Supported Living is an important step towards independence. We know how important it is for individuals to have the right support so they can live the life they want to live.
Cygnet supports individuals in several different locations across the North West including in Macclesfield, Cheshire, where we help support nine tenants in single occupancy apartments.
How did you come to work at Cygnet, Lauren?
I worked in retail, at Asda for a few years and had tried working in nurseries and elderly care. I loved people but doubted myself. One of my friends had worked at Cygnet and in August 2021 I applied to join as a Support Worker.
What was your first job with Cygnet like?
It was in Wigan, doing supported living, supporting just one Service User with mental health and learning disabilities. She was 18 years old and had mental health and learning difficulties. Over the 18 months that followed, I built a good relationship with her and also started doing some acting senior support worker duties, like being involved in paperwork and audits.
Did the acting senior experience lead to your desire to get promoted?
Yes, I applied for a Senior Support Worker role in Macclesfield in January 2023, this time working with 9 service users.
How was the transition to the senior role and the new setting?
In the main it was positive. I love being busy as you never get bored and it was certainly busy! As I’d done some senior work in an acting capacity, I’d already been conditioned into what I could expect. That said, until you do a role like this, you never quite appreciate how much goes on behind the scenes. There’s the one-to-ones, dealing with conflicts, and the supervisions to do too. You have to be able to put enough time aside to be able to do each part, probably 50:50 between the senior part of the role and the caregiving to Service Users.
