Transcript

I tried to find a job, but, of course, I didn't have any experience. So I decided to do some voluntary work with The Samaritans. I think the project was called Youth Enterprise. I was working with the elderly. They matched older people with younger people.

I managed to get a job as a welfare assistant in West Glamorgan. It was in Morriston, near Swansea. I went on from there to become a qualified social worker. I then went to Oxford to get my CQSW. I came back to Carmarthenshire in 1984. As a social worker you can help people and make a difference in their lives. And just to stand next to people who are worrying.

Over the years I've worked with people with learning difficulties people with problems, people who are worried. It's a privilege to stand next to people who are worrying and to make a difference. You have to make time to talk about your feelings. This work can be stressful, and you often take it home with you. You worry and you can't sleep. It's important that the worker's feelings are dealt with in the supervision process.

You need time to feel that you matter and that your work is important. You should never feel ashamed to admit you're struggling. When stress levels are high, the case load is too much. There's no money or somebody has been chasing me for something. It's important that the door is always open. You have to be open and you have to respect people. Perhaps some people and their lifestyle choices are different to yours. It's important to accept people as they are and to respect them without thinking about their colour, their beliefs or sexual preferences. You have to be non- judgemental and also have a sense of humour. You have to be able to place yourself in somebody else's situation even if you've never had that experience. If somebody is worried their children may be taken into care. I haven't experienced that, but I know what it's like to be worried.

I know what it's like to not feel in control from other circumstances in my life. You have to try your best to put yourself in their shoes. It's important to use your personality. I had an experience many years ago, before I began to work within teams. You would go to see people for an hour with your diary under your arm. I was working in London, in a halfway house unit. People would go there after coming out of a psychiatric hospital before going out into the community. That was a very different experience, but I really enjoyed it. It took me a while to work out that you have to use your personality; At 3.00 in the morning if they have a nightmare or 2.00 in the afternoon when you're playing snooker.

I was giving counselling and doing a lot of group work. But it was really important to sometimes leave out the formalities and use your personality. I think Carmarthenshire is one of the places in where Welsh is spoken the most. It's important to me that I'm able to use my first language. I didn't learn Welsh in school but it's my first language. It's important to have that opportunity and that people are able to choose.