We have developed a robust training programme that incorporates all necessary mandatory training. We also draw down on areas of expertise within the company to deliver enhanced training, including training delivered by our clinical lead Gavin Thompson, positive behaviour support and MAPA.

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We have our own onsite training department to ensure that we have the right staff, with the right skills, in the right place to ensure that those in caring roles have the ability to understand individual health and social needs and the expertise, clinical and technical knowledge to deliver effective care.

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Community Places is committed to ensuring its staff members are trained to a high standard following the learning disability, core skills education and training framework. Our aim is to ensure that our employees are equipped with the knowledge, skills and support to enable them to succeed and deliver high quality care.

A typical day

For Community Places Support Workers, every day really is different, with variety being more the rule than the exception.

We support people with many different types of learning disability. Multiply that by the fact that learning disabilities often operate across a spectrum, so two people living with the same condition might find that the impact it has on their day to day life is completely different. And then factor in the fact that everyone has their own unique personality in any case, and you’ll start to see that two days are rarely the same.

Much of what our Support Workers get involved in is driven by the people we support, and in helping to ensure they are able to live with as much independence and choice as possible.

Common tasks include supporting people to: 

• get out and about, take part in hobbies and leisure activities

• prepare food – and enjoy eating it!

• get ready in the morning, including support with personal care and hygiene

• achieve goals identified in support plans, such as gaining work experience, or learning to use public transport

• take medication or attend hospital appointments

• manage money and bills

• carry out household chores

• plan holidays – and sometimes support people to take them

• socialise with friends, or visit family

• and of course, to live the best life possible!

Can I apply?

If you’re aged 18 or over, you can apply to work as a Support Worker. As you will be supporting vulnerable people, you will need to go through an enhanced disclosure check against the Disclosure and Barring service, though having a criminal conviction would not necessarily exclude you from a career in social care.

Shift work:

Supporting people with learning disabilities is a 24 hour job, so Adult Support Workers often work to a shift pattern that will include evenings and weekends.  It can be a physical job too, including bathing, toileting and dressing people with disabilities that find it more difficult to manage these tasks themselves.

Adult Support Worker

Community Places supports adults with learning disabilities. It can be a hugely rewarding job that provides the opportunity to make noticeable differences in the day to day lives of people who require support to live more independently. Of course, working in social care is unlike most other jobs, and supporting vulnerable adults comes with a few particular considerations, so if you’re thinking of becoming a Support Worker, this is what you’ll need to know…

Responsibility

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Being an Adult Support Worker is a role that comes with a high level of responsibility.  You will receive comprehensive induction training, and will need to follow Community Places Operational Standards which are designed to tell staff what they must consider and do to provide support that is person–centred, protects each person’s rights and meets the legal and regulatory requirements that staff and managers have to work within.

These will cover a wide range of topics from supporting people with their medicines, or money and benefits, to safeguarding and how to recognise abuse. They are written with support workers in mind, so that what you must know and do, and where you can go for further information or advice is always clear. They also include best practice – ie the ways of working that will give the best outcomes for the people you support.

Supporting adults is a role that means keeping the person being supported at the centre of everything that you do, making sure that their choices and wishes are always put first. If you believe in treating people with dignity and respect and empowering people to make their own choices, we’d like to hear from you, as a career as a Community Places Support Worker might be just around the corner.