“I’ve had amazing experiences working at Southdown services”

In 2009, I started working at Southdown as a Support Worker at one of our Learning Disability Supported Living services. I wanted a career where I felt I was doing something worthwhile, where people and the community were at the centre. I knew working with an organisation whose values aligned with mine was important.

After a few years, I gained experience by moving to other services and I became a Senior Support worker. I then moved on to be part of the Positive Behaviour Support team, which led me to apply for a Service Manager position at one of our other Learning Disability Support services. After eight years in this role, I recently started a new one managing the Staying Well services in East Sussex.

The Staying Well services in Sussex support people who are experiencing a self-defined mental health crisis. This role involves working in the different Staying Well locations, alongside the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SPFT). Currently, each service is working on slightly different models, so we will aim to deliver consistency to all the Staying Well services.

Before Southdown, I had gotten stuck working in retail and hospitality, I felt that these sectors cared less about their employees and only seemed interested in generating profit. After this, I started looking to work at a not-for-profit organisation, which led me to Southdown.

I’ve had amazing experiences at the Southdown services I’ve worked in throughout the years, they are full of interesting people. These experiences made me realise why our work is important and how my colleagues’ commitment to clients positively impacts them and the wider community.

I learnt in my previous roles that if you put the work in, you see the rewards for yourself and the people we support. I’ve now been able to transfer these skills when I started working in the Mental Health function, by managing the Staying Well East Sussex services.

I’m looking forward to the learning opportunities in this new role as I’ll be working with experienced staff and a new client base, so there’s lots to gain personally.

In the 15 years I’ve worked here, my favourite things about Southdown are seeing clients’ personal development, and that they encouraged me to work across many different services. I’m proud of Southdown’s reputation and its commitment to supporting people.

A few years ago we spoke to Mark about his roles in our Learning Disability Support Services, to read more click here.