Prince’s Trust

I started my journey by starting a 4-week work placement type course in the Prince's Trust in Sheffield, this was in 2014. I worked at St Cathrine's hospital in Doncaster in different non-clinical areas. It was just to get a foot in the door and was unpaid. I'd actually just had a baby and had some mental health issues at the time so my first day on that placement was the first time I had stepped out of the house on my own in over a year. So it was a mental health journey as well as a career one. Just before I started this placement, I lived in sheltered accommodation with my other daughter (2 at the time) and my fiance (the girls' dad). We ended up there from mental health issues that spiraled and ultimately we ended up declared homeless.

It was the support I received during our stay in the sheltered accommodation that inspired me to start a career in healthcare, I wanted to help others in the same way we were helped. Me and my partner had the help to lift ourselves out of a dark place and into a much more positive mindset. So I finished the Prince's Trust placement then enrolled onto a healthcare apprenticeship with Rotherham College. I think this was a year long. There were around 20 of us in the class and we all expected to be put into healthcare assistant roles on the wards, most of us got this but a few of us ended up in different clinical areas. I ended up in SLT, I had never heard of it and had no idea what to expect....turns out I LOVED it! I worked in an SLT team in the Rotherham community, working with adults that had communication difficulties. I spent time in the community but also spent a lot of time on the stroke unit. I found it all very interesting and was learning things on a daily basis, it also massively boosted my confidence. I was then hired as a band 2 assistant on the stroke unit (this was the only post available), here I worked alongside the OT's and physios. I'd worked alongside them all during the apprenticeship but now I was the band 2, I delved into the role more and this is where my love of physio and OT came about. I actually applied to uni to study Occupational therapy! I do find that a fascinating career too. At this point I won a Young Achiever of The Year Award with the Prince's Trust for getting a career from one of their programmes. I also won a PROUD award at Rotherham hospital for communication work I had done as an apprentice within SLT. I really loved my role and put everything into it to help patients!

Unfortunately, at this point, I had started a different relationship after me and the girls' dad split up. The new relationship was an abusive one and I had to flee it. This is how I ended up moving back from Sheffield to my hometown of Todmorden. Here my mental health declined a lot due to the circumstances, I got myself a job quickly as a home carer which made my mental health worse. I loved the role and loved caring for the clients, but the crazy hours and management weren't helpful, especially as a single mum. So, I was searching around for jobs online and stumbled across the role I am in now - a band 3 paediatric physio assistant. I've been here just over 3 years now! To say I am glad I found this job is an understatement! We are a small team and although the team has changed a lot over these three years, we have always been really supportive of each other both clinically and personally. Right from the beginning, I have learned new things on a daily basis.

To answer your question about why I chose physio over SLT (and OT!), I think it is because what draws me to all these careers is the problem solving, how every day is different, the creative thinking, how they're holistic. I like physio the most (sorry SLT and OT!) due to the anatomy, movement, healing element of it. I have genuinely been inspired by the physios I work with now, hence why I have applied to the part-time physio degree at Salford uni. I've chosen part-time so I can continue working here too. I am currently doing an access course at Burnley college twice a week in the evenings, to get me the qualification I need to get into uni.

Just to add aswell, my mental health has been so much better for a while too. I am now the mental health champion for the physio team, I'll be taking over the wellbeing conversation role for everyone soon and I host quarterly wellbeing afternoons where we all take time out to focus on wellbeing. I have also had counseling from our occy health for the domestic abuse I went through. I feel once I have fully processed it all and feel able to, I'd love to advocate for domestic abuse awareness in some way!

I think that is everything! 

Fabian completed our Get Into Hospital Services Course in April and has since gained full time employment with the Northern Care Alliance. Fabian experienced mental health challenges and was struggling to find work after graduating university when she found the Prince’s Trust course which gave her the opportunity to explore a career she had never thought about. Fabian showed great determination, passion and transferrable skills for healthcare ad as a result is now a Theatre Support Worker at the Fairfield General Hospital.