Lydia is the Community Services Manager in our Community division, providing leadership and guidance to a range of community services, including carer support, dementia support and day services for older adults.
She has a wealth of experience working within the sector, graduating with a degree in social care in 2011. Lydia then started her career as a carer support worker, spending the next 10 years working in a variety of roles supporting unpaid carers.
Lydia took her first steps into management when she joined Making Space in 2021, and excelled in mentoring and coaching staff to achieve their goals. During this time, she also completed a Level 3 qualification in Human Resource Planning and then her Level 5 Leadership in Adult Care.
When asked about her most proud professional achievement, Lydia said “I’m really proud that I started my career as a support worker in the type of services that I now oversee. This gives me really good insight and understanding of the issues facing the people we support. I also have a real appreciation for all the amazing work being done by our frontline staff and strive to remind them regularly that what they do really is making a different to people’s lives.
“When I first transferred into Making Space and l learnt that the charity was originally set up by unpaid carers to support other unpaid carers, I knew this was an organisation that I wanted to be part of. The values align with my own personal values and it’s a place that truly cares about the people they support, as well as their staff”.
When Lydia isn’t in work she is often enjoying quality family time with her husband and son, and bargain hunting at charity shops and car boot sales. She also enjoys going to gigs and festivals.