I got that Friday feeling.......

Hello everyone, are you all looking forward to the weekend?? I know for many people that 'Friday feeling' is all about the joy you feel at reaching the end of another working week, but this post isn't actually about that.  I once read a quote (can't remember where, probably facebook or somewhere similar) that said "When you find something you love, you will never work a day again" well I have never really understood that quote, I mean even a good job is just a job, right?????? Well until rcently, but now I have found a place where that quote applies perfectly, so please let me introduce you to the cause of my alternative Friday feeling.....



 L.I.F.E Leisure Idependance Friendship Enablement Services   



Is a company set up by my very good friend Craig Howley. Now it would be very difficult to explain L.I.F.E without telling you a little about the phenomenon that is Craigy (he will read this i'm sure but I don't mind him knowing how cool I think he is). Now I have known Craig for the past 22 years since I was at school (my god I'm soooo old) and he has for all that time worked looking after people with learning dissabilities. And for all that time he has been a larger than life character, always the joker, a eternal child and natural born entertainer.... I am now gonna embarrass him by showing the earliest pic I have of him, this was a drunken weekend away in Glastonbury, Craig just had a bottle bounce off his head, and another of Craig in his favorite passtime, dressing up (not like that, you naughty lot).

and yes the blond bit is me........

Fast forward many years and I began working in a residential home that worked along side the daycentre Craig worked at. He was very popular with the clients there, everybody loved him. However the nature of care for adults with learning dissabilities is dramatically changing at the moment thanks to the austerity measures our government is having to impliment (thanks to the bankers of the world) and the resulting service being offered to our clients is one that is not the always able to give what they need or even (shock horror) what they want.   Now many of us carers don't like these changes but few people have the balls to do something about it.
Craig is one of those people (along side his partner Adrian) and so set up L.I.F.E as an alternative to traditional day centres or personal assistants.

So why does L.I.F.E give me a Friday feeling???
Well obviously it is not the joy of being at the end of the weekend and looking forward to no more work for 2 days. My Friday feeling is actually a sense of pleasure that comes from looking forward to going to work ( on a Friday, tho I have recently started getting a Thursday feeling too).
And this sense of pleasure comes from the people I work with and the people I support.  Those I work with are a fab bunch of people, who have a real passion for the job we do, and are detrmind at all times to carry out their role as well as they can, and I will let you into a secret now, it really isnt a hard job, the main aim of our job is.... (drum roll)......... To make people happy!!!! I mean how cool is that. OK, obviously there is more to it than that, but that is our ultimate goal and this is such a refreshing change  from the attitudes of many social support providers who treat individuals as no more than numbers. As long as  they are physically well cared for then they consider their job done.
Fridays are especially cool because we do Karaoke. Now I have never before met a group of people that sing with so much enthusiasm ( and yes if I'm honest, so badly) as the guys we look after, it is a pleasure to watch. And whats more I am one of the best singers there ( I know it is wrong to take personal satisfaction from that fact, but hey, I'm only human after all). I also do nail art with my girlie's on a Friday, these ladies do not often get the chance to have girly things like this done for them as it is not seen as essential, which is pants!! Who out there doesn't feel good after a pampering session.....
Now  I would love to put loads of pics of all the gorgeous people we look after and what we get up to, but that would go against confidentiality, but I am able to put a link to their site here so you can check for yourselves the fun we get up to......
http://l-i-f-e-services.co.uk/#/photo-gallery/4558509108

OK that's me signing off now, I have work tomorrow, were going swimming in the morning and shopping in the afternoon, Happy days,
See you all soon,

Tracey X