Kayleigh’s story – making a difference to people’s lives every day
To celebrate National Link Worker Day on the 8th October 2021 we share Kayleigh's story on her role in the community.
“I’m a Community Links Practitioner (CLP) for the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE) Link Worker Programme working in the South of Glasgow. I’ve been in post since October 2019 and have experienced the majority of my time here in the pandemic. Like the world around us, the CLP role has had to adapt and grow to meet the ever-changing needs of the community.
Since leaving university, I regularly moved jobs within the third sector and always felt there was something missing from each role. There would always be some kind of barrier preventing a real difference being made in the lives of people I got to know. I think I speak for my colleagues too when I say that the Link Worker Programme has been a breath of fresh air. Every day we are challenged, we are learning, and we are – truly – helping.
No two days are the same. From walking groups to home visits, community meetings to accompanied visits and everything between! During every first conversation with every new programme participant, we get to tell them about how flexible and person centred our support can be and for many people it’s something they’ve never experienced before. People can be so used to waiting months for support, being asked to fill out form after form – all before even speaking to someone. We hear so often how refreshing the CLP approach is in contrast.
Before doing this job, I thought I had an idea of what it meant to make a difference in people’s lives, but that concept has changed every day for the past two years. Every year the ALLIANCE champions asking people “What matters to you?” and every day we champion the same in our role. It can’t be prescribed or planned and sometimes people don’t even know it themselves. Actions that may seem so small to an outsider can mean the world to that person. As well as being a fulfilling and challenging role, every day we get to make a difference in people’s lives in ways that matter to them which is invaluable.”
End of page.