Astrid Stubbs
Keymer,Sussex
Summary
Until April 2024, I was the locality team manager for the Crawley and Mid Sussex Team for Carers Support West Sussex, managing a team of 9 staff supporting unpaid family and friend carers in the locality.
I have extensive experience in helpline and front-line work with carers as well as leading the team to support carers.
I was the dementia carer lead for the charity and coordinator for the locality team, supporting the manager to deliver online and face to face services across the locality.
Before joining the charity I worked for Mid Sussex Voluntary Action, helping recruit and support volunteers as well as delivering a range of information and learning services to charities in Horsham and Mid Sussex.
Previous to this I worked in communications, latterly as a freelance writer and editor, having worked for many years both as a team player in communications departments as well as writing, editing and website development on a freelance basis.
I am a collaborative team player with excellent interpersonal, communication and person-centred skills.
Overview
46
46
years of professional experience
Work history
Locality Manager Crawley and Mid Sussex
Carers Support West Sussex
, West Sussex
10.2022 - 05.2024
- Leading a team supporting carers in this geographical area, which entails strategic planning and coordination to manage a budget and deliver a service, including carer-facing work, meeting contractual KPIs, running carer groups, extensive partnership work, budget planning and delivery of reports for commissioners
- Because of the diverse nature of the demographic in this locality, I also line-managed two workers supporting South Asian dementia carers and refugee and asylum seeker carers.
- Planned and managed resources and budget to support and deliver objectives.
- Delivered KPI targets and improvements on consistent basis through excellent leadership.
- Conducted audits and risk assessments to achieve regulatory compliance.
- Introduced new opportunities for team building and communication, resulting in better team performance.
- Acted as point of contact for high-level queries and represented team at senior leadership meetings.
- Represented organisations at seminars, conferences and business events.
Dementia Carer Lead West Sussex and Coordinator Crawley and Mid Sussex Locality Team
Carers Support West Sussex
01.2019 - 01.2022
- Supporting the locality manager to deliver a service to carers
- As dementia lead for the charity I was single point of contact for colleagues supporting dementia carers, creating a monthly newsletter for an estimated 5,000 carers and working strategically with partners to provide and develop services for dementia carers
- Delivering information, advice and guidance to carer through the charity's helpline, it's locality queue and via carer groups and events.
Information and Publicity Worker
Horsham and Mid Sussex Voluntary Association
01.2017 - 01.2018
- My role was to support and improve outcomes for volunteers and local charities, including creating a suite of publicity materials both in print and online.
Freelance Writer and Editor
01.1999 - 01.2017
- I co-wrote and edited the quarterly magazines The Learning Rep, which is a TUC magazine aimed at staff who wish to help colleagues with their lifelong learning journeys
- I was solely responsible for the editorial content of two further quarterly magazines, Rapport, for members of Nationwide's staff union and for the Midlands Update magazine aimed at education providers, users and key players in lifelong learning in the area
- In addition I was editor for three issues of the magazine Healthier Inside for practitioners working with young people in the secure estate produced by the National Children's Bureau
- I was also editor of the quarterly Sussex Counselling magazine, for therapeutic practitioners in the county, researching all copy, designing and sending all finished art work off to printers
- Previous work has included editing the Department for Education magazine Parents+Schools, a 4 million circulation magazine for parents with school aged children as well as assisting editing the Royal Statistical Society monthly magazine and many other TUC publications.
Communications Officer
UNISON Trade Union
01.1989 - 01.1999
- I worked for 10 years as a member of a small communications team for the union, writing, editing, designing and laying out publications
- I also took responsibility for the union's disabled members' communications, attending conferences at home and abroad and building up considerable experience of the subject area.
Local Newspaper Reporter/News Editor
01.1978 - 01.1988
- After completing my apprenticeship as a reporter I worked for 10 years as a junior and later senior reporter and then news editor/reporter on a number of publications in London and in Devon.
Skills
- Team player
- Friendly and person centred
- Strong team-builder
- Organised and efficient
- Engaging leadership style
- Reporting familiarity
Education
I have GCSEs (O-Level) in English Literature and Language, Maths, French, Sociology, Religious Education, Biology, Chemistry and History.
I have A-Levels in English Literature and Sociology.
First year of English/Psychology degree at Oxford Polytechnic - 1977
National Council for Training Journalists, Pre-entry Journalism Certificate - 1978
BA (Hons) English 2:1 English, Birkbeck University - 1994
Web design and advanced web design, Brighton College and Brighton University 2005 and 2009.
Additional information
- I am a foster/adoptive parent and was an Adoption UK coordinator in Brighton, organising meetings and producing a newsletter to support parents.
- I was responsible for producing a monthly email newsletter for an award-winning local group working towards climate change awareness in West Sussex for 10 years until 2023. In addition I supported the cause by creating and updating its website plus organising and publicising events, using Eventbrite.
Timeline
Locality Manager Crawley and Mid Sussex
Carers Support West Sussex
10.2022 - 05.2024
Dementia Carer Lead West Sussex and Coordinator Crawley and Mid Sussex Locality Team
Carers Support West Sussex
01.2019 - 01.2022
Information and Publicity Worker
Horsham and Mid Sussex Voluntary Association
01.2017 - 01.2018
Freelance Writer and Editor
01.1999 - 01.2017
Communications Officer
UNISON Trade Union
01.1989 - 01.1999
Local Newspaper Reporter/News Editor
01.1978 - 01.1988
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