“I usually arrive in the office between 8:30 and 8:45. I generally get off the bus early and walk a little to work to clear my head before I start the day.
“We hot desk here, so on arrival I collect my IT equipment from the locker and set up for the day. Tuesday and Thursday is all about managing our Building Better Relationships sessions so I copy the session and start to have a read through checking for any catch-ups.
“As we are open plan colleagues begin arriving and usually start offering drinks! Around 9:15am we set up the room and plan the session this can take anywhere between 30 mins to an hour depending on the content and anything from the last session. The session finishes around 1:30pm so we have debrief to discuss what went well and what we could do better.
“I try to ensure I have a lunch hour each day as we are in the town centre it usually involves some retail therapy for me! On return we divide up the write ups from the session and begin these. As I am in a flexible roll I also have a caseload so I may see a couple of low risk service users later on who are on monthly reporting.
“Emails will continue to be looked at throughout the day as I am a MARAC co-ordinator I may need to inform people of next meetings for them to attend. There may also be emails to respond to Court about service users who have offended further then voicemails to check as we all have our own mobile phones. Each day is never the same and brings its own challenges and rewards.
“We are completely different to the Courts and police we are here to support, listen and sign post and we are often the only person who has listened to them for many years. That cannot be under estimated”
“Before probation I have worked at the University of Hull, abroad as a holiday rep and as works controller for Canon.
“I wanted to find somewhere I could move on in, I am on my third role in probation and have been here nine years so I have achieved this goal. In my last role I couldn’t move on so I thought about what and who I was interested in working with and this led me back here as I had applied for trainee probation officer many years ago but been unsuccessful. I started in the Court team doing administration working the magistrates and Crown Court and then as a Case administrator in an OMU.
“We are completely different to the Courts and police we are here to support, listen and sign post and we are often the only person who has listened to them for many years. That cannot be under estimated.
“When I became case manager three years ago, Nick Mitchell who is now based in Grimsby was my mentor. He was very supportive and motivational and he still finds the time to talk to me now when I see him and ask how I am finding the job.
“When I’m not at work I regularly go to the gym which I find helps make a positive start to the day and a good focus before the working day starts. I also love going on holiday whenever I get the opportunity.”