Tell us a little bit about yourself.
My name is Indre. I live in the lovely town of Seaham with my husband and my very cute cat Tig. I thoroughly enjoy travelling and getting to know new places, their traditions and customs. I love to read when I eventually pick up a book. I enjoy cooking when I can put some music on and don’t have to be rushing anywhere. And I have a new found appreciation for baking since lockdown, even though the list of treats I can bake is relatively small and is mostly limited to muffins. I can’t jog but I do try occasionally to just remind myself why I don’t do it! But I do love walking, exploring new areas and other ways to stay fit especially when it’s lovely and sunny outside.
What jobs have done in the past?
I have done quite a few different jobs since starting employment. Before going to university I worked in bar and restaurant leadership positions. I graduated university as a primary school teacher and then went on to support employers and students on apprenticeships programmes in a college in Durham. Most recently I worked as a Multiple Projects Coordinator at a charity in Peterlee. My role was heavily focused on community engagement and development in an area that is a former mining community, which has ended up being highly disadvantaged with the closure of the mines. All of my roles have been highly service user focused, I love to do a good job that makes people smile and hopefully makes that little bit of positive difference in their lives.
What is your role at CFNE and what does it entail?
I have recently joined Changing Futures North East as a System Change, Participation and Research Officer on the ‘Relationships Matter to Schools’ project. Quite a lengthy title, I know, but it’s quite simple to explain what it is. My role is all about building relationships within the community with families, schools and local organisations and carrying out research in various methods to get everyone’s point of view about the systems that are currently in place - most specifically around transitions. It’s a very reflective role and sets out to find out how individuals feel about current systems effectiveness and if anything can be done to improve them. I want to support families and schools to maintain positive relationships and support organisations to recognise if system changes are required to do this.
At Changing Futures we are all about healthy relationships and to maintain these we need to know how people feel and how we can best include them in the decision making about services they use – this is where my role comes into place, getting that extremely valuable feedback by encouraging people to participate!
What are you hoping to achieve in role?
I am hoping to represents the parents’ voice in the community and to positively impact on the way things are done in Hartlepool. I am hoping to assist with making the school transitions as comfortable as possible for all pupils, families and professionals involved and to continue building on them strong community relationships that already exist.
Were you nervous about starting?
Definitely. It’s always nerve wracking getting to know a whole new team and learning all of the processes involved within a specific job role. However, I was also very excited as I couldn’t be more proud to be working for Changing Futures and everything it stands for.
How have you found starting a new job during lockdown?
It has definitely been strange and somewhat of an adjustment not having to leave for work in the morning, and not having met the majority of my colleagues in person and instead having lots of Zoom calls, however everyone has been very welcoming and helpful. As things start to improve across the country I am getting to leave my home office (ahem… bedroom!) more frequently which is great.
