Retired banker relishes new care role

Older people have a ‘heads-up’ when it comes to care work – according to a retired banker-turned-carer, who took up her new role at the age of 61.

Sue Livick-Smith joined family-run home-care provider Extra Hands in June 2023, having retired from a 25-year career in banking, after which she had briefly worked in a supermarket.

“I hated every minute of it,” she said of her time in finance. “The bank was very stressful, and there was no job satisfaction. I took early retirement, then worked part-time in a supermarket, but I didn’t enjoy that either.

“Then a friend who was a carer said, ‘You should do that.’ Because I’d helped care for my parents before they passed away, and had seen their carers coming in and out, and the difference that they made, I thought I’d give it a try – and I haven’t looked back.”

“I’m not sure I could have done the job when I was younger,” she continued. “I have more life experience now, and I think patience comes with being older.

“When people have said to me, ‘Oh I couldn't do that’, you’d be surprised how enjoyable it is, and how you can use your life skills and life experience as someone older.

“Im not taking anything away from all our amazing younger carers, but I do think it’s something that perhaps gives you a bit of a heads-up if you’re older.

“I think the clients like that they see a variety of people from different walks of life too.”

Ms Livick-Smith, based at the company’s Heacham office, currently works evening shifts at Extra Hands, which provides bespoke home-care packages across Norfolk.

“It can be quite challenging, but I knew that, and it gives a lot back,” she added. “Every shift, you feel you’ve achieved something – someone’s in bed and they’re comfortable and safe and you’ve had a chat. You come away with a sense that you’ve achieved something useful or made a difference to someone’s day.

“There was one old lady who was 102 and had no family, but was bright as a button, and she looked forward to seeing all of us and having a chat and a reminisce. She really appreciated us – she was a sweetie.

“At one time she got very tearful when I said she was marvellous for 92, and she said she didn’t want to be and that she’d had enough. She was able to really open up to us about how she was feeling.

“You’re making someone’s last years, months, weeks and days more bearable, and we often don’t realise the importance of that to those people who live alone.

“It’s a job that tends to get overlooked by people, but it’s so important.”