PETRUS - Key Persons
I am a passionate Service Lead with 15 years' experience in the housing sector. My experience is in Customer Service, Customer Accounts, Leadership and Service Improvement. I have always had a keen focus on homeless prevention and working with agencies across the sector. Petrus' vision to end homelessness and build communities is something that really stands out, whether you speak with colleagues or service users. I am excited to work with my colleagues to ensure that everyone has the right tools to support and deliver the highest standard of support. I love that I can use my skills to develop the service and its employees to deliver the vision and values Petrus has, expanding the Petrus name within the community and creating strong networks across Greater Manchester. My values align with Petrus as everyone is always striving for improvement and we do this by working with service users to ensure their voice and experiences are used to tailor the service and create real change within our communities.
I am an experienced Service Manager and have worked in several business areas within the social housing sector over the past five years, including customer service, customer accounts and lettings. My experiences and skills lie in leadership, customer service, property allocations, tenancy sustainment and debt prevention.
My values align with Petrus' vision to end homelessness as I am passionate about homeless prevention, working closely with local authorities to support and find the right home and services for each person. I feel this enables individuals to thrive in their community. I love helping people to become the best they can be, whether it's my colleagues or our amazing service users.
I came to Petrus as a Service Manager in May 2022, after leading and developing various care and support services across Rochdale, Oldham and Tameside over the last 10 years.
I love working at Petrus - it's incredible to be surrounded by colleagues who are so passionate about people, places and delivering positive, demonstratable and high impact support services.
The commitment, vision, ethos and drive that Petrus has as a collective organisation gives me great pride and it is a honour to say I am part of the Petrus team.
I am a dedicated Service Lead at Petrus with 5 years of experience in combining management and customer service expertise in supported housing for vulnerable adults with mental health issues. Within my role as Service Lead, I work to inspire and motivate others, supporting and coaching our staff and volunteers.
Before Petrus, I worked as Lead Youth Worker for Rochdale Borough Council for 17 years, responsible for all youth provision in the Pennine area. I also completed an honours degree in Youth and Community Work and a Masters in Leadership in Integrated Services.
I love my job because I am part of an amazing team who work together to achieve our shared goal of supporting people to access accommodation and services, empowering them to make choices on decisions that affect their futures.
I started my journey with Petrus in July 2020 as Team Leader for our Housing First team, of which Petrus is a lead delivery partner in the Greater Manchester pilot. I bring to my role 20 years' experience of supporting vulnerable women who may have been sex working or homeless, looked after children and survivors of domestic abuse as well as 16 years of specialist substance misuse work and knowledge of intervention services to prevent reoffending.
What stands out the most about Petrus is the care, passion and dedication of each team. Petrus has values that I believe in and for me they are not just written on a piece of paper but are lived daily by our staff. We not only empower people we support but encourage our teams to develop and grow. My passion is to enable people to be the change in their own lives and to encourage and nurture the positive changes they want to achieve.
Most of my career has been within the Financial Services industry, but it was following redundancy that I began my journey of working at Petrus as Administration Manager, focusing on support with housing benefits for our service users. I then moved into a role for another organisation within The Regenda Group, M&Y Maintenance and Construction, learning about property and construction, before returning to Petrus in 2015.
I am delighted to be Service Lead for our service user involvement and volunteering projects at Petrus which includes our award-winning horticultural therapy project PIER, our Social Prescribing Programme, Gaddums Living Well, and our training offer Project 5. I stepped into this role in May 2020, having previously worked as the Engagement and Development Worker for PIER for seven years. I am qualified in social and therapeutic horticulture, with a degree in Psychology and experience of working in mental health on acute admissions wards and in residential support for young people.
I am interested in methods of supporting people therapeutically in creative, non-medical ways that empower individuals to take control of their lives, improve their health and wellbeing and connect to the wider community. I believe volunteering is a fantastic way to do this!
I have worked for Petrus for over a decade, coming with my own experience of homelessness and substance misuse having spent some time rough sleeping at the age of 16 and rebuilding my life through accessing support services. I started my journey at Petrus as a trainee, since then I have worked across our various supported housing schemes and as our Town Centre Outreach Worker, providing support to rough sleepers in the community. Over the years I have gained a wealth of knowledge and developed my skills, which I now use within my role as Service Manager at Petrus Hub, our day support service centre.
I love working for Petrus and being part of an inspiring team that share the same values and vision. I am grateful to have the opportunity to empower people to achieve their goals and make informed choices.