Carer Jennifer’s flying start to her new career

A carer who has only been in the profession since last July has already made a great impression and has won an award for Going the Extra Mile.

Jennifer Masters, based at the Broadland office of family-run home care company Extra Hands, has found a role she loves and her kindness, support and empathy have had a very positive impact on both colleagues and service users. 

She was nominated for a Going the Extra Mile (GEM) Award by a colleague after Jennifer went above and beyond in her role.

It’s been quite a career change, as Jennifer spent ten years working in retail, and another ten years working as a stage manager for theatres - but her current role seems to be tailor-made for her.

“It’s so nice to come to work and know you are making a real difference,” she said.

“Meeting the families is also lovely, they can give you insights into the person you’re caring for which can really help. It makes you feel closer to the person, and to their family.”

Jennifer’s first contact with carers was via her grandmother who used to have them visit regularly.

“I used to gate-crash them and then try and keep out of the way, but now I’m doing this job I know it’s nice to have a chat with friends and family as well.”

The flexibility of her role has proved to be beneficial to Jennifer as she can work her hours around the school times of her son Kyle. 

“It works really well. When I was working in retail I didn’t have any free time as I worked weekends. Now I have more time and I know that if I want more shifts, they will be available, the company is really good.”

The flexibility became more important over Christmas after Jennifer, who lives in Buxton, took a tumble and hurt her knee. She wanted to see her service users but couldn’t drive far, so the company made sure she was a bit closer to home while she recovered.

“That was so helpful,” she said, “I don’t feel like I have worked here long enough to get an award, but it’s really nice.”