Careers in Care - Val’s Story
People join a career in care for a variety of reasons and come from all walks of life. Val Sayer, 75, works for our East Lothian branch and is proud to share her story and experiences.
She said “Before I started working in the community I worked at Belhaven Hospital and then moved onto residential care. For personal reasons, residential care wasn't suitable or flexible enough for what I needed, which was why I made the decision to explore care within the community and twenty years plus later, here we are!”
Val is proud to still be working full-time hours beyond retirement age and loves supporting people to live independently in their own homes.
“I’ve worked for this company for over 20 years and though the name might have changed along the way, one thing that doesn’t is how amazing the team is and the support we receive as carers. I always feel valued and kept up to date with what is going on in the company and the branch.”
We asked Val what she finds most rewarding about working as a Cera carer and she said:
“I’m lucky enough to be able to say I really enjoy my job as a care worker for Cera. There’s nothing like care for being able to really see the difference you and your visits make. I love helping the elderly clients I see regularly and the appreciation I’m shown. Even on my days off or annual leave I hear clients have requested me and that really warms my heart to know. Both the team and clients thank me daily for helping them, and hearing them say things like, 'if it wasn't for you I would be stuck', just makes me feel so valued.”
The branch team said, “The client feedback we get for Val is brilliant and they all love her out in the field as a care worker. We also have great feedback from office (branch) staff about Val and what it’s like to work with her. She’s such a wonderful, caring and genuine person who loves her job and I think she really demonstrates that age is just a number and you can continue to have a fulfilling career beyond retirement age.”
To find out more about working over retirement age, visit our blog on ‘Unretirement and Careers in Care’ here
If you’re interested in a career in care, click here to view our current jobs
