Garry
"It's where I want to be." How Garry swapped a career in engineering for social care.
For more than 30 years Garry was an engineer, first in naval defence where he worked on the design of ships and travelled regularly for work, and then in the oil and gas sector where he was able to work locally in Fife. For many years he enjoyed the work and variety.
“In recent years, I’d felt my motivation starting to go. I was feeling a bit disillusioned. Then the pandemic hit and my job changed so when the option of redundancy came up, I took it.
“I had a good few years left before I’d be looking at retirement and started thinking about what I wanted my working legacy to be.
“It was personal experience that led me to consider support work. I lost my auntie a few years ago and after her passing my uncle moved into sheltered housing. During the pandemic, I became aware of how isolated he was and the challenges he was facing. I realised that if he needed support, other people must too.
“The number of jobs advertised for social work made me realise how much of a need there is. But I felt my chance of getting a foot in the door, given my background, was slim. Christine, a Thistle coach, was great, explaining that Thistle would provide training and that the right person was more important than previous experience. I got the job and started in July this year.
“I really enjoy working with the man I support. I support him to have the best experiences possible, to do what’s important to him. We’ve already been on day trips to Leven, St Andrews, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Now that things are open again, we’ve been able to go ten pin bowling and swimming – something he loves and hadn’t been able to do for months due to the pandemic. The man I support is blind and so music is really important to him, we’ve been to ‘We Will Rock You’ in Motherwell and have tickets to the ABBA musical too.
“Since I’ve started working at Thistle I’ve realised the amount of people in our communities who need support, from every walk of life. It’s an important role. And it’s rewarding, knowing your role is making a difference.
“Towards the end of my time in engineering the last thing I wanted to do when I woke up was to think about work. Now that I’m working for Thistle, it’s the opposite. Work is where I want to be.”
Are you looking for a life-affirming role where your values matter?
For people who are passionate about people, we offer full and part-time roles supporting people living with disabilities or long-term health conditions to live the life they want.
