Pool Cottage Manager, Andrea celebrates 20 years with Consensus
At the end of August, Andrea Nash, Registered Manager of Pool Cottage in Wilcrick, Newport was presented with her Long Service Award, marking an impressive 20 years with Consensus. The award was presented by Phil McFarlane, Operations Manager for Wales.
In recognition of reaching this significant career milestone, Andrea also received a £100 voucher which she intends to put back into the service by hosting a party for supported individuals and her colleagues on 4th November.
Looking back over the course of her career with Consensus, Andrea recalls that she was first introduced to the learning disability sector and to Consensus by a friend who at the time was the deputy manager of Parklands in Malpas, Newport and suggested she give support work a try.
Initially, she joined the team at Parklands as a part-time support worker, before working her way up through the ranks to senior support worker and then to deputy manager. After a stint as the interim service manager at Pool cottage, she decided to take up the opportunity to become the permanent registered manager.
Andrea describes her career within Consensus as ‘really rewarding,’ with the main highlights for her being the support she has had to progress her career and the joy she has experienced from seeing the people she supports achieving the things that are important to them in their lives.
Andrea said, “It is a huge sense of achievement to have worked my way up from a support worker to a service manager and to have supported people to have fulfilling and meaningful lives for all these years.”
“One of the supported individuals moved here with me from Parklands so I have been supporting her for my entire 20 years at Consensus. Some of the other individuals we support have been at the service for 17 to 18 years. All the colleagues and supported individuals here are like one big family,” said Andrea.
One of the things that Andrea has valued during her time with Consensus is the training and development opportunities available to her, including the accredited learning and development programmes that have supported her career progress and boosted her skills and confidence.
“Consensus training is marvellous, especially the incentives and the support. The best course I have taken so far is the ILM ‘Future Leaders’ programme. It has given me much more confidence and helped me to know the best ways to deal with conflicts,” said Andrea.
Looking towards the future, Andrea says she is happy to remain a service manager because she really enjoys the role and it still allows her to be hand-on and to get involved with actively supporting individuals.
After presenting Andrea with her award, Phil said, “Andrea is a much loved and respected manager here at Pool Cottage. She cares passionately about the people she supports and works tirelessly to ensure people have choice and control over their lives.”
“I was absolutely delighted to present Andrea with this Long Service Award in recognition of the 20 years of hard work and dedication she has provided to Consensus, her colleagues and the individuals she has supported during this time,” added Phil.