Diary of a support worker

This diary is made up of social media posts from our ITC Ambassador Debbie who took over our Facebook and Instagram (@inspired.to.care) Stories to give an insight into her day-to-day role as a support worker. Debbie works at Apple House residential home in Wigston. Apple House is a small service for adults with learning disabilities and is home to 9 fulltime residents.

I wake up at 6.30am to get ready and drive to Apple House in time for my shift at 7am. I always start my day with a cup of tea.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, my shift starts with taking my temperature and putting on personal protective equipment (known as PPE) that includes a face mask. I then take part in a handover meeting where the support staff from the night shift gives us an update on how the residents are doing and if there are any activities or appointments planned for the day.

Once handover is done it's time to support the residents to get up and ready for their day. Each resident has unique needs and preferences for how they receive support, and this can change over time. My job is to support residents to be as independent as possible.

As Apple House is a small home, all of the residents are able to sit around one table together for meals. I support residents to get the table prepared, decide what they would like to eat and drink, and then prepare their meal.

Meal times are always full of chatting and laughter at Apple House. At breakfast we usually talk about the residents' plans for the day.

After breakfast I support the residents with household tasks. This morning it was laundry. It is my job to empower residents to be as independent as possible by teaching them the skills they need to complete these tasks with minimal support.

Our residents love doing crafts so this morning we spent some time making Easter cards.

We are currently collecting aluminium cans for the Helipads for Hospitals project. The cans we collect from our walks will be melted down and made into a helipad for the Leicester Royal Infirmary. We were inspired to do this by one of our residents who loves recycling and anything to do with litter collection. This morning we collected 43 cans for the charity!

I'm so proud of what our residents have achieved with this project. I have so much pride and respect for them.

When we got back from our walk we made ourselves a well deserved drink and had a rest before starting to make lunch.

Chloe is the registered manager at Apple House. It is her job to make sure the service runs smoothly and the residents get the care and support they need. Chloe is often busy working in her office, but she also get involved with the activities and mealtimes.

At mealtimes I support the residents to choose what they would like to make and then prepare their meals. Today the group decided to have beans on toast.

Me and colleagues took a break while the residents were eating their meals to have a sit down and some pizza.

Everyday is different as a support worker. We do lots of different types of activities at Apple House, today we did some gardening! I supported the residents to plant some new fruit trees in their garden.

Apple House Directors, Mo and Shan, dropped by in the afternoon to see how the gardening was going. Mo and Shan spend a lot of time with the residents and supporting us staff. The residents love gardening with Mo, he is very green fingered!

Before leaving for the day I complete paperwork and put together notes for handover with the evening and night shift team. We write reports on what the residents have eaten that day, what sort of support we have provided, and anything else we think it is important to record.

My shift finishes at 3pm but I usually leave a little later because I like to say goodbye to all the residents before leaving.

I always have a cup of tea when I get home! Thanks for spending the day with me.

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