who had shown such bravery and fortitude during the pandemic – would be feeling the impact of recent challenges, and they wanted to think of some ways to boost morale.
And so ‘Shining moments’ was born.
In March 2022, Sally emailed all Holmfield Staff to ask them to share their 'Shining moments’.
She asked them to share their thoughts on what motivates and inspires them to perform their role at Holmfield to such a high standard and explained that their ‘Shining moments’ could be:
- the moment they realised that they really loved working with older people and wanted to make it their chosen career
- a moment when they really felt their actions had made a positive difference to the life of an older person
- a funny or touching moment in relation to your work with older people that you will always remember.
She also suggested staff might want to take a moment to share any thoughts they might have about how they would want their care to be provided if needed in later life.
She told us:
The replies received were more than thought provoking for all who read them. Here was a very real insight into why people choose to work in social care and why even on the most difficult of days, for some people there is no other role they would choose to have. Taking a moment to reflect on the elements of the job you love reminds you of why you were drawn to this work in the first place.
Some snippets from just a couple of the wonderful responses received can be found below:
I am a care giver. Most people think my role is to wash and dress residents. Feed them, get them up and put them to bed. What people don’t see is I’m the one who hugs them close when they are calling for their mum, holding their hand when they are lonely and afraid. Listening to their worries and fears, just being there to assure them that everything is ok. Knowing that I can stop the tears from a lonely resident or calming a relative’s worries and distress warms my heart and gives me comfort in my career choice as a carer because these feelings are more than any monetary value.
Every day is a moment that makes me realise what I’m doing is right, to be respected by a resident is a very special thing. It is not a job for the faint-hearted which is why I know I really love what I do and I will continue to do so for as long as I can. Every day is fun, some days more than others but it’s always the unknown and every day is different. I hope when it comes to my time of being cared for I am treated how I’ve treated others. I want to laugh and happy cry, I want the staff to treat me like their family and I want to SING. I want to be sang to, I want to dance and I wanted to be treated with dignity.
Join us in #CelebratingSocialCare this April and hear more inspiring stories from the social care sector.
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