Carer's double cause for celebration

​A Norfolk carer has marked two impressive milestones recently, celebrating her half-century and marking 15 years of working at award-winning home care company Extra Hands.

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Tracey Sanchez has worked in the care industry since leaving school and joined the Broadland office of the family run company in July 2007.

“I actually wanted to be a nurse originally,” said Mrs Sanchez, of Salthouse, “but I didn’t like blood, and my sister was a carer at the time, so I thought I’d give that a go.

“When I first left school, I did home care, but I used to worry about the people being on their own when I wasn’t there, so I went to work in a care home, where I knew they’d be looked after 24 hours a day.

“After I had more experience, though, I went back to home care. It suited me, as my children were young at the time. Now, one’s just turned 20 and the other is 18.”

Mrs Sanchez, who was also nominated for a ‘going the extra mile’ GEM Award in March 2021 for helping a service user who had broken a leg, can’t imagine doing any other kind of work.

“It obviously doesn’t suit everyone,” she continued,“but it’s a nice job, if you enjoy helping people and finding out more about people’s lives.

“You do get close to people – you can’t help it, because they’re people, aren’t they? You make them feel at ease, so if they have got a problem, they’ll tell you and you can report it.

“Sometimes they just need someone to listen. They may not have anyone else to talk to.

“I enjoy the work itself, and the organisation is very good. If the people you work for are lovely, there’s no reason to go anywhere else, is there? I’m very happy where I am.”

Extra Hands, which also has offices in Heacham,  was established in 1993 and offers a variety of home care visit packages across the county.