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Senior Welfare Rights Officer - Jessica

I came back to North Wales after living in Hong Kong with my husband and son, and decided to return to work part time when my son turned two. I began my career as an administrative assistant and receptionist in the Housing Department for Rhuddlan Borough Council, as I was particularly interested in the Envelope Scheme in the West End of Rhyl.

In 1986 I went back to work full time, and a friend recommended Welfare Rights to me, which was something I had never heard of before. The Welfare Rights Unit maximise benefits for people and promote anti-poverty and social inclusion.

I was successful in the position and continued along the admin route as the Welfare Rights administrative assistant for 2 years. A brand new position then became available within the Welfare Rights Team; I applied for this post, and was successful in becoming the first ever Welfare Rights Assistant. I enjoyed this post as it gave me the opportunity to go out and meet clients whilst maximising their incomes with basic claims for benefits.

After two years I progressed to become a Welfare Rights Officer, and worked with clients with mental health issues. I found I had a great sense of job satisfaction, and it gave me a real buzz to be able to see the difference I was able to make to the lives of our service users.  I became the Senior Welfare Rights Officer in November 2004, a role which includes the duties of Deputy Team Manager.

As Senior Welfare Rights Officer, I allocate work to members of the team, co-ordinate the Welfare Rights Helpline, deputise for the Team Manager in meetings and maintain a caseload for half the week. I am involved in a number of projects, including PARIS (the new computer system), and I coordinate a Supporting People project called Beginnings, which deals with vulnerable adults aged 24 and over to help them maintain their tenancies and prevent homelessness. My duties also include line managing eight members of staff, acting as a point of contact between the team and the team manager, and lending support to the team as a whole.

I enjoy being able to support other members of staff whilst still maintaining personal contact with our service users, and I am able to ensure that there are good lines of communication between staff and the team manager, so that the morale of the team remains high. Before the post of Senior Welfare Rights Officer was created, the team manager consulted the team about what they wanted from the role, which means that the post fulfils the support and communication needs of the team. I feel I have been able to apply my experience of working in all the different roles within this team to help support other team members.

In the Welfare Rights Team we have been piloting the Work-Life Balance Scheme over the past 18 months, and the flexibility it affords really helps the modern day worker. The flexibility we have with, for example, core work times means that the members of the team have a real morale boost and have the freedom to enjoy their work as well as being able to deal with home life issues.

The team manager is good at promoting training and the professional development of staff. I have been given the opportunity to attend various training over the ten years I have worked with the Welfare Rights Team, including NVQ 3 in Advice and Guidance, Social Care Foundation, supervisory and IT courses, appraisal training and I’m about to embark on the ILM Diploma in Management in September. The training I have received really couldn’t have been better!

I wouldn’t go back to working for a private company after working for Denbighshire County Council, as I would never be able to find the same flexibility and great opportunities that I have had working here.