"It feels like a bit of a dream." Nickita's story from Support Worker to Gardening Lead.
- Article
August 21, 2024
When Nickita joined our Mundy Street day service in 2022, she thought that she had found the perfect life balance.
While working for us as a Support Worker, Nickita was also raising twin boys on the spectrum and taking care of her impressive collection of indoor plants.
Nickita came to work at Autism East Midlands over two years ago, when she had decided that her job as a hairdresser was no longer a good fit for her.
She attended a local jobs fair at a leisure centre in Heanor, where she learned about Autism East Midlands and was told that she could apply to become a Support Worker.
"I'd never done care work before," she admits, "but with two boys on the spectrum, I knew a little bit about autism."
Thankfully, she describes the staff at Mundy Street as very welcoming and lovely to work with. Meanwhile, Nickita continued to cultivate her gardening passions at home.
When the Gardening Lead role became available, Nickita was initially unsure if the role would fit around her childcare responsibilities, but after a few conversations and encouragement from Lisa, the Mundy Street manager, Nickita decided to apply.
"It came at the perfect time, and I am fortunate that AEM adapted the role to the days and hours that I was able to work, while looking after my boys."
Nickita was offered the position and has since travelled across many of our East Midlands sites, from her local Mundy Street service in Heanor to our Fairview & Lynton residential service in Nottingham, to our headquarters in Creswell.
She describes the benefits that our garden spaces can have on our service users.
- Calming. When senses get heightened, our outdoor spaces allow our service users the space to reach a calmer state of mind.
- Being one with nature. Many of our service users have an interest in being outdoors. Sometimes they enjoy growing vegetables, or sometimes they like flowers or plants. A well-tended landscape will have a positive effect on service users who enjoy nature and want to spend more time in it.
- Evoking the senses. Nickita describes how she has a fondness for quirky plants, and has discovered plants that smell like cola bottles, or lemon sorbet, and how she has even discovered White Strawberry plants that taste like pineapple. For service users with their own particular interests and tastes, this is a very useful skill to have!
Would you like to join our gardening team?
We are currently on the look-out for another part-time (3 days per week) Gardening Lead. Like Nickita, this person would look after and maintain our outdoor spaces across our sites, while also working with our passionate service users.
The role would mainly focus around the Worksop and Nottinghamshire area, but there may be travel to other sites as required.
To apply, click the link below and fill out the application form at the bottom of the page.
