Work-life balance

The flexibility of shifts offered by Caremark allows staff to adjust their hours to fit the different work-life balance required at various stages of life.

In Donna King’s case it’s enabled her to stay with the home care support team at Caremark Mansfield and Ashfield for over ten years.

“When I first joined I was part time and then as I came to know and enjoy the job I built up to as many as 50 hours a week,” she said. “Now I’m getting on a bit I have dropped down to 30-40.”

Donna’s decade with Caremark Mansfield and Ashfield includes a spell where she broke her ankle and was off for six months.

“The company were great. There was no pressure and when I was ready to return I was able just to ease back in, gradually building up the hours again.”

Donna, 57, joined Caremark after lengthy spells working first in a superstore and then in newspaper sales.

 It was on the salesfloor of the superstore that her caring nature came to the fore.

“I probably wasn’t the best for them because if a customer wanted some bedding I knew was going to be reduced in the near future I would quietly ask if they could hang on a bit,” she said. “I did have good customer retention though.”

When the digital age led to local newspapers shedding staff Donna needed a new job and her daughter and two step-daughters, who were all working in the care sector, suggested she apply to Caremark.

She admits for the first two weeks in the job she wasn’t sure it was for her, but then something just clicked and ten years on Donna is still here.

“I love the job, driving around, getting out and about and meeting different people and hearing about their fascinating lives,” she said.

Donna finds the breakthrough moments the most rewarding part of the job and tells of one recently with an elderly client living with dementia.

“I had been visiting for a few weeks and he was telling me how he used to be an architect. He then opened up about how when he retired he lived on a longboat, it was fascinating.”

Outside of work Donna has five grandchildren aged 4-10 to keep her busy, enjoys gardening and is looking forward to a holiday this Summer in Menorca.

She believes the key skills for anyone joining the care sector are patience and compassion.

“People can be confused or in pain and can be difficult so you need to show understanding as you go about your job,” she said. “If you haven’t got that patience to listen and engage with people, to give them some quality time then this is not the job for you.”