Social care wasn’t part of Allen’s original plan. He went to university to become a primary school teacher and quickly realised that it wasn’t what he wanted to do. It was hard to pinpoint exactly what he wanted from his career. He wanted to make a difference to people’s lives, but more directly – as support work allows you to do.
He tried different jobs for a few years before his brother recommended support work. So, he started working as a Relief Support Worker and was instantly hooked.
He worked at another provider before starting at Thera but he was never able to progress. “Since starting with Thera it’s been like strength to strength.”
Allen joined Thera 12 years ago, after one of the managers (who he’d worked with previously) asked if he was looking for a new role and whether he could help support someone he already knew, who would really benefit from being supported by someone familiar. Allen moved to Thera soon after and hasn’t looked back.
As a father of a child with learning disabilities, Allen has found a more managerial role has helped his work/life balance whilst still being able to make an impact on the lives of people he supports. He can support people to achieve their outcomes whilst being in a position to make impactful changes.
Allen also discussed how supporting people to achieve their goals is always a team effort and how rewarding it is to support people to do just that.
Allen’s advice for people wanting to start a social care career is: “You need to be the kind of person that gets pleasure from someone else’s success. Your career isn’t about what you’re going to achieve, it’s about what you’re going to help other people achieve.”
When it comes to development, Allen said that, while he had his teaching degree, he had done all his social care qualifications at Thera.
Overall, Allen expresses his joy for his role and how he couldn’t imagine doing anything else but acknowledges that support got him to where he is today.
