support worker

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MENCAP

I work in Supported Living, assisting 7 adults with learning disabilities with all aspects of their lives, including finances, shopping, laundry, cooking, medication and health appointments, personal care, cleaning and house maintenance, as well as accessing the community for hobbies and events. 

It's care work, so no, the pay isn't a great hourly rate and we do one or two sleep-in shifts a week, around which there is a lot of debate over the current flat-rate at which these are paid. However, I actually earn more here a month than I ever have in previous workplaces!

It's an extremely rewarding job. Support Workers at Mencap carry out Individual Needs Assessments, Risk Assessments and write Support  Plans (More responsibility that a Support Worker usually has), so you get to plan, with that person's involvement, the support you are going to provide, and then be involved in providing that support and seeing them benefit from it - It's amazing watching the individual thrive having recieved the support you've planned and provided! Then, if they are struggling with something, you are able to change their assessments and plans with them, to try and help them reach their full potential.

The people I support can express behaviour that may challenge, but Mencap provide all the necessary training to deal with this and the people themselves are all brilliant characters and so fun to work with.

There is quite a high staff turnover at the service I work in, which is sometimes difficult as you are often working with people who have not been in the service long enough to pick up the routine and work autonomously to get things done (Meaning you have to be telling them what to do next, a fair bit) but the new staff usually pick up eventually and generally we are a small team that work well together and have fun whilst at it! The manager is very supportive and has accomplished a lot since starting here.

The training Mencap provide is excellent (certificates are provided) and if you feel you require extra training in more specialist areas, you have the opportunity to mention it to the manager and have this training put in place. There are monthly Shape Your Future meetings each staff member has with their manager, where you discuss what you've done well, what you could improve on, any issues you are facing, etc. There are also Mencap Extras - staff benefits such as money off things and special offers, and the You Rock Scheme, where you can win awards for going above and beyond to strive for Mencap's values.

There is paid holiday - annual leave has to be applied for 4 weeks in advance, which is a short notice period compared to other places I've worked, which is handy for when things you want to do outside of work come up last minute.

There does seem to be a lot of paperwork for us to do here, compared to other Support Worker roles - There is usually a good reason for this paperwork, but it is sometimes difficult to get it all done on time, as well as support the people living in the house.

I have worked here for nearly a year now and love it even more than when I first started. I have even had the opportunity to go on holiday with a person I support, which was a brilliant experience!

The only thing about my job that I dislike is that if you are on shift and the person who is meant to be relieving you phones in sick, you have to stay at work yourself, if you are unable to find cover. Of course we have a duty of care, so it is important that the people we support are recieving the care they require and not left alone, but if you have made plans, arranged childcare, etc, it means them getting cancelled so you can stay at work, and you can end up spending over 24 hours at work, covering staff sickness.

If you are looking for a rewarding job helping others, where no day is the same and you get to gain excellent training and experience compared to Support Worker roles in other companies, Mencap is for you! Yes you go home tired, but it's so worth it!

I was at mencap for 5 years and for the most part really enjoyed the job.

The usual day would have consisted of encouraging and supporting the individuals to live a fulfilled life and trying to be as independent as possible, 

For the individuals who weren't able to do this, we would support with personal care, medication and other intimate aspects.

Since being there, I had completed my level 2 and 3 in health and social, the training mencap provide is actually very good, it was all done through people, not done online (which i've also done and dont agree with). you're brought up to speed on recent legislation and policies implemented in the company.

despite the odd person here and there, the workplace was quite enjoyable to work in, everyone was willing to help out and made the job easier. the days where you had to put up with silly colleagues did tend to drag as the shifts could be quite long.

The hardest part of the job, using the term loosely, were the quarter annual reviews, you had to prove you were upholding the values of the company, in and out of the workplace, if you didnt get on with the management (always seen to be a pi**ing contest between us)you could easily be scored the lowest result, which in respect was quite a juvenile way of motivating staff, especially if you knew in yourself that you were doing more than required.

Personally speaking, the most enjoyable part was using the intensive interaction with some of the people we supported and just having that family away from family, learning sign and using it was also what i enjoyed. 

