Janet speaks about her career in caring, telling of how she began working with special educational needs, her experiences in running a hostel for homeless families and the challenges associated with it. Janet further details her move to working in a residential home and personal challenges. She is an active volunteer in the community. I […]
Social Care
A Caring Life (1950s-2000)
Rosemary worked as a children’s nanny in Norwich and then at the Jenny Lind Hospital, and in the care sector – from home help to care worker. She tells of the bonds she developed with those she cared for and the way things changed. I was born in Gresham. My father died when I was […]
A New Zealand Adventure (1949-2004)
Elizabeth wanted to see the world and emigrated to New Zealand in 1952. She had a happy life there working in offices and running a shop with her husband and looking after children in a children’s home. Homesick for the snow, she returned to England in 2004 and settled in Thetford. Starting out I started […]
A Woman of War and Peace. The army and intelligence (1939-1980s)
Muriel was a remarkable woman who began her working life just before the War selecting women for high professional posts. In 1939 she began work at the Ministry of Labour, braving bombs for two years. Then she joined the Army on anti aircraft guns. As the war ended and the Cold War began, she was […]
Colman’s to caring (1955-1997)
Jennifer left school in January 1955 and started at Colman’s when she was just 15 in the tin shop making little tins for Colman’s mustard. She worked there for five years and later at Boulton and Paul’s and in care work. I left school January in 1955 and started work at Colman’s. I was just […]
Communication: a lifetime spent working with deafblind people in Norfolk (1952-2015)
After her first job at Start-rite, Heather began working for Social Services in Norfolk in 1978. In her work, she used Deafblind Manual to communicate with people with dual sensory loss. She was also proficient in British Sign Language and in Braille. Heather was ordained in 1996, and served as an assistant priest in