Carer celebrates a decade with Norfolk company

A Norfolk carer has lost no passion for her job after celebrating ten years with a family-run home care company.

Jools Saunter works out of the Broadland office of Extra Hands and is a previous winner of the company’s Going the Extra Mile Award, given to staff who go above and beyond the necessities of their job.

Patience and the skills of being a good listener are key to being a good carer, said Jools, who lives in Old Catton.

“I find it incredibly rewarding and my job is to make sure the service user smiles or laughs and we want them to live independently for as long as possible,” she said.

Jools came to the caring profession from a role within the local government’s civil service. 

Originally from Suffolk, she found the flexibility of a role with Extra Hands was what she needed while her children were young, and now she couldn’t think of doing anything else.

“We moved to Norfolk with my husband in 1996 although I still like to go to Bury St Edmunds,” she said.

The couple, who have three children, also have family ties to Devon where husband Max’s family live, so there are frequent trips to the South West.

“I think the main thing is to always look out for the service user, and have great communication and always be positive for them - it is a real privilege. Extra Hands is a really lovely family-run company and we are a real team,” she added.

When Jools won her GEM Award, the nomination said she was ‘worth her weight in gold’ and that nothing was too much trouble, her cheery outlook hasn’t changed during the intervening years, even during the pandemic when service users were vulnerable.