My Working Day: Admin and Monitoring Officer

I have been working for Behind Closed Doors for 4 years. Over this time my job has changed and developed and I’ve been given opportunities to learn new skills and develop myself. Every day is different and I love how varied my working day is.

The day starts with a rush to get myself ready and my daughter ready for school – have I remembered her packed lunch, is it swimming today, does she need to bring in a cardboard box today – or is that next week?… No matter how much time I have in the morning, there’s always a last-second dash before we leave. But having a walk up to school and getting some fresh air in the morning helps me to feel ready for the day.

I start work at about 9.30 am and my first job is to go through any emails that have come through to me or to our primary BCD inbox. I will respond to queries or send through those emails that need to reach another member of the team. Today I’m working on some data for our bi-monthly report that is provided to the Board of Trustees. I pull together data for both our Community Team and Prevention and Recovery Service to provide an insight into the services users who have referred in for support. I also provide information on the people who have completed support with Behind Closed Doors and the outcomes they have experienced, or the changes our support has made. The report includes lots of data but most importantly includes the voice of our service users. It’s always inspiring to hear feedback from our service users.

“This service gave me the chance to make my own choices…Nothing was ever too much trouble – they always were there for me…”

When I’m in the office 12 pm is lunchtime, I take a break from my desk and join colleagues in the kitchen for lunch.

In the afternoon I have calls booked in with service users who are being supported by our PARS team. I call someone who has referred in to our service earlier in the week. Her relationship ended two years ago and she is experiencing ongoing emotional abuse through child contact arrangements. She is struggling with anxiety and feels that she has no one to talk to. I take her through the support we can provide and I book her next appointment with us in two weeks’ time.

Next, I call someone I have spoken to a few times before, she is struggling with social anxiety and low self-esteem. She talks about what’s been going on for her over the last couple and weeks and we talk about the techniques she’s using to manage her anxiety and what her plans for the future are. Her next appointment will be with her one-to-one support worker, I explain that this worker will go through her support needs plan, we say goodbye and I congratulate her on everything she’s done over the last couple of months.

It’s the end of the day, I make sure that my notes are typed up and that any information I need to send out to service users has been emailed. I write a list of things that I need to do the next day and switch off my laptop. The drive home gives me time to relax and mentally debrief myself from the day. When I get home I give my daughter a big hug and hear all about her day. Later on I can relax and decide which Netflix series to start watching.