Family in Care – The Story of Michael, Linsey, and Sheila

This month, we are focusing on family ties within MerseyCare Julie Ann, and the relationship between family connections and careers in care. Here at MCJA, we want to focus on the story of Care Assistants Michael and Linsey. Linsey, is one of our incredible Care Assistants who has been working with us since 2004, celebrating her 20th anniversary this year! Linsey has received a multitude of compliments from over the years, and has shown exceptional service throughout her entire career at MerseyCare Julie Ann. More specifically, Linsey cared for one of our service users for many years – Sheila. She had known Sheila since she was a young girl, and moved on to provide care to her in later life. Whilst caring for Sheila, she provided support alongside Sheila’s son, Michael. Michael spent most of his time looking after his mother, showing exceptional amounts of care and compassion. This gift of Michael’s did not go unnoticed by Linsey. Sadly, Sheila peacefully passed away, meaning Linsey and Michael no longer cared for Sheila together. After the loss of Michael’s mother, Linsey spoke to Michael about how much of an amazing carer he was for his mother, and even referred him to ourselves. Michael then took on her recommendation, applied for the role as a Care Assistant, and started working for ourselves in 2023. Since then, Michael has also received an abundance of client testimonials and compliments from our service users, even winning Carer of the Month for May! His exceptional standards of care and desire to go above and beyond for each service user shows within his work ethic. Here is what Linsey had to say: “I have known Sheila since I was a young girl and had the pleasure of caring for her for many years in her later life. It was during this time I met Michael, Sheila’s son, who was caring full time for Sheila and he showed his mum so much love and compassion. He also showed a vast amount of knowledge regarding his mum’s care and was always on hand to help when needed. When Sheila sadly passed away, we told Michael he would be a great carer and I referred him to Mersey care Julie Ann. Michael has become an excellent carer as shown when he got carer of the month and an even better friend.” We also received the following response from Michael: “I was a welder for 27 years and my dad got vascular dementia so I gave work off to look after him. He died after a year and then my mum had a bad case of sepsis which rendered her immobile so I looked after her for a further five years with the support of MCJA. Then after she passed Linsey Pollard, who was one of my mum’s carers, said to me I think you’d make a good care and recommended me to MCJA!  I am one year in and I’m really enjoying the work and thanks everybody for the carer of the month for May ?.” This is just one outstanding example of our ‘Refer a Friend’ scheme, and how much of a difference this can make to people’s lives and careers. Not only did Linsey assist Michael in supporting and caring for his mother, but she also helped Michael achieve his full potential and start a rewarding career in care work. Linsey and Michael are now working alongside each other, providing exceptional care to all of our incredible service users.

Refer a Friend Scheme

Do you work for ourselves and know somebody who would be an excellent carer? Someone who shows all the qualities that Michael displayed when caring for his mother? Why not refer them today? Here is how it works:

1. You receive £300 once your friend passes their 6-month probation.
2. Your friend receives £100 after they pass their 6-month probation.

To refer a friend, please send over the following information to our recruitment team:

1. Your name
2. Your friend’s name
3. Your friend’s contact information (email and telephone number)

Our recruitment team will then be in touch with the referee, and they could be starting a rewarding career in care work with ourselves! For more information about what qualities we look for in a Care Assistant, and to learn more about our open vacancies, visit our Careers page.

Apply now!

If you are looking to start a rewarding career in care, and would like to apply to any of our open vacancies, please visit our Indeed page. Once you have applied, one of our recruitment officers will be in touch should your application be successful. Apply today, and start a fulfilling career in care just like Michael.