Reasons why social care is a rewarding career

Without hesitation Paige Buggy is quick to recommend a Modern Apprenticeship in Social Service and Health Care. That is the route she took after leaving the Anderson High School in Lerwick, and seven years later she has no regrets.

She still works at the same Shetland Islands Council care home supporting adults with learning disabilities or autism.

“I would highly recommend it [a social care apprenticeship] to anyone, even if it’s not something they have thought of before. There are so many aspects to social care, you can work with the elderly, people with learning disabilities, dementia, mental health there is not just one aspect to it.

“It is a very rewarding job.”

Paige was born in Yell, the island where her mother grew up, and moved to Lerwick when she was a few months old. Her love of the local community was a big factor in her decision to stay in Shetland to learn new skills.

“I have lived in Shetland all my life, that was partly why I didn’t want to go to university because I knew I wanted to be in Shetland. I like the close community feel and like being with my family.”

That’s the kind of supportive environment that has helped Paige thrive, and that she now delivers to the service users at Newcraigielea short break and respite service. It’s a job that she loves, and in her time working there she has developed many skills and experience and is now studying for an SVQ Level 4.

“I love it. It’s really rewarding, and you get to meet so many people.

“Being able to support people to do activities they might not otherwise be able to do without your support. You are benefiting someone’s life and making a difference.

“You feel like you are building really strong relationships, and you get to know the service-users’ families really well.”

Now aged 24, Paige was still a teenager when she began her Modern Apprenticeship at Newcraigielea, working in the short break and respite service and learning via UHI Shetland – part of the University of the Highlands and Islands network.

Through her apprenticeship she achieved an SVQ2 qualification, after which she landed a full-time carer’s job. But her learning has not stopped, and Paige says she has been well-supported throughout to develop new skills and continue her career progression.

In October 2022, Paige took the opportunity to take on a senior carer’s role temporarily, and the council is putting her through the SVQ4 qualification, seen as a step towards management.

“Level 4 is more thorough, and you have to be in the senior role because it’s more about management and reflecting on situations that might have happened at work. You work with the college [UHI Shetland] and that’s where the assessor comes from.”

She finds it an excellent way to develop skills.

“It was great to get the opportunity to do the SVQ4. You are very well supported, and you can take it at your own pace, and you can have one-to-one meetings with the assessor. Your workplace is really supportive as well, everybody just wants you to get through it.

“It is really rewarding and does make you reflect on situations that have happened in the workplace and you start thinking about things a different way.”

Not only does the social carer role give Paige the opportunity to make a difference to people’s lives, but the shift pattern also ensures that she has plenty of time to enjoy the benefits of living in a spectacular place like Shetland.

“I like going out for hikes around the islands and I go ‘wet suiting’ (wild swimming).” Her favourite spots for sea dip include Gulberwick, Cunningsburgh and Nesting ­– all within a short drive from Lerwick where Paige recently bought her first home. Her favourite walks include Westerwick near Skeld on Shetland’s West Mainland. “That’s beautiful,” Paige says.

“A lot of social care is shift work and people can sometimes be almost scared of that, but sometimes it almost gives you extra time off.

“That can actually help your work-life balance.”

That combination of working and living in a spectacular location with a supportive community and employer is what pleases Paige.

There’s no surprise she is looking forward to completing her vocational qualifications and, hopefully, finding a full-time senior social carers role.