Staff Testimonials | Centre 404

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Staff Testimonials

We recognise the enormous contribution that our staff make towards helping us achieve high standards of quality care and support

In return we provide a welcoming and inclusive work environment that allows people to develop skills, build valuable experiences and contribute to innovative ways of working.

See and read what some of our staff have said about working at Centre 404 below.

Sarah- Working at Centre 404 for 10 years

Sarah, our Head of Operations at Independent Living, is celebrating her work at Centre 404 for 10 years. Here is an interview for Sarah with her manager Claire, our Director Of Independent Living and Specialist Services at Centre 404. Click here to see the full article.

Question 1: Congratulations on completing a decade at Centre 404! How does it feel to have spent such a long time with Centre 404?

Sarah’s Answer: Thank you! It does not feel like 10 years. I have been involved in so many great achievements and supported the organisation through very tough times for example working through the the pandemic . Time has flown!

Nancy- Senior Support Worker at our Tollington Way Supported Living Project

Rachel- Senior Support Worker with our Personal Support Worker Finding and Matching Service and our Young People’s Groups and Activities

Beatriz - Deputy Head of Supporting Families Service

My first role in Centre 404 was a Reception and Administration Volunteer post in January 2015. I quickly progressed to a fixed-term paid role as a Supporting Parents Administrator. In July 2015, I applied for and was successful in acquiring a full time position as an Engagement Coordinator and later as the permanent Information & Engagement Coordinator in March 2016.

Following the retirement of the Head of Supporting Families Service in October 2018, the service was restructured – I was promoted to Deputy Head and our CEO became acting Head.

At the end of 2019, I applied for the Head of Supporting Families role and since January 2020 I am the Head of the Service.

I am therefore very grateful for the opportunities this organisation has given me to grow and to give to others. It is a beautiful and rewarding job. I really enjoy working here.

Staff at Centre 404 are hardworking and kind and they go above and beyond to support families who live with, and are affected by, a learning disability or autistic spectrum condition.

My current role allows me to see the bigger picture of how a service is set up and managed to respond to the needs of those we support.

Moreover, I think Centre 404 adds a huge value to our local community. It was set up by family carers and has remained a user-led organisation. I am proud to be part of this community.

Ruby - Waking Night Support Worker

I started working for Centre 404 as an agency worker in my mid 60’s, I took on a permanent waking night role when I was 65 and stayed for 10 years. This was part time for 3-4 nights a week.

I chose waking nights to give me space to do other things during the day. I would come home from a night shift and potter about and then sleep in the afternoon. I took so much joy from working with the ladies over the years, learning ways to communicate and understand their responses. They were often awake during the night and I took a lot of reward and satisfaction from this work.

Overall this was the ideal job for me at that stage in my life. Centre 404 was a great place to work, everyone was friendly and supportive. I would have carried on if I could but I was no spring chicken and I decided to finally retire.

Ruby worked with 2 tenants who had high and complex needs for 10 years, she is also a mother, grandmother and great grandmother!

Jo - Project Manager

Before I worked at Centre 404 I was working in retail where it was all about making a profit. Working at Centre 404 is so much more rewarding.

I started working in the Reception, welcoming and meeting service users, visitors and staff. After two years I applied for a job as a Support Worker as I wanted to be more involved in supporting people directly. Each day is so different; you might be helping someone with their benefits and supporting them to get out of bed, or you might be helping someone to go to a party and meet their friends, or to go for lunch and do some shopping.

I really enjoyed this work and when a vacancy came up for a Deputy Manager I went for it. I got the job and now I have worked my way up to become the Manager of that project.

I would recommend Support Work as a really good start for building a challenging career that makes a difference.