What does it mean to you to be recognised in the Birthday Honours list?
I feel very proud and taken aback that someone would nominate me for this honour. It is truly humbling to have been recognised for my efforts and passion to helping dog rescue charities. It is seeing these dogs grow in confidence and enjoy life, where they are loved and cared for, that inspires me to carry on with my fundraising.
What does your role involve?
I work as a quality assurer on the national Work Capability Assessment Quality Assurance Team.
Apart from receiving this honour, what has been your proudest moment at work?
When I worked as a work coach in Hastings Jobcentre Plus, I worked with 18-25-year-olds. Some of them didn’t have any understanding of what it was like to work and earn their own wages. Many of them had no work experience and some had very little self worth. I arranged work placements for them with local employers. Some of the placements resulted in offers of employment. Several years later, I still see some of them working in the shops where they initially had a placement and I feel very proud that I played a small part in changing their lives and futures for the better
What does it take to do your job well?
I think being empathetic plays a large part of my current role. Having been a decision maker, I do understand the pressures colleagues can feel expecting to reach aspirations and, at the same time, deliver a quality service to our claimants.
Tell us one thing we might not know about your job
As an assurance team, we are able to identify issues where maybe decision makers have not been aware of certain aspects of their role. On these occasions, we can offer them support and pass feedback to senior managers to hopefully arrange further upskilling.