Actor takes on real life role as city care worker
A CARDIFF actor is championing his new career as a care worker.
Bill Bellamy, pictured, a founder member of the National Youth Theatre of Wales, has spoken about his experience of becoming a care worker during the pandemic.
Back in spring, Mr Bellamy responded to Cardiff council’s appeal for care workers as the sector faced its greatest ever challenge to care for and protect elderly and vulnerable people.
After registering with Cardiff Works, the council’s own in-house recruitment agency, Mr Bellamy was supported through the various courses and qualifications he needed and is now working as a care worker in the community.
Mr Bellamy, who trained at the city’s Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, described the move as “one of the most worthwhile journeys” he has taken in years.
He said: “As the pandemic hit us, minds, and certainly my mind, turned to the thought of what can I do to help out my city.
“The industry I had worked in for over 30 years disappeared with little prospect of it starting up again soon, so it was lucky for me that the council call-out came at exactly the right time.
“I will never say that I will not go back to life in the arts but, at present, I am enjoying making a difference in my hometown. I am learning all the time.
“The job is certainly more challenging than I would ever have thought – but it is also infinitely more rewarding. I am lucky that such unusual circumstances have given me a glimpse of a branch of Cardiff council’s work that is often overlooked and undervalued.”
The council’s workforce, alongside its commissioned social care providers, has safely delivered more than 600,000 hours of adult and children’s domiciliary care since the start of the pandemic. It has also continued to support adults and children in care homes and supported living arrangements during these challenging times.
More than 150 council staff were re-purposed from their usual roles to support frontline services across adult and children’s social care services.