Meet Natasha

Natasha was a Youth Worker before beginning her career as a Residential Childcare Practitioner. In 18 years she’s never looked back.

How did you start working in children’s homes?

I started working in children's homes, it’s been nearly 18 years, so it’s been a long time. I started off as a youth worker, and then I developed into going into children's homes for my job.

What does a day in a home for you look like?

Basically, in the morning we get up, get the young people ready for the activities. Like if it's the weekend, we go out and learn new experiences, take them to places they’ve not been before to give them a bit more education, insight of different things in life they can look at and do.

And then if it's a school week we get them up, get them ready for school, take them to school, make sure that they've got everything provided, and make sure they’re safe and well when we take them, and make sure they feel happy and safe.

Tell me about the needs of the children you care for.

The needs of the children is very emotional. You could have good days or bad days, it depends on how the young person is feeling, if they might have family contact, that they might get anxious and nervous or anything like that. It could be hit and miss with the young people, so every day is different. So you have to be very versatile and know what to expect, and be supportive with a young person to give them that emotional need they need.

It is a variety of backgrounds. It could be from neglect, abuse, it could be that some young people are actually carers for their own parents so they need the support because they're actually carers as well. So it could be a variety of things, or they struggle emotionally with their needs. They could have severe ADHD and the parents can't look after them as much as they want to. So there's a variety of different needs that the young people have that come into the homes.

What do you think the children and young people need that children’s homes provide?

I think one of the main things that we try and do is make them feel safe. That is one of the biggest things, to make sure they feel safe and the nurture that sometimes they won't get with their own parents or who they were with, because they find it difficult to show their emotions and feelings. It’s giving them that opportunity to learn that people do care for them in what we do that make them feel safe and happy.

What’s the most challenging part of your job?

The most challenging part of the job is seeing a young person struggle with themselves, with their emotions, who they are, finding their own identity. Sometimes they could be really upset and emotional, and sometimes it's hard for you to sit back and look at a young child who's struggling so much. But we have to be very nurturing and give them the care and make them understand they are worth something in society, in life, and they're not isolated from the outside world.  

An identity issue for them would be something like a lot of them - if they think that the identity of being gay where their families won’t accept that, we try and promote that all young people can express who they are as a person. So it could be they struggle  with their parents because they've always had people telling them they're not worth anything. So finding who they are as a person is an identity of what they like to do and who they are as a person, what they like to wear and dress when we take them clothes shopping. Just the basic things really, it’s giving them that opportunity to be themselves.

What’s the most rewarding part of your job?

The most rewarding is seeing the young people start at the beginning of the journey with us to the end of the journey when they're grown up and they move on. For example, I looked after a young boy from the age of seven and now he's 21, and I've still got permission from Social Services to keep in contact with him. He’s a grown man now, got his own job, flat, and he's thriving. So for me, where he was to start with to where he is now is such an amazing journey for him and that's what keeps me going in my job.

It's very rewarding. You look at a young person and it could be just going out doing the shopping, or independence is quite important as well because they've never been in that opportunity where we give them a choice as to say, “Right, we’ll learn how to cook.” Just make them develop who they want to be is nice, and learning from right from wrong to be honest as well.

We like to put them into a routine as well because a lot of young people who haven't been in care or in a homely environment, don't know routine. A routine is one of the key things because that makes them feel secure and happy. So routine’s a big thing with us and they know where they are then. It makes their life a lot easier, and they know what to expect from us all in care and things like that.

Tell me about a child / young person that you remember, their journey and outcomes.

I looked after a young girl, she was struggling with her anxiety, and low self-confidence, and now she's actually studying at university to become a lawyer so she can actually help young people – which is a really amazing journey for her. It’s nice to see that she can do that.

What are you career plans for the future?

People do say what would you like to do in your journey of your job, but to be honest I like to be the support worker. I like to be with young people, giving them new experiences and keeping them safe. So to be honest, I love my job and I wouldn't do it for this long for 18 years if I didn't love it. I just want to be where I am. I've got no future plans of moving on or anything. So it's really rewarding for me.

What would you like to say to someone watching this who is thinking about working in a children’s home?

Do it. I love it. It's rewarding, makes you happy. It will be hard sometimes but it's worth it in the end. It's really good. I love it. If you care, you can.

Tell me about a child / young person that you remember, their journey and outcomes.

One day I went into a kebab shop in Nottingham where I live and I went to the counter and I actually saw a young… well, he was a gentleman now. He’s a man. He used to be in my care, and he said, “This lady wants a free kebab because she looked after me in care. I came over in a lorry from Afghanistan, and she did an amazing job.” He just wanted to pay me respect and give me a free kebab, which broke my heart. It was lovely to see, but he’s a thriving young man as well, and he was so respectful. He made me happy.