Student Olivia

Hello my name is Olivia , and I am in my second year at the University of Leeds studying social work. I am currently on a placement with Age UK Wakefield District as part of my studies.

My desire has always been to grow up and work with children as I feel passionately about ensuring children have a good childhood and are safe from harm and abuse. I feel like childhood is such an important stage of life and if terrible things happen to someone in this stage, then it is likely to carry on affecting them in later life. However, I have really enjoyed working with Age UKWD so far, as it has opened my eyes to a lot of issues going on in the community which I was not aware of before starting my placement. I never realised how much older people struggle and I was not even aware of the amount of support and services that were available to them if they needed it. Age UKWD have so many different services to offer people and can help in ways that no one is aware of.

My placement is with the Befriending team which is such an amazing service, especially at this time of the year. Every person I have spoken with has said how much having befriending has benefitted them and reduced their feeling of loneliness. Befriending is put in place for those who do not have much social contact and do not really see or talk to anyone. It is nice for the clients to have someone to chat to, laugh with and talk about their day too.

It has been interesting to see the difference between working with children and adults and how I interact with the different age groups. The teams I have worked in and shadowed have been amazing at their jobs. You can tell Age UK Wakefield District really care about the older people they support but also their staff, as you can hear and see some upsetting stuff and therefore it is important to look after your own health and wellbeing too. I have loved hearing all the stories from people I have visited, about their lives and what it was like for them when they were younger. It has been good to interact with older people that are different to my grandparents as they have all lived such different lives.