Ken & Ange

Watch Ken's Q&A videos.

Who do you think is best suited to working in the sector?

Somebody with compassion, that’s the main word that I use, you’ve really got to have compassion to do this job and to do it properly. You’ve got to have a lot of other attributes as well, a lot of patience, whatever you do for them, you’ve got to try to do it the way the want it done, I feel that’s very important.

I’ve done a lot of shifts now over the years with new staff, and I always say to them, if there’s one thing, if I can only say one thing to you before you start doing this work it would be, to do this work to the best of your ability the way they want it done, the way that the person that you’re doing it for wants it done, not the way you want to do it, not the way you think it should be done, the way they want it done.

What attracted you to the sector?

I’d have to say, just being able to help people in your work and having that fulfilment of doing a job, not just doing a good job but making a difference. I felt like I really needed to try and make a difference in the community and that was the thing, when you’re doing that type of work you go home at night, when you put your head on the pillow you know you’ve done a good job,  you know, or it’s not that I wasn’t doing a good job, I was doing a good job before, but you’ve made a difference to somebody else’s life.

I didn’t know what was involved in the actual hands-on bit, so I didn’t know what to expect, but I just knew I wanted to do something like that.

Why would you encourage friends and family to enter the sector?

I think it’s one of the most fulfilling things you can do to help people, and the feeling you get of being able to help somebody. I find that all the time with different things that I do with people with disabilities, they really appreciate it so much and they’ll thank me, even people that can’t talk but they’ll go out of the way to find a way to say thank you, which I admire in them, and quite often I say to them “It’s my pleasure”, and I really mean it.

I get as much out of doing what I do for them, as what they do of me doing it for them. I’d encourage all my family and friends to do this type of work”.

What has the work taught you about yourself, others, and people your work supports?

It’s taught me a lot about myself. Firstly, when you go to work you might have a bit of a headache, but when you get to work, that doesn’t mean anything. You’re working with somebody that firstly can’t get themselves out of bed, can’t get dressed themselves, can’t get themself breakfast or clean their teeth. Whereas I might have a bit of headache I’ve been able to do that all myself this morning, I haven’t needed anybody to do that for me.

And the biggest thing I guess was the gift, I believe lot people have got different gifts, have been given gifts, and I’ve been given this gift, I truly believe it’s a gift I’ve been given to be able to help people with disabilities. That’s just an amazing thing. A lot of people I’ve heard explain that a gift is a gift, it might be sitting on the shelf, and it’s up to you whether you to take it down off the shelf or not. And I think a lot of people have got this gift but they haven’t taken it down off the shelf. I’m just so lucky that I took it down off the shelf and I’m using it and it just makes you feel great. So I feel better about myself, definitely.

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