Within Care in Mind, there are many inspirational, passionate and professional women.
During International Women’s Day 2020, we celebrated some of these individuals by asking them to share what they are most proud of. Below are the responses we received:
Sharron Amri
I am proud of my academic achievements, I have graduated from University twice despite leaving school with only one qualification. I am proud of my three children; they are good, thoughtful, kind and hardworking. I am also proud of overcoming my own battle with Mental Health. The people around me motivate me; those who show me unconditional love, kindness, and honesty; my family, friends, colleagues, Care in Mind staff and the young people. I feel blessed every day and this gives me strength to face challenges!
Dominique Hooper
I am proud of being a single parent raising the most kind, caring and considerate young man, who has been described as a “good friend to all” by his headmaster. Without my loving family and friends this would have been much more difficult and for that I am grateful to them. I am also proud of myself for climbing Mount Snowden, after putting it off for three years. The encouragement and company of my brother in-law, without him I would have never attempted it. Lastly, I am proud of my career and for graduating university. Sharron (Amri) has been my mentor for almost 13 years, and without her knowledge and belief in me, I wouldn’t be as far as I am in my career.
Kelly Yates
I’m proud of my career achievements, for working my way from a Support Worker to Residential Service Manager. I didn’t do great in school academically, so I have worked hard for this. I’m proud of myself for purchasing a house last year and turning it into a home. Also, I’m proud of just being me; a person someone can rely on, a good friend who will always offer a listening ear and of being where I am today. The people who inspire me are my family and friends for their achievements, overcoming their own battles and the ones who work hard to raise their own little human beings. The young people we work with also inspire me daily.
Elaine Ainsworth
Bringing my 3 daughters up by myself from when they were very young. It was a struggle, coping with 3 girls, 2 jobs and a house to run, but now I look at them and the women they have become and realise I did a pretty decent job.! I am immensely proud of my Mum. She helped me through all the bad days with my girls, even though she was working full time as a nurse and my Dad worked away. Without her, I wouldn’t be who I am and my daughters wouldn’t have had some of the life experiences they have had. I trained as a Chef and Hotel Manager when I left school and was given the opportunity to buy my own pub in 2007. It had been my dream for years, but obviously bringing up the girls by myself had put paid to that. I ran it alone for 4 years but due to the economic downturn I had to unfortunately put it on the market. Although it was a sad time, I had followed and achieved my dream, and I have always encouraged my daughters to follow theirs.
Leah Johnson
I am proud of completing both my BSc and MSc degrees and I’m extremely grateful for my friends and family for supporting me through this especially at times when I was a long way from home. I am proud of my mum for overcoming her own battles with mental health and I am extremely grateful to have such a strong role model in my life. She has been my inspiration to work within mental health and help others to overcome their own struggles. I am proud of the work that myself and the whole Moor Villa team have managed to achieve over the past year in working hard to support our young people and I am grateful to be surrounded by such a passionate, hardworking team that is more like a big family. I am also proud of all the young people we support and the massive individual progresses they have made whilst they have been with us.
Maggie Hopson
As an expert by experience I often find that I am connected to my work in a way that can be challenging, however I am proud of my resilience, my ability to manage, my ability to survive and most importantly to thrive, both personally and in my job allowing me to put my full energy and dedication into my work and be in place where I can support young people to overcome the challenges in their life, while still managing my own. I am also proud of every single young person at Care in Mind. I have the utmost respect and admiration for all of our young people. I am proud of their progress, I am proud of their strength and also their ability to thrive and overcome their own adversities.
Lauren Ugbode
I am most proud of having my 2 babies; being a hard working mum, whilst running a house, school runs, after school activities, being a good wife to my husband, a good friend, having an open mind, being able to listen and be supportive of others and encouraging people to realise their potential.
I am super proud that the residential management team won the most inspiring team at the 2019 Christmas award. The dedication of the team in 2019 has really proved that we can all do anything we put our minds too #nosuchthingascant! 2019 was a challenging yet rewarding year for us all in so many ways. The team embraced the changes made, had faith in the decision making whilst supporting staff and young people to achieve their maximum potential. I am so proud that I get to work along side a great team that inspire me to work hard, provide them with support and guidance and ultimately to be happy in my job!
I expect my team to be positive, resilient, outstanding, understanding and determined, and I can honestly say I have never worked with a group of people that inspire me as much as my team do. I feel proud that the senior management team at Head Office have faith me to deliver the best I can for Care in Mind. The final thing I am proud of is the young people we support. Every young person has their own story to tell and we are the lucky ones that get to share the memories for their future! In a world where you can be anything #BeKind and #BeProud!
