Vicky Devlin
Hello, my name’s Vicky and I’m a Trainer, Mentor and Risk Assessor. I’ve been with Helping Hands for 8 years.
My Training Qualifications
I recently gained my CTLLS (Certificate in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector) and am currently working towards my NVQ 3. I have completed training and have accreditations in:
- CTTLS
- Moving & Handling
- Risk Assessor L2
- First Aid
- Abuse Trainer
My Experience in the Care Sector
Until I joined Helping Hands 8 years ago I’d never worked in care or with the elderly. But since joining the care profession, I’ve never looked back. I started as a Hourly Carer, and did that for 7 years. Being a Carer changes you; you get to know what type of person you are, you understand your strengths and your weaknesses – it’s a very rewarding job.
As a Carer you will undoubtedly work in some difficult situations; the one thing that kept me going (especially when the going got tough) was hearing someone say thank you; that and the knowledge that I had made it possible for someone to live as independent a life as possible was very rewarding.
Training with me
I train a mixture of subjects; I believe it’s important to be trained by someone with hands-on care experience. In the training room I try to keep things as simple as I can; and I try to have a bit of fun in the practical sessions too. The most important thing to remember about training is that no matter how old you are, there is still knowledge to be gained. Even if someone has lots of experience, I can always teach them something new.
The people I meet
We get a real mixture of people in training; all from different backgrounds with different life experiences; that’s why it’s so different every time, and also so very interesting...
Without doubt you need to be kind, positive and able to understand and show interest in others. You job is to help someone else manage their independence; if you can understand the importance of that, you’re well on your way.
A bit about me
I have a positive approach to everything I do; I find that a smile goes a long way. I enjoy spending time with family and friends; and I try to keep fit by attending a zumba exercise class each week, but I’m also a complete chocaholic!
