Shineeza Bender is one of our most longstanding carers – having worked for our charity at Whiteley Village ever since she left college in 2009. She studied Health and Social Care and did her placement at Ingram House, our residential care home. Her manager was so impressed that she offered Shineeza a job on the spot, but she wanted to finish college.
“It was a tough time as I worked literally every day for three years – either at college or as a kitchen assistant in another care home. But eventually I left college and decided to come back to Whiteley taking a job as a care assistant in Whiteley House (our former nursing home).
“The managers were very supportive and after only a few months encouraged me to train as a senior care assistant. In 2016 I became a team leader and have had the opportunity to work in both of the care homes here at Whiteley Village. I relocated to the Eliza Palmer Hub nursing home when Whiteley House closed, and then finally to our residential care home, Ingram House. It was really useful experience and in 2020 I was offered the opportunity to become a Senior Care Lead.
“I’ve learnt so much over the last two years. The pandemic has been very tough for everyone and it was especially challenging trying to keep residents spirits up. We all felt so sorry for them, as at least we could go home to our families, but they couldn’t.
“The team are very committed and responsible and during the worst of the pandemic we had no cases of Covid at all here in Ingram which was amazing and something we’re all really proud of. Things are now starting to get back to normal thankfully and it’s lovely having visitors back again. Residents are so much happier and it’s boosted staff morale too.”
So what makes Whiteley special for Shineeza? “I think it’s the team here – they’re great and everyone looks out for each other. People say you must love it as you’ve been there so long! The years have flown by, I can’t believe it – so I suppose it must be true!”
Learning, support and personal development for staff is something our charity has always been committed to and is one of the reasons our staff say they stay with us. We’re proud to be a Silver Investors in People employer and have fantastic feedback about what a great place Whiteley Village is to work. If you’d like to join our brilliant team, you can find out more about us here and the current vacancies we have.
