Our centresHi, I’m Sue and I started at Barnardos in 1996 as a casual admin support. I was made permanent part time in Shellharbour arcade working alongside Kerry Moore, Jan Williams, Maria Corsiglia, Sarah Beale, Patricia Sirons, Margaret Wikie. We then moved to the South Coast Children’s Centre where I have been in my current role, Manager Program Support since 2014.
The most rewarding thing about working at Barnardos is that I love supporting everyone: clients, carers, children and our staff. I see all of it, the good and the bad. But I also see when our families turn the corner, the changes, the good outcomes. It’s just the best to see the incredible outcomes that we achieved and how hard the staff work alongside families. I love seeing the changes in children as they grow and heal. As an admin worker, I get to see it all. It is all about smiling, saying “Hello, how can I help?” to everyone!
Here in the South Coast Children’s Family Centre, we are one big community, a second family, my second family. Before coming to Barnardos, I worked in aged care as a nurse’s aide on the Central Coast and then I was busy being a mum, bringing up two boys. As a child who was born in England, I always wanted to travel around the world. I went to the 2006 World Cup in Germany with three other families and that was a great experience. I always wanted to have children and a family, and I did that. I didn’t expect the rollercoaster which was when my first son was born premature at 26 weeks in 1983. Fortunately, today he is a healthy strong man, but at the time that was very challenging.
In the whole 29 years with Barnardos, I have seen different systems come and the change is good. Barnardos has always been open to change and able to adapt to be at the top and I love how innovative the organisation is. During my time with Barnardos I have made significant lifetime friendships, people come and go but some of the amazing women I have met will remain in my life forever. The support, the encouragement, the opportunity to grow are what keep me here, they are the reasons why I have been with Barnardos for 29 years.
