“Every day is different here. I love how it’s never monotonous. Recently, I loved seeing the staff team and people who use our services take part in a football match together. It was so lovely to see and was a testament to the fantastic culture at Autism Initiatives”

Bo is a Service manager at a supported living service in Blackpool. She began her career at Autism Initiatives 5 years ago.

Bo shared with us:  “I have had the opportunity of doing almost every role at Autism Initiatives! I started as a Waking nights Support Worker, then I became a Support Worker, and have also worked as part of the Outreach team which involves going out to visit the people who use our services or taking them out for the day. After that. I worked as a Senior Support Worker, and I have now been in my current role as Service Manager for 5 months.”

Bo’s current role involves managing the service, which means ensuring that people’s needs are being tended to and that the staff team are happy in their roles. There are a number of autistic people who live there, and each person has their own unique interests and needs. The staff team must constantly find new ways to engage with and support the people there.

Bo is excited about lots of projects that are currently going on the service. She told us:  “We just started a gardening project with JE. We bought a load of fruit and vegetables and filled the garden with greenery together. That was a big step as JE didn’t like going outside before that. Now, he loves checking up on his garden, picking fruit to eat and spending time out there every day”

When asked what she loves most about the role, Bo said: “I am in the job as I love seeing people achieving new things. For example, yesterday, the team took DB out to Blackpool Pleasure Beach for the first time, which is a huge achievement. They have gone from not wanting to try many new things, to looking forward to going to the busy fairground. I can’t wait to hear from them how it went!”

Bo discovered just how rewarding her role could be when she started leading the Creative Group. This was attended by autistic people in Blackpool who wanted to develop their skills and try out new activities. People did everything from writing poetry to playing guitar to singing, painting and drawing.

“When I took over the Creative Group, I was blown away by the level of skill that people had, and by what they were able to put together both working independently and together as a group. [The group] was all about them and every session was open to how they wanted to spend their time. Tim was an amazing example of the group’s success. He started out writing poetry, and after a few months he had really honed his writing style and had gained the confidence to perform his poems to an audience. He also explored his love for music, and started learning how to play the guitar and singing!

Seeing Tim’s progress also inspired Callum who attended the group to pursue his dream and enrol on to an art course at college. People at the group never failed to surprise me. For example, we all knew Edgar who attended the Creative group was amazing at writing creative stories. Then one week, he started drawing and it turned out that he’d been an amazing artist all along too – we’d had no idea that he had sketch books full of spectacular drawings.

Working at Autism initiatives, I have loved having the opportunity to work with so many different people. It’s nice to meet and get to know the people we support. It’s especially great when there’s someone at a new house or service that you really gel with and can build a close relationship with.

The prospect of starting a role at a completely new place can seem daunting, but that’s only at first and it doesn’t last as everyone is so lovely. Every day is different here. I love how it’s never monotonous. Recently, I loved seeing the staff team and people who use our services take part in a football match together. It was so lovely to see and was a testament to the fantastic culture at Autism Initiatives.”