Salary: £16.00 per hour / £60.00 per sleepover
Work Hours: Minimum of 6 Hours Per Week
Contract Type: Contract
Holiday Entitlement: 5.6 weeks pro-rata or Rolled Up Holiday Pay.
Benefits: Flexibility
PA required for a very social 36-year-old man who enjoys going out and being part of the local community.

Posted on behalf of Parents/Customer:

My son needs a reboot!

He lives with us, his parents, and we’re getting like an old shoe – too comfortable. He has downs syndrome and manages life quite well. He can be a little serious at times but in the right company he is good company and definitely has a sense of humour. As a vulnerable adult, due to his learning disability, he does need some support. I always compare this to having a good friend or a mentor and this is what we would be looking at when employing a personal assistant for him. He will tell people he does not like being treat like a child and we would expect future PA’s to treat him with respect.

The ideal person would be mature enough with sufficient experience to engage with our son in a variety of interests that he has but also to possibly share any interests of theirs if he chose to. As an example, one previous Pa’s interests shared by our son was photography. We do not expect to be prescriptive regarding what our son does – we will engage as a family so that the PA gets to know our son however, they should be creative themselves in suggesting things to do whether at home or out and about. The cinema is not an option, nor is a just a list of events being booked. There should be impromptu stuff that is local, community-based things, the pub and nights out such as the Mencap Disco etc.

He has good receptive language, but his spoken language does not come in full sentences however you do become used to it. Any future PA would need to understand this to accomplish a relationship moving forward. He often uses photos to reinforce who friends and family are and places he has been. During Covid there were not the same opportunities for seeing his friends and I believe like many others, this had an impact on him. We want our son to socialize more and for him to become more communicative if possible. He needs a wider net of people to talk to and should include more age-appropriate individuals than going out with us most of the time.

He has many interests and at 36 he is getting set in his ways.

He likes music and attending live shows – his tastes are quite diverse. He has been to see Pink, Olly Murrs, Rod Stewart, McBusted, Take That and Robbie Williams (The Circus Tour), Scissor Sisters, Frank Turner etc. etc. He goes locally i.e. The Old Fire Station and The Sands Centre to various live events. He used to attend festivals such as Kendal Calling, Cockermouth Festival and Solfest. He enjoys the theatre and especially musicals – he’s been to see Queen the musical, Abba Voyage, Greatest Showman, Only Fools and horses (he’s a fan!!!), Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Oliver, Annie etc. etc. He likes Hary Potter and has been to the Harry Potter World. He is very chatty when people take the time to talk about things that engage him, allowing him to join in a conversation and not just spoken to.

He has his own home gym, which is great and he does this every day, but he also needs to attend another gym where he is encouraged to push himself as part of the gym community. He likes walking but whereas at one point you would need to catch him up he walks at his pace now.

He goes to Slimming World and to date has lost 2 stones. He is proud of his achievements. He is aware of healthy and non-healthy food, however that is not to say that we don’t all deserve a treat now and again. If in a café it is probably preferable to have a light lunch based on the Slimming World food rather than cakes and in a pub he can choose alcohol, but he usually opts to have non-alcoholic drinks after one or two drinks if at all. Again, he is good at making healthy choices.

He is a Carlisle United Football season ticket holder and attends home matches with his dad in the main, however he likes going to the fan zone when it’s an away match to watch it on the big screens. CUFC is a good family friendly club, and my son is comfortable attending and knows quite a lot of people who attend. He also likes Target Wrestling when it comes to Carlisle.

He enjoys art and has had some success through attending Prism Arts, exhibiting some of his work with them, he has also had his own exhibition. He also likes taking photos and uses these a lot as a reference to some of his paintings. He has a PS4 and a Switch but he doesn’t play on them as much as he probably would like as we aren’t that great at gaming. It is an opportunity to bond with someone who has an interest/knowledge of games.

He has worked in catering and is aware of dangers around the kitchen and house. He attends to himself in the main – showers in the morning and after the gym. He will make teas and coffee but usually works in tandem when preparing meals.

As we are retired, we go away quite a bit and in addition possibly have two holidays abroad each year. The contract is for 6 hours minimum per week, however; I have 12 sleepovers and additional hours allowed for respite if a suitable PA is available. This can be discussed along with flexibility of the fixed 6-hour contract. Having said that Friday is possibly the current day that support would be preferred as my son has quite a full week that does not exclude working other days but would be arranged.

Skills Required:

Essential:

  • Enhanced DBS Check (funded by employer).
  • Previous experience working as a Personal Assistant / Support Worker.

Desirable:

  • Full driving licence and access to their own vehicle.
FAQs
Apply now