Unit business manager

Miranda is a unit business manager for Creative Support, a supported living service in Leicestershire. Miranda started working for the service during her time at university and has since progressed into a management role. We went to meet her to find out what inspires her to work in adult social care...

When I was a university student I attended a recruitment event and met the team from Creative Support. I talked to them about the work opportunities that they had available and what the role would involve. I liked the idea of supporting individuals with learning disabilities. I was offered a relief support worker position and was able to fit the role around my degree studies. Since then, I have progressed in my career with Creative Support and I am now in a full-time management role.

As a relief support worker, a typical day would involve supporting people to wash, dress, take medication and prepare and eat meals. The role also involved supporting people to plan their day and make decisions about the types of activities that they wanted to do. I then helped people to access these activities in their local community. Activities included ten pin bowling, cinema, meals out, swimming, gym, clothes and grocery shopping. I even supported people to attend football and rugby matches - which I loved!

In my current role as Unit Business Manager, I am responsible for 7 supported living services. It is my duty to ensure that these services are meeting the needs of the people that they support. This involves supervising team leaders and providing them with the support that they need to manage their services. As well as supervisions, I visit services to check that they are being ran safely and that care is being delivered correctly.

My days also involve meeting with social workers to carry out reviews to check that we are meeting the needs of people who are using our services. I also meet with people who are considering using our service to discuss their needs and preferences and to help them decide if we are the right service for them.

Working in social care has given me an immense feeling of pride and achievement. I am proud of how the work I do makes a difference to the lives of the people who use the services that I manage. I have seen how the support we provide improves peoples' quality of life.

Working in social care has also made me more open-minded. I have learnt that anyone can find themselves in a position where they need extra support due to factors such as physical or mental health challenges.

Throughout my career so far, I have had lots of opportunities to grow professionally and progress. I gained the skills, experience and qualifications I needed to progress from my first role as a relief support worker to my current management position.

There are many different services in care and, therefore, lots of different types of care roles to choose from. To help you to decide which type of role is best for you, it is important to know your strengths. However, do not worry if you think you lack skills or experience because the inductions and ongoing training will give you all the tools you need to carry out your role confidently.

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