A SUPPORT worker from Cudworth who has been working 14-hour shifts to cope with the pandemic has been nominated for a Proud of Barnsley award.
Charlotte Inglis, of Beech Avenue, is a senior support worker at Sunnywell on St John’s Road, and helps support 12 people with a range of needs, including autism.
The home, which has been forced to isolate throughout the pandemic, has pulled together throughout to keep it Covid-19 free.
The 32-year-old who has been taking on additional shifts to care for those at the home, has also been juggling home life with two children.
She said: “I think like all carers across the country, we’ve found this pandemic incredibly challenging.
“Nobody gets a set of instructions of how to cope with things like this as it’s never happened before so we’re all just doing our best to stay afloat.
“The toughest part is trying to support our people with autism, who may find it difficult to adapt to this new normal.
“We’re still trying to understand this all ourselves and we wish we could provide all the answers.
“Our main priority is those we care for and that they are treated the same as our family at home.”
Charlotte has praised her colleagues at Springwell and believes that she couldn’t do her job without them.
“I’m so proud of our entire team who have made unimaginable sacrifices to do this job in the last year,” Charlotte said.
“You have to have such resilience to be a carer during the pandemic, and we’ve really pulled together, and taken on extra hours, to deal with the challenges.
“I’d be working long hours and not think of it, but as soon as I get home it all dawns on me how much I’ve been doing.
“But it’s so worth it for our residents.”
Upon hearing about her nomination in the Carer of the Year category, Charlotte said: “I honestly can’t believe it, this is really unexpected.
“I feel like I’m just getting on with my job but it’s nice that someone has thought of me.”
