Mark Connolly

My role as a Family Support Worker has involved me working with and supporting Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children & Young People and Care Leaver's who are cared for by the local authority.

The focus of my job role has been to support young people, get to know them and help them to integrate into the local area as well as providing practical and emotional care for them.

My role has involved me using translation services and interpreters to make sure that the young person's voice is heard which is integral to making them feeling confident in and with the people who support them.

My role can focus on life skills, housing, education and navigating immigration systems which can sometimes be complex. I also support young people to access medical and home office appointments, while ensuring that they understand their rights and entitlements.

Supporting young people with their emotional well-being has been a huge part of this role and I have enjoyed acting as a mentor to help the young people I support adjust to a new culture, build friendships and at times process trauma that they may have endured during their journey to the UK.

I have also worked as part of a team with social workers, supported living establishments and other organisations such as the YMCA where we work together to monitor the young person's safety, identify any risks involved and report any safeguarding concerns promptly.

This role has been one that I have enjoyed and I have learnt so much during the last three years especially regarding different cultures and what is going on in the world.

I hope to extend these skills within my next role as a Housing Coach for the YMCA.

• My job as an advocacy facilitator involves me making sure that I collate and promote the voice of people living with a disability across Staffordshire.
• I have been meeting and working with various groups of people within Staffordshire and who represent the spectrum of disability (people with learning disabilities, neurodivergent people - people with autism, people living with a physical disability).
• I have been asking them what is working and what needs to change to make their lives better.
• We are working closely with Staffordshire County Council who have just produced their 5 year 'Joint Disability and Neurodiversity' plan called 'Living My Best Life.'
• The feedback from the groups we are meeting feeds directly back into the Disability Partnership Board which will influence positive change for people living with a disability across Staffordshire.
• I met some amazing people whilst working within this role and I have shared some stories from people (with lived experience) that have really made a huge impact upon professionals working within Staffordshire.
• I have always been passionate about people with a disability being treated equally and having the same access to services that can support them to live their best life possible.

• My role as a Well-Being Practitioner for Action for Children was focused on working with children and young people aged 5 to 18 years old.
• I supported the children and young people that I worked with in a variety of different ways:
• By working 1:1 with the child or young person in school or at a designated children's centre
• By working with the children/young people in groups online (via Microsoft Teams) or within schools where there would be a structured CBT session focused on a particular topic to support them with their emotional well-being - Understanding Anger, Worry Less, Coping Skills, Managing Emotions. Dealing with Change, Self-Acceptance. Bullying and Identity.
• I saw first hand that when young people speak about their feelings in a group it can break down the barriers and stigma surrounding mental health and encourage young people to speak about their feelings and normalise them.
• This role involved me liaising with families, schools, family support workers, social workers and other professionals. Action for Children had a great support network within the team and we were supported by a team of psychologists who I learned a lot from as their input was invaluable in formulating plans to support the children and young people effectively.
• I worked in this role at a particularly difficult time (during the start of COVID) so for the first eight months a lot of the work was done online which brought it's own challenges but it made me realise that effective relationships can be built through the use of technology.
• It made a huge difference to the children and young people that we supported as an organisation.
• As a result of my time working for Action for Children, I feel very passionate about children and young people's mental health and well-being identified and addressed as early as possible, so that the appropriate support can be accessed for them.

• My role at Walton's Way Music Charity was to advance the musical education of children and young people by providing therapeutic music sessions where they could learn to play a musical instrument.
• The aim of the charity was to give young people an outlet where they could express themselves and also provide sessions to groups of vulnerable and disengaged pupils who lived in the Stoke on Trent area.
• We provided sessions for young people which were run in a group session or on a one to one basis.
• One of the most amazing projects I have ever been involved in was supporting a group of young people who were attending 'CHANGES' in Stoke-on-Trent (all with mental health support needs).
• Some of these young people had never played a musical instrument before these sessions but by the end of our sessions everyone was working together and they formed groups where they would write songs about their personal experiences which was very moving and powerful.
• We recorded these songs in a studio and it was great to see how empowered all the young people felt when doing this.
• We also supported young people who were on contact sessions with their parents at the YMCA.

• My role as a Person Centred Planning Facilitator involved supporting young people (aged 14 plus) with a learning disability or learning difficulty to formulate their own person centred plans, transition plans or one page profile.
• These plans were an important part of a young person's transition and looked at what the young person would like to do now and in the future. Part of my role was supporting young people to facilitate their own person centred reviews where they were at the centre of the process. The young person would lead this review if they felt confident enough to do so, and these reviews were a powerful and empowering way of giving young people choice and control over their lives. I worked in partnership with the Adult Learning Disability Social Work Team and liaised closely with many other professionals from children's services as well as education and health services. Working together is crucial to ensuring we achieve good outcomes for the young people that we work with and person centred planning is one of THE most empowering ways to give young people a voice.
• (Please refer to the section 'Accomplishments'; for some of the amazing projects that I was lucky to have been involved in when working within this role.

• My role as Day Service Officer involved working at a day centre for adults with learning disabilities and being a key worker for a group of 14 adults all who had completely different needs.
• I supported each person to plan their own timetable for the week, making sure that they were happy with the activities they were taking part in and the support that they were receiving. All these activities were focussed on the person being as independent as possible.
• A big part of the role was liaising with families and carers on a daily basis and being an ever present link between the service user, their family and any professionals involved in the person's life.
• I was also responsible for delegating responsibilities to Day Service Assistants and working together with them to make sure that the people in our keyworker group received the best possible service and were happy with the support and activities that they received.

• My role at North Staffs Carers involved me working with children and young people aged 5 to 18 years old and the focus of this work was to give the children and young people respite from their caring responsibilities and make sure they had access to age appropriate activities
• I would work with the young people at weekends and during the week and in a group or on a one to one basis (With the Young Carers 16+).

• My role at Douglas Road Respite Care Home was to support the residents who were staying there and make sure that their stay was as comfortable as possible
• My duties were supporting residents to go out and access community facilities, to support residents to take part in activities of their choice within the home and to provide support at mealtimes and support with personal care.

• Whilst I was working as a Day Service Assistant at Shelton Day Services I also worked as a bus guide over a period of four years.
• My job was to ensure that service users arrived safely to and from Shelton Day Services each day.
• I was the first and last point of contact each day for people and their families and it was a great platform to build up relationships with the people and their families.
• I had to be aware of people's health needs and protocols in regards their health e.g. Medication.

• My job as Day Service Assistant involved supporting adults with a learning disability at Shelton Day Services to access the community and enable their independence.
• I was also responsible for sessions such as Cookery, Life Skills, Health & Hygiene, I.T, Sport, Community Awareness and Road Safety where I supported people to learn new skills.
• I also supported some service users with personal care and supported people during mealtimes.

• I worked at Newlands Care Home over a period of six months
• My roles and responsibilities were supporting the residents who lived there to access the local community and take part in activities of their own choice.
• Part of my role was also to enhance their independence and well being and to support the residents with their personal care needs.