Kelly, Peripatetic Manager
Since joining NCHA in 2022, Kelly has not only graduated from our CLEAR Leaders training programme, but she has also become a Domestic Abuse Champion, Mental Health First Aider, LGBT+ Ally, Wellbeing Champion and member of our Diverse Heritage Forum.
As a Peripatetic Manager my role is to support Care and Support projects where and when needed. I’ve always been quite vocal about where I want to go in my career – I eventually want to become a Contracts Manager, managing a range of services. My management team have been fantastic in supporting my development towards fulfilling my goals with all their own individual knowledge.
A bit about me
Although I was born in Nottingham, my childhood was spent between Yorkshire and Ashington in the North-East. My dad’s black and my mum’s white. The North-East wasn’t very diverse back in the 80s; my dad was the only black person in Ashington, and me and my sister were the only mixed-race kids in school.
When my parents divorced, I moved back to my roots in Nottingham which was a big culture shock. Despite being a more diverse community, it was actually in Nottingham where racist comments were made, and I truly felt different. One funny thing moving from the North-East was people were surprised to hear my voice and they’d ask: ‘How is a black person speaking in a Geordie accent?’ I dyed my hair ginger, and they called me ‘Spuggy’ from Byker Grove!
I didn’t have a great childhood and spent a lot of time in the care system. That was incredibly broken at the time, and I was told the abuse that happened to me at the hands of my stepfather was culturally acceptable. It was from then I wanted to make my own changes to the social care system, even if it meant just helping one person.
At 43 years old, I’ve been with my husband since I was 15 and have two children – support networks are everything to me. My lived experiences have definitely moulded me into the person I am today.
Supporting people with compassion
My motivation has always been to give something back to the care system and make sure things are being done properly. When I was 13 years old, my grandad was treated badly in a care home. This was also another turning point as I decided then I wanted to run my own care home someday to protect the residents and make sure they’re treated with the respect they deserve.
I became a Care Assistant, progressing to Care Coordinator, a Registered Manager then into my current manager role at NCHA. We risk assess people’s needs to ensure social care is about tailoring services to genuinely address a person’s requirements. I want to make the system safer for people.
Leading by example
My background helps educate my management style. I have a lived experience of some of the issues we deal with, and I’ve worked my way up. I’ve never forgotten who I was and where I came from. I’ve always just cracked on with things and kept going.
Everybody at NCHA has always been very helpful too. I’m currently on secondment with a taskforce to assist our registered care homes where they need more focused support. I like to keep busy and love learning, so I’m now working towards my next career step with NCHA.
My priority is always to be engaged and get stuck in with my team – I’m a big believer in helping build colleagues up rather than putting them down. Happy colleagues mean happy customers. It’s the most rewarding job to see we’re uplifting people’s lives every day. NCHA invests in us as individuals and we’re all in it together. Our CLEAR values speak for themselves.
