What experience of the sector did you have before joining?

None whatsoever. I was a journalist for 25 years mainly for local papers. We covered quite a few stories related to housing – either issues with their accommodation or trying to just find somewhere to live. I would describe myself as fairly socially aware as well as being a journalist, I have a deep interest in people.

I took redundancy from my job and did some PR work which I didn’t really enjoy. Then I saw this programme one morning where a guy was working for a housing association, he was moving someone into their first flat and I thought “that looks like a nice job”.

My first role was actually a maternity cover for someone at The Crescent. It was great because I thought – I wouldn’t be letting anyone down if I didn’t like it, but from the first day I absolutely loved it.

What other roles have you had at Transform?

So after doing the maternity cover a permanent Housing & Support Officer (HSO) role became available, I applied and got the job. I had been there for a few years and then in 2019 there was an opportunity to do a maternity cover for the Deputy Manager at Pound House which is our young people service in Woking. I’ve always liked working with young people, I like the chaos and the fact that you can affect change quite rapidly with a young person. Hopefully for the better.

The maternity cover ended and I went back to my role at The Crescent but when the new Service Manager role became available at Pound I applied and got the job!

What does your typical day at work involve?

I have a fair few meetings. I have to regularly review the rota, make sure that while the HSOs support their clients, I offer them any support they need. It’s a very small team at Pound so people work very closely together which is good – it means you’re always aware of what's going on with other people and their clients. We’ve got a really good team and we want them to carry on feeling happy and supported in their role. So that’s my main focus.

What's been your most satisfying experience?

Usually people are boggled at the level of involvement we have in people’s lives. You can tell them any story generally from your week or your day and they’ll be amazed.

I’ve never wanted to take credit for somebody else’s personal development because they’ve done it along with a huge amount of people. I’ve always worked on the understanding that everything that happens is their choice, we can signpost, we can support and we can get people to appointments but at the end of the day they’re the ones doing the work, or not doing the work. So I’ve been very pleased with some of our outcomes but I think I’m too pragmatic for satisfaction.

What’s the best thing about Transform?

Because Transform is quite a small organisation everyone tends to know each other. Even the Executive team – I know that if I needed to raise an issue with them directly, I would be able to do that.

The quality of staff is amazing – we don’t have any bad support workers, you can’t do this job and not put 100% in. Everybody’s different, but they’re all very good at their job. I haven’t met anyone at Transform who doesn’t put their clients first.

We’ve got exceptional accommodation – clients often come here and are quite surprised at how nice it is. They tend to have come from being homeless in some way, shape or form, but we are able to immediately provide that home environment they need. That can be very transformative. At Pound we also support unaccompanied asylum seekers, they may not have slept for days if not weeks and when they come here, suddenly they feel safe. That’s incredible.

What training and development have you had?

Everything I need and more. Transform has a very healthy attitude to training. When I first started I felt like I was being relentlessly trained in all sorts of things for about 18 months – it was quite impressive. Since then I’ve been able to request a variety of extra training for areas that are of specific interest to me such as trauma-informed care. I was put on manager training two or three years ago because I was seen as someone they wanted to develop which is great.

What do you think of Transform as an organisation to work for?

Well I’ve been here seven years so what does that tell you?

I think they are very client-focused as an organisation, there’s been a lot of streamlining of our processes which just gives us more time to work with clients. There’s been a lot of change in the last few years but it’s clear to see it’s going in the right direction.

What do you think you've gained personally through working here?

I’m definitely more empathetic and less judgmental which I think has made me a better parent. Working with young people has certainly sharpened my parenting skills, I often end up key working my own children which is quite good.

Because we are not supposed to let our emotions affect the way we deal with clients, it’s been quite a useful tool to implement in my personal life. I’m able to look at a problem or an issue from every angle, when clients bring something to us we look at every sort of possibility around it which I think has stopped me jumping to conclusions.

I’m much more reflective, so if someone is coming to me and having a moan about someone else I often say to them – perhaps that person was having a bad day or even – have you thought they might have some kind of mental health issue?

What would you say to someone who’s thinking about working for Transform?

If you’re interested in people and can stay calm under pressure, it’s worth exploring.

The job descriptions are amazingly informative but even that wouldn’t prepare you for the actual job – you don’t know what it’s like until you do it.

Clients only share what they want to with us, one of the things you have to accept is that you won't necessarily know everything that’s going on in someone’s life. You have to take everything at face value.

A lot of clients come to us with a lack of trust, particularly with professionals, and it’s our job to change that narrative.

What do Transform’s values mean to you?

Empowerment has always been a big thing for me, I want to support people to live the best life they can. It’s not to tell them what to do it’s to give them the confidence to do it.

A lot of clients have never been treated with respect. But it’s a two-way thing – if you’ve never received it then why would you give it? We treat our clients as people, we believe they are worthy of help and a nice home and that can be a new experience for them.