{"id":23035,"date":"2024-07-23T10:52:18","date_gmt":"2024-07-23T09:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/?p=23035"},"modified":"2024-07-23T10:52:18","modified_gmt":"2024-07-23T09:52:18","slug":"from-delivery-driver-to-care-in-the-community-social-care-practitioners-recognised-at-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2024\/07\/from-delivery-driver-to-care-in-the-community-social-care-practitioners-recognised-at-launch\/","title":{"rendered":"From Delivery Driver To Care In The Community\u2026 Social Care Practitioners Recognised At Launch"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The positive impact that social care can deliver has been recognised at the launch of the \u2018Social Care \u2013 Making a Difference\u2019 campaign at Stormont today.<\/span><\/p>\n

Attendees at the launch heard of the many benefits that a career in social care can bring including Melvin Gould who as one of Northern Ireland\u2019s 40,000 social care practitioners shared his inspirational journey.<\/span><\/p>\n

A former delivery driver, Melvin became a social care practitioner at 55 years of age. He knows, like other social care practitioners, that every day when he goes to work he makes a positive impact on people\u2019s lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

Melvin Gould, Social care practitioner with Harmony Community Care Services, told his story as part of the campaign and wants others to consider a career in social care too:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI know people head into work and sometimes don\u2019t want to be there. I just couldn\u2019t do that. I can say hand on heart that for me that is not the case. I know that my job gives me the ability to make a difference in peoples\u2019 lives, with no two days being the same. I came to social care later in life, but Iwish I had made that change sooner. If you are a good listener, are kind and want to help other people live a better life \u2013 join social care like me \u2013 you won\u2019t regret it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The campaign invites people who want a career in care to learn more through stories from social care practitioners doing the job \u2013 about what it is like, why they do it, and showing the flexible, varied and diverse opportunities available.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the event, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said \u2018thank you\u2019 to the social care workforce and to those who have shared their stories of the difference they make to the community, and how important it is that people consider a professional career in social care as one that is diverse, flexible and rewarding.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking at today\u2019s launch, Minister Nesbitt said:<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cSocial care work really matters and is truly valued. It is vital that the right care is available for adults and young people and that they are supported to live independently for as long as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy Department and I are committed to both supporting our social care workforce and promoting social care as a career choice.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want to thank all of our social care practitioners for their commitment, compassion and the valuable work they do every day in our communities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Patricia Higgins, CEO, Social Care Council added:<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cIn social care there are some great opportunities for caring, compassionate and committed individuals looking for a career where they can make a real difference in their local community.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cImportantly, our campaign not only highlights the diverse and exciting opportunities available in the social care sector to progress in their career, but also celebrates the brilliant social care practitioners, some of whom feature in our new campaign stories \u2013 this campaign is also for the social care work force \u2013 to know we value them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Agnes Lunny, CEO of Positive Futures, who helped develop this year\u2019s campaign added:<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cSocial care services can only offer high quality support to the community because they have committed, compassionate staff who make a difference every day. Our \u2018Social care \u2013 making a difference\u2019 campaign highlights a key part of why we do what we do as providers of care \u2013 the warm and mutually beneficial relationships we have with the people we support. It shares the real stories of workers and the people they support, and shows the diversity, value and impact they have.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are lots of jobs available, with options to suit a range of lifestyles, skills and experience. Specific qualifications aren\u2019t required for an entry-level role in social care \u2013 training is provided on the job. For those who want career progression, there are a range of qualification and training opportunities. No matter the role, in social care you can make a real difference to people\u2019s lives. My advice to anyone thinking of a career in care is \u2013 reach out to your nearest social care provider and find out more.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This campaign is run by the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (the Social Care Council) on behalf of the Social Care Collaborative Forum, a Department of Health partnership across the social care sector in Northern Ireland, which has been established to lead a programme of work to improve social care services for the community.<\/span><\/p>\n

Make a difference to lives with a career in social care\u2026Want to know more? <\/span>Check out NISCC\u2019s social care stories page on <\/b>https:\/\/niscc.info\/social-care-stories<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The positive impact that social care can deliver has been recognised at the launch of the \u2018Social Care \u2013 Making a Difference\u2019 campaign at Stormont today. Attendees at the launch heard of the many benefits that a career in social care can bring including Melvin Gould who as one of Northern Ireland\u2019s 40,000 social care … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23035"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23035"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23037,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23035\/revisions\/23037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}