Meet Babette

“The best part of my job is seeing service users have great outcomes.”

What does your day-to-day look like?

Day to day can look very different. For example, on Wednesday I’m going to a service in Highbury, an accommodation service, to support some volunteers from our corporate partner who are helping to redecorate the rooms to ensure they are warm and welcoming for new service users. Other days I’m going to a law firm to discuss their challenge events for the year. One thing I enjoy about the role is being out and about meeting different people and doing different things. Every week has something different to it, which I’m enjoying.

What is the best part of your job?

The best part of my job is seeing service users have great outcomes. When I was doing support work, I would be part of their journey towards achieving their goals and now I can see it through the lens of the relationships that we’re building and how those are creating opportunities for service users to thrive.

“We are so lucky that we have experts in so many different areas and everyone in Hestia is very supportive of each other. If I reached out to someone and asked them to help me, they absolutely would.”

What are some challenges?

It’s a busy team! But in a positive way – there’s always something going on, so it’s really all about getting your head around all of the fantastic things we do at Hestia and understanding it. Every service’s calendar looks different with all of the events that they’re doing.

What do you like about Hestia as an organisation?

I like that Hestia does so many different things and that enables us to learn from different teams and how they support people. We are so lucky that we have experts in so many different areas and everyone in Hestia is very supportive of each other. If I reached out to someone and asked them to help me, they absolutely would.  I think that reflects the work that we do within the Equity, Diversion and Inclusion (EDI) networks. We’re all here to help create a workplace where people are able to thrive – that’s what the networks are about.

What’s one thing you’ve learnt during your time in this role?

I’ve really loved learning all about the generosity of people with their time and what they do with the partnerships we have. I knew that partners would give large donations which is always incredible because it means we can carry on doing the work we do, but I’ve also really enjoyed interacting with the individuals involved in each organisation who want to raise money for us or get involved by volunteering their expertise or time.

What would you say to encourage someone to join UCAN – our disability diversity network?

UCAN stands for Unique, Capable and Notable. It is our disability network group and we’re open to anyone that wants to join, whether you have a disability or not.

It’s a safe space where people can come and discuss anything they’re doing in their role or even outside of their role, whether it’s a challenge or a success or something that people want to change within the organisation. I think it’s a powerful way for anyone involved in Hestia to share opinions about how we support colleagues and how we can make sure we’re doing that to the best that we can. It’s a friendly group, we’re always here to help anyone that would like to know more about the group or wants support around a specific situation. We meet every 6 weeks, and we get involved in different activities throughout the year, but we’re really there to help form what people would want the group to look like and be.

I would encourage anyone to come along! We’re really focused a lot in Hestia on how we can support our service users, but we also can’t forget to support ourselves as well. It’s about making sure your cup is full and making sure that everyone at Hestia is doing the best we can. Coming along is just an opportunity to explore what we do at Hestia to support people and be part of making it a great place to work.