Jobs

Sarah Nicholas, St Michael’s House, Welwyn Garden City

When Sarah Nicholas took a part-time job as a domestic assistant at St Michael’s House she never dreamt that she’d return there as the manager.

But that’s exactly what she did – not bad going for a girl who left school at 15 and whose only qualification until then was a City & Guilds certificate in hairdressing.

Hairdressing was Sarah’s trade until her children were born. After that she combined work as a mobile hairdresser with shifts as a hospital cleaner until she started working at St Michael’s in 1982. Getting to know the staff and residents of this county council residential service for people with physical disabilities got her thinking about going into care work herself.

“When a vacancy for a care assistant came up, I thought I could do that,” Sarah said. “I love working with people and getting involved in supporting them to achieve things for themselves. It makes such a difference to their lives.”

That first job led to others – as a residential social worker in a children’s home, an assistant manager in a care home for children with learning disabilities and deputy manager of a residential service for adults with learning disabilities.

As she moved up the career ladder, Sarah had plenty of training to help her on her way. She now holds a post graduate certificate in management, level 4 NVQ accreditation in care management and is working for further qualifications.

“Training is something that the county council is really good at,” she said. “Everybody starting here goes on an induction course and there’s lots of in-house training to help people do their jobs.”

It was training plus experience that resulted in Sarah becoming a manager herself. Acting as manager while her then boss was on maternity leave gave her the confidence she needed to apply for the job when the manager's post at St Michael’s was advertised.

She’s been doing the job for five years now and she loves it. “It’s not just about managing the service, so that the people who come here get the support they need but also about helping and encouraging the staff – that’s just as important.”