Thinking back on my experience, management are under a lot of stress from upper management to reach their own targets, which sometimes rolled down to support being spoken to in somewhat rude ways, especially when support didn't really understand what the reason was. 
As support staff, i was aware that it wasn't my right to be privy to the management side of things but it would have been beneficial to have a basic understanding of what it is they do behind the scenes, how costings were done, what the process for getting new "packages" was and what is expected from them as managers from other departments, this might have given some insight and a less biased view from support staff to management, seeing it more as an universal "us" rather than "us vs them" situation.

I think, depending on future circumstances I would consider returning to Mencap. 

Its not all bad.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The relationships you develop with the people you care for.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Working alongside people there for the money and thus very little effort was made towards the care and developing the opportunites for the  residents in which they could develop menaingful friendships and experiences by which to define their life.  Those "working the job " become a threat to those who wish to care for the residence and their quality of life experiences and personal development.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The environment is dictated by the staff. Where the people are present to care for, develop and share in experiences of anothers life there is no better  environment.  Where the job centres around passing time and being paid the envionment and culture becomes controversial and fractous not healthy for the people you are caring for. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
The day centres around your work of professional which  the company under pins with   statutory training and self development training within the role. The house manager will visit regualry, this can be daily, weekly or at any time inbetween depending upon the need. The company is poistive and does listen and question.  Often the house manager relies upon the peole staffing the home to be their eyes and ears  enabling the staff to inform  on the needs and best care. A sensitive manager will place staff appropriate  to enable good relationships and safe practice.  Temporary staff unless regularly placed within a solid team  rarely achieve more than make up the numbers. Overall, the most meaningful  and beautifully fragile position to hold. Managerially, the team. the running of the home and the peoples quality of life within a house will be hevaily influenced by the house manager; the managers  care,  and understanding of the  natures of the people they are supporting, their professional and empathetic understanding will ensure the best of care for the people whilst poor management leaves the vulnerable exposed and personally  vulnerable. Good management, good staff, happy  motivated and cared for people.

My position at Ealing Mencap involved a number of different roles which included; session planning, micromanaging staff members, and ensuring standards of quality were upheld. This often involved safeguarding vulnerable adults/children, monitoring health & safety of learners at all times, respecting confidentiality, and data protection. Regarding micro-management, I would liaise with members of staff across different departments in order to ...

This involved advocating the rights of adults/children with learning disabilities by organising various activities such as a "promotion day" in the shopping centre. Which not only raised awareness to the public, but this also helped to promote confidence with the learners.

My managerial role required me to both work in a team, and to supervise my learning support assistant in order to provide successful learning outcomes.

Occasionally, some sessions involved taking learners outside the classroom (ex situ) to provide a much deeper form of learning in an ecological and meaningful environment. This method provided better learning outcomes, enhanced memory skills, and provided opportunity for reflection.

Another role of mine at Ealing Mencap centred around the preparation of session plans in order to help my learners to understand the aims and objectives of the session. In addition, my role also required me to provide an inclusive learning environment using differentiation methods via a multi-sensory approach. This was achieved by using a colourful Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), with visual, audible, and tactile/kinaesthetic objects.

My session plan typically incorporated a marriage of functional with social, confidence, and independence skills. All of which were encouraged within my session plans.

The hardest part of my job was not being able to have structured learning environment due to the specific style of organisational management. Although I initiated various changes within the organisation by forwarding through new ideas and proposals that would benefit the organisation as a whole. Nevertheless, the most enjoyable part of the work was being able to show learners that they are capable of more than they initially assumed.

Work-life balance
Work-life balance at MENCAP is ok.

Pay & benefits
My pay and benefits at MENCAP are poor. Compared to what I used to get, this is far less, I actually applied for the role knowing very well that the pay is less, it is because believe in what Mencap stand for and are trying to do.

Job security and advancement
In terms of job security at MENCAP, I think it is not a place I see myself long term (currently looking for another role).

Management
In general, managers at MENCAP is/are unsupportive. I believe as part of a role of being a manager, you need to understand and appreciate the people that go out and do the actual job. Have a conversation/appraisal alone (not with a supervisor a this might leave the employee feeling targeted and trapped) of your employees strength and then try to work on areas they might be struggling with, find difficult or simply do not understand. A manager is meant to be supportive, communicating with everyone and having a favourite or biased. I strongly believe that it is not what you say, but how you say it that matters. The way you address your employees will determine their productivity. Being a manager should not always be about constantly looking for flaws in someone but rather recognising the person's productivity and working together on their weaknesses without making the person feel less important or less of a human being.

