Nicola Miller.  November 2021.

I have been part of the Amber Family now for 5 years, and it was the best decision of my life to apply to be part of the team.

Back in October 2016, I was a stay-at-home mum with 3 children, my youngest being just over the age of 1. I had recently qualified as a Social Worker however after graduating from University I had decided I did not want to work in a Local Authority setting. The reason for this is that I felt that Social Workers in the Local Authority are so busy and overstretched, that they must struggle to invest time and support into each family they work with.  My decision to train to be a Social Worker was because I wanted to fully support parents, especially young parents to become the best parents they could. I had my first child at 18 years of age and without the support of my family, I wouldn’t have been able to manage, however not all parents have the luxury of being supported by a close-knit family as I had.

I was informed about Amber Family during a visit from my youngest child’s Health Visitor.  I subsequently applied for a job and my journey began. Initially, I was employed as a support worker, working nights and weekends. I thoroughly enjoyed this role and enjoyed working so closely with the parents and getting to know all about Amber. After a short space of time continuing my role as a support worker, an opportunity became available for me to become a trainee keyworker, I jumped at this opportunity. I enjoyed completing this training as I had the opportunity to work closely with the other established key workers, who had a wealth of knowledge.  Following my training in this role, I was then promoted to key worker, where I would be responsible for closely working with 2 families. My responsibilities as a key worker were to complete weekly keyworker meetings with my 2 families, attend professional meetings for the family and inform the allocated assessor about the progress of the families. Whilst completing my role as keyworker I was offered the opportunity to train to become a PAMs assessor. Again, I jumped at this opportunity and was delighted that management believed in me and could see I had potential. Therefore, off I went to London for an all-expenses-paid, overnight stay to complete my PAMs training. This was the first time I had been to London and although I was nervous about going on my own, I had the best time, as well as completing the training I did have the opportunity to be a tourist for a couple of hours each day.

I continued my role as a key worker, working very closely with a range of different families. During this time my confidence and workability increased, and I gained lots of knowledge and new skills while being a key worker. One day I was informed that an opportunity had arisen to cover a manager who was due to go on maternity leave, this position was offered to me. I was absolutely made up when asked to do this and of course, accepted. Whilst covering this position I again developed more knowledge and skills and became more involved in decisions that were made by the management team.  I was so grateful for this opportunity. It was my understanding that when my colleague returned from maternity leave, I would then return to my role as a keyworker and PAM’s assessor, which I was more than happy to do.  However, when my colleague returned from maternity leave, I was offered the opportunity to become a Registered Manager of another setting in the company. I was so pleased to be given this opportunity and immediately said ‘yes’.  Following an intense Ofsted interview for this role, I officially became a Registered Manager in May 2020.

This journey I have had with Amber Family so far has been one of the best times of my life.  I have developed quickly to be where I am today, however, this has not been without determination and some ups and downs. I cannot thank the management team at Amber Family enough for believing in me and for providing me with the opportunities I have been given.  Reflecting on all the opportunities I have had whilst working at Amber, I feel this is one of the only times in my life where people have believed in me and supported me to be the best person/employee that I can be. I would encourage all staff at Amber Family to approach management if they want to develop further in their career as there is always options and support available to do this. When working at Amber Family I definitely feel part of a family and I will remain working here for as long as I am needed.