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It's 'snow' secret - our staff are brrr-illiant!

Snowy CornwallLast week snow engulfed the south west, along with many other places across the country. Schools and business were shut, buses stopped running, supermarket shelves were stripped bare, and many parts of the country ground to a halt.

Some things must keep going no matter what the weather, and one of those things is the support that people with learning disabilities and autism rely on to live their lives.

As the weekend’s snow began to melt and normality resumed, we began to hear stories of our staff’s fantastic dedication to keeping that support running smoothly in challenging conditions. We’d like to share some of them with you here.

In Cornwall, Sasha spent all night in A&E with the person he was supporting, having already worked a full day shift. After a break during the day, he then walked through the snow to cover another night shift. Anne came in to cover a waking night shift and ended up staying for two days due to other staff being unable to make it in.

Jon and Carrie turned up to their shift in rural Gloucestershire with extra supplies knowing they wouldn’t be able to get home once it ended, whilst Danny battled for miles through the snow and wind to get to his shift.

Alice and Teresa in Cornwall went the extra mile in a busy service, working longer shifts caring for people with very complex needs.

Managers Jayne and Steve also trudged for 1.5 miles through the snow to make sure our offices in Cornwall kept running and ensuring that shift cover was coordinated in line with contingency plans, during a frantic few days.

Abi, Rachel, and Nic in Newquay came to the rescue when permanent staff couldn’t make it to their shift, holding the fort until others could take over.

It wasn’t just staff who pitched in to help in the tricky conditions – in Cornwall, support worker Teresa arranged for a member of her own family to deliver fish and chips to someone we support on Friday night so that there was no distressing change to an important weekly routine.

These are only a handful of examples of the incredible effort that was made by many of our staff across all areas affected by the snow. They are a great reflection of the commitment that we see from our staff to the people we support, and their colleagues, every single day.

We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone that went above and beyond during the adverse weather conditions to keep people we support safe and well.

If you’d like to be part of our fantastic team of staff, find out more about how to join us here www.brandontrust.org/jobs