Culture
Collaboration with my colleagues at MENCAP is fair but definitely not great.

Overall
My short time and experiences at MENCAP has been unpleasant, I find my manager unsupportive, I feel there is a sense of favouritism going on. The person is always looking for something negative to say about me, I do not feel I can go to this individual with any queries, concerns or questions I may have because I believe the individual will definitely make me know and feel that I do not know something (this has happened on a few occasions in her mannerisms). I am made to believe that Mencap is a wonderful and great place to work. Working here I would beg to differ. I am currently looking for another role as I do not see myself working here long and moreover I do not want to lose myself trying to please people as I did not go to university to be treated like such.  I wouldn't recommend Mencap to anyone.

I used to turn up to work finding my shifts had changed without being told and 1 to 1's and pushing people forward to achieve their potential was last on their list. Support workers usually got on well and would stick up for each other, though I am aware since I have left it has become dog eat dog in the strive to make your colleagues look bad in comparison. I have learnt that to be in management you must first stick together as a sort of clan and over work and exploit your staff. Making support workers find their own cover when they are unwell was not helpful to those being ill and I would usually be there to cover for others but if you expected a fellow worker to help you the choices and helpfulness of staff were slim and even though they have managers on call do not except help there either. Don't get me wrong most staff were usually chatty, nice and would work as a team but in some circumstances such as illness cover not so. The manager was ok we usually got online but that is only because you learnt to grin and bare the poor management. However, you could usually get annual leave with short notice and your mileage was covered but don't expect it to pay for wear and tear on your beloved car and unlike others meal costs are not covered when you take them out. I loved the people we support and enjoyed trips out and even just empowering them to do small tasks as I felt I was making a difference to their lives and they seemed to be thankful for that always making pictures for me and saying thank you which is more than can be said for some the staff who made it so much harder to do your job when they are not so motivated and some too lazy to even empty the dishwasher while you took the SU's out. I worked there for a while believing my job was secure but was transferred without being asked which led to a lose of earning by about a quarter when fighting this they claimed it was acceptable and it was my own fault about my personal circumstances outside of Mencap. I hope this has been helpful because Mencap sure hasn't been for me. Though I am certain this is not the same of all Mencap homes just most of them.

I applied for a work placement at Mencap as an Events and Marketing Assistant with specific project duties on The Belfast City Marathon, 2017, working with the Fundraising Team in Mencap.

This position enabled me to write a Digital Marketing Plan for the project which guided us in all our promotional activities like Social Media content Marketing, analysis of results, google analytics, search engine optimisation, telemarketing, community reach through weekly newsletters.

During my placement, I greatly improved on my communication skills, report writing skills, team work skills, time management skills.  Using my initiative, I was able to offer good customer care to all people who supported Mencap through fundraising, I always solved problems that the Fundraising Team faced like what customer segment to target to increase Mencap awareness, Identifying issues before they became serious and mitigating risks, reaching local suppliers in the community to fundraise or make donations to Mencap and support people with learning disabilities in Northern Ireland.

My team was very hard working, enthusiastic, approachable and good team players.  We always looked out for each other and I greatly did research for the corporate fundraising and local community engagement by building a database for potential donors for Mencap, efforts which paid off by Mencap being nominated as the official Charity Partnership with some corporate donors and local schools.

Organising and analysing registration for The Belfast City Marathon 2017 was a huge project but working as part of the Fundraising Team in Mencap, it was a success.  We managed to enroll over 1300 participants that registered for the Marathon and fundraised for Mencap.  Our target was to raise above £150,000/.  With more collections coming through, this target will be achieved.

Having successfully finished my work placement, I wrote a project report for the Belfast City Marathon for Mencap.  Some of this information was used in my final degree report which mainly concentrated on raising awareness for Mencap.  I also did research on Charity Fundraising in Northern Ireland.

