Our dedicated care assistant, Imogen Hudson, 24, says people should consider care work as a career choice and regularly recommends care sector work to others.

When she joined, with five years of care experience having previously worked within community care and within different care homes, she knew Barrowhill Hall was a great fit for her.

“I enjoyed it here from the first day”, she says. “It’s a big home and I love the variety of work here and the great team of people.

“You end up getting really close to the other carers and workers. It’s really challenging but the residents are like family members and looking after them is really rewarding.

“We all work so hard to care for them and I think that bonds us.”

Imogen feels young people may overlook care work when they are trying to choose a career, just like she did initially.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I left school,” she explains, “I was studying childcare and then I did hair and beauty. Care work was recommended to me and that’s how I got into it at 18.

“Now I always recommend it to others. I think it’s a career that a lot of people might not consider, but they should!”

Our care home manager, Dania Meadows, says,

“It’s brilliant to see young people in care roles and we would love to have more on our team. They always create a strong bond with the residents, I think there’s something around them having had a more recent relationship with grandparents. Our residents certainly love them!

“I’m very committed to all the staff here and if they want to progress, we will help them. This doesn’t just have to be a job, it can be a career, there’s no end to where it could lead.”

Imogen is one of the staff members keen to progress in her role.

“I love that you can learn on the job. When I started working in care, I did my training and my Level 2 NVQ and it took about 8 months,” she recalls. “Now I want to be a senior carer and Barrowhill Hall really encourages and supports that, so they will pay for me to do my Level 3 NVQ.

“There’s always more to learn but luckily there is always someone to learn from and someone who is willing to help!”

Despite there being several elements to the job that Imogen enjoys, she credits the residents as the main reason she loves her job as much as she does.

“I’m a very caring person by nature and you need that to last in the job. Working with dementia can be challenging, but when you’re given all the training it’s easier to understand from the residents’ point of view.

“I love all the residents and they are all different. A lot of them won’t remember you but you know that they trust you and it’s a really important job.”