Jennifer Fellows

My job with Fairy Pop-ins as a nursery nurse was both challenging and rewarding. We were in different settings and set up mobile creches around the Wigan Borough. The aim was to provide childcare for young Mums to enable them to attend parenting courses to improve their knowledge and confidence. Due to the nature of the work, it meant we would be meeting new children everyday and we had to be quick thinking and engaging to ensure they felt safe and welcome. A risk assessment was carried out by myself as lead nursery nurse everyday at each setting we visited. Some of the children had complex needs and required extra care. We provided a safe environment whilst making sure that we followed EYFS protocol. A high level of confidentiality was maintained at all times and communication with the children and their parents was paramount. I made sure that all relevant information such as what the child had eaten or drank or toilet needs and behaviour was passed back to parents after each session. We were then responsible for packing up the creche and leaving each building exactly as we found it. Unfortunately, it was a short stay at Fairy Pop-ins as my youngest son who was 3 at the time developed severe Epilepsy and I became his carer. Due to being in different locations all the time, I wanted to be close to him in case of emergencies. Thankfully he has been medication a seizure free now for 10 years.

My job at Caldicott Opticians was in a lovely calm practice. My responsibilities were opening and shutting the shop with my own keys, booking patients in for sight and contact lens checks and the general running of the practice. I assisted the ophthalmologist with ordering the relevant contact lenses for each patient, the fitting and repairing of glasses and occasional dispensing. I also helped with referrals, customer enquiries and general advice. I dealt with banking, invoice organising, patient reminders and good record keeping. I maintained a calm and friendly manner with patients which was often complemented and passed back to the Manager. I always kept patient confidentiality at the forefront of my mind. I spent 6 years here and I really enjoyed my role.

I then started work at The Bobbin Micropub which my friend had just become sole owner of. This was a leap for me as although I'd done bar work whilst at college, I was being trained up as an assistant bar manager. The hours worked better as I worked evenings so didn't have to worry about childcare in the day anymore. I learnt to clean lines, handle and replace cask barrels in a safe manner and I also did a course in which I successfully achieved my own Personal License. My role here was to mange the pub whilst the manager wasn't there, sometimes a week at a time to cover holidays. The customers there were mainly of an older generation in which I developed a strong bond with. They'd look forward to telling me what they'd been up to and just enjoyed a general chat. The bar did get very busy at weekends so I had to work at a fast pace whilst still maintaining the same level of accuracy. I became involved in choosing and ordering beers from local breweries and learnt to cash up at the end of the night and was a trusted member of the team. This job was during the covid pandemic where I worked extremely hard to produce posters, maintain good sanitation, provide clear rules to customers and to keep the bar as clean as possible.

My current job is self employment with my own business. I'd decided to take a gamble and follow my dreams of something I'd desired to do for a long time. This involves using a designing programme to create unique designs to be printed, via heat presses onto mugs, cushions, bags, t-shirts and many other blank items. My business is successful, however, due to the nature of designing for occasions, some months can be really quiet which isn't sustainable when supporting three teenagers. I do everything by myself including designing, printing, packaging, posting, advertising, listing, answering queries, ordering stock and book keeping.