Don't work for this company unless you are happy to be treated like you're worthless and walked all over. Management constantly go on about how matters such as bullying and being treated unfairly are taken 'very seriously', this is a lie. Managers only care about their own role and ensuring they don't have to do much. A lot of staff end up going above and beyond with no thanks and end up being taken advantage of. If issues are raised with management, whether it's a line manager or area manager, they will do everything they can to deal with it in the easiest way for them without taking into consideration the wellbeing of staff including rotating staff to other services to get them out of the way and make things easier for themselves. Management don't care about the wellbeing of their staff, they only care about making sure shifts are covered even if that means over-working staff members or getting agency cover who can't do most things like meds or manual handling (even if they're trained) because of mencaps policies and procedures.
Certain area managers like to intimidate staff and treat them with the lowest amount of respect, there is nothing you can do about this because you're 'easily replaceable' and the management protect themselves and seem to get away with everything, including not doing their jobs properly or to a good standard. Concerns and problems are often swept under the carpet to avoid having to deal with it in the correct ways. 
Mencap are always promoting their values but this only applies to the pws. It's one rule for one person and another rule for another. Bullying is a huge issue and it does not change, no matter how seriously the company says they take it. 
If you aren't in the management's favour or you cause any form of issue for them, you're basically scr*wed. Favouritism is another huge issue.

The only positive to this job is the pws, they're amazing people and deserve so much better than this company. Unfortunately, the negative atmospheres, over worked staff and bad management doesn't only affect staff's quality of life but the pws too. 
Don't get paid enough to deal with the stress of working for this company, minimum wage to be treated like rubbish.

I went along today at the Witham Service (Essex) it was supposed to be an open day between 10am-2pm.
Firstly there was nowhere to park within the service & the local roads are all double yellow lines. Surely if they knew a lot of people would be coming they should have had this sorted? Cars were even double parked, so it was difficult to even turn around to get out to try & find somewhere else to leave the car.
There was no sign or welcome notice on arriving & you had to go into Reception to ask if you were in the right place, I was greeted by a very surly scowling woman. Luckily another lady came to my rescue & she was very chatty. I was shown around but every time I asked questions I was interrupted & not able to finish my sentences tbh (she obviously liked the sound of her own voice) she was on a roll & decided to 'stick to the programme'.
I was then taken back to Reception which was very hot & sat at a tiny table & asked to do a 'test'. The table was cluttered with a printer, it was dirty & next to a photocopier I wasn't even offered a drink of water. Not only did someone come in & start using the copier but the lady that showed me around started answering the phone & talking loudly next to me & the door to what I surmised was the Manager's office was open too; with people talking raucously, laughing & being frankly unprofessional! Eventually I was left in peace to try & finish the 'test' but the phone kept ringing, no one in the office answered it; they were too busy gossiping. I must admit I did sigh with frustration & give them a pointed look as it was VERY difficult to concentrate & they slammed the door in my face.
I have worked in care for 30 years & been involved in some uncomfortable scenarios but even I was shocked. Do you not realise there is a shortage of staff in the care industry & your pay scale is not even very competitive now the NMW has gone up? Not only are you interviewing potential employees but WE are interviewing YOU. 
After listening to what should have been private conversations of the staff & putting that together with the way I was treated, I decided Mencap was not the sort of  service I wished to work for (well at least not that one) & walked out.

I started at Mencap as a volunteer and was so impressed with the outstanding work Mencap do and wanted to be part of this amazing organisation. I am now a full time support worker at Mencap and have been for aprox. 8 years. I have learnt new skills and became more confident in myself this is thanks to my Line manager, which I have worked the from very start of my career, my Assistant Manger, who i worked with for many years and colleagues i have worked with throughout the difference services i've work in. I used to be shy and have low self of steem before joining Mencap, and I never believed I could achieve and be part of something so amazing until working at Mencap. I've see how throughout the company the great work from other departments have done to make Mencap what it is today and we are always  improving and accomplishing new goals together. I have seen how happy the people we support are and seen what they have achieved. The quailty of support and care is the highest possible and we all work together as a team. The people we support are supported to be independent and empowered individuals . Mencap work with valves and a very person centred approach. We make dreams come true. There is no such word as 'can't'. We can make dreams and goals achievable and adapt to every individual. I've seen individuals achieve learning a new skill like making their own cup tea, to dreams coming true to see their favourite music band to achieving goals of going into paid work. 
The people we support are always included in their own personal support and care, and have their choices, wants and needs meet. We encourage people to have their say.
We all work together as a strong united team of individuals, with people we support and their families. Everyone has imput, a voice, are listens to, included and supported being both people we support to staff and management all departments to families of the people we support.
I want to thank Mencap and help to continue out great work together.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Support worker 29 salaries reported	£12.70 per hour
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Coach 8 salaries reported	£28,931 per year
Tutor 2 salaries reported	£30,223 per year
Shop manager 1 salary reported	£24,000 per year

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