Kerry is glad she found her true vocation
Working in a care home has been so fulfilling for Drumsagard woman
A caring young Cambuslang woman who found her vocation through a Modern Apprenticeship has made such an early impression on the Rutherglen care home in which she works that she’s been tipped as a future boss.
Kerry Turner, of Drumsagard, didn’t think she’d gain any future qualifications when she decided the social sciences university degree course wasn’t for her and, after passing all her first year exams, dropped out.
She worked as a waitress for over two years in the Burnside Hotel.
“I loved working there,” said Kerry, 24.
“It served a purpose, but it was not what I wanted as a career.”
She then worked in a Hamilton contact centre, but admits that her heart wasn’t in it.
“While looking at other routes, I came across the council’s Modern Apprenticeship scheme,” she explained.
“I was 23 and knew the cutoff for apprenticeships was 24. I thought: ‘Just go for it’ and I have never looked back.”
After going through the induction process at South Lanarkshire Council’s HQ, Kerry and seven other Modern Apprentices were placed at David Walker Gardens care home in Rutherglen.
“I didn’t know what to expect. I thought it was just beautiful,” said Kerry.
“Everyone was so welcoming and lovely. As time went on, we got to meet more staff and residents, and I fell in love with the place. The manager, Deborah Allison, is so supportive. She is always there if you need to talk to her. She will always encourage you to go forward. She has said on a few occasions that I will take her job off her one day. I just laugh, but I would like that very much,”
After just three months, Kerry was offered a permanent contract at the care home.
This week, she completed her SVQ level 2 and is now starting level 3.
“For a few years, my step mum had said I should get into care. I thought I wouldn’t be able to do that job. I was dubious at first, but after my first shift, I just knew. It is not for everybody and it takes a certain kind of person,” said Kerry.
“When you see a genuine smile on someone’s face, you can go home happy. In the dementia units, a smile like that really gets you. It gives you a lift and, no matter what is going on in your own life, when you see them smile it makes everything worthwhile. You are not allowed to have a favourite resident, but secretly, you do. If I could take them all home with me, I would.”
Without having embarked on a Modern Apprenticeship, Kerry is certain she wouldn’t have done an SVQ.
“When I left uni, I thought I would not get any other qualifications. But coming through a Modern Apprenticeship has shown me it is possible,” she said.
“When we started at David Walker Gardens, the manager Deborah told us that the residents do not live in our workplace, we just happen to work in their home, and that is really true. This is their home.”
Resident Alice Hannah, who has called David Walker Gardens her home for 18 months, is one of Kerry’s biggest fans.
“She is very good at what she does,” 79-year-old Alice told The Reformer.
“If you need something, she is the first person you would go to. She doesn’t hold back. When she knows you need help, she comes straight to you. She is a very cheerful person, very sought after and very popular. She definitely has management potential. She is very kind and understanding and you need that for this kind of work. All the girls who work here seem content and I like to see them enjoying themselves.”
The residents do not live in our workplace, we just happen to work in their home