Celebrating National Link Worker Day
26th April 2023
The Bailiwick Social Prescribing Team are celebrating National Link Worker day on 27th April, by sharing their stories about why they love what they do. Their roles are versatile and mean that they meet so many people, both in the quality assured partners and in the clients.
We’ve asked each team member to tell us all about their favourite parts of the role.
Trish De Carteret, Link Worker Manager, said:
“My highlights are:
- Helping people smile after a period of sadness.
- Working with such great partners offering a huge variety of options to our clients.
- Taking clients to things outside of my comfort zone has been as rewarding for me as for them.”
Candace Green, Link Worker, said:
“I love being part of someone’s journey to wellbeing, where I am in a dynamic role always adapting to change. I love being able to have one-to-one conversations discovering what may help a client. Helping people help themselves is a real privilege.”
Alex Bowtle, Link Worker, said her favourite parts of the role are:
- “It’s great to work with a team that works so hard to achieve the best support they can.
- I love the people I work with. They are some of the most talented, funny and empathetic people.
- Every day is different.
- Link working is flexible which fits the clients and us Link Workers.
- Link working gives me the opportunity to make a positive impact on people’s lives and make a difference every day.”
Jo Hollyer-Hill, Link Worker, also shared why being a Link Worker is the right role for her:
“The training has been so helpful taught me so much. It allowed me to explore my own emotional responses so I am best prepared to focus on walking along side people on their path to wellbeing, rather than leading or instructing them.
I have learnt that the key is empowering others.
As Link Workers, we are empowered by our colleagues and our charity or business partners which is integral to us being able to connect our clients to the same support.
Frequently, those we support have reported that connection to our charity or business partners has been “life changing” …it almost feels wrong to say that this is rewarding personally, as we are just doing our job, however as a Link Worker this kind of reaction has a positive impact on our own wellbeing. This positivity feeds into our ability to assist the next person facing challenges in their life.”
The work of the team in the community is growing all the time, with new referrals and ways to access the scheme opening up. All residents in Guernsey can now access Bailiwick Social Prescribing though their GP. They will then work with one of the four above Link Workers to improve their health and wellbeing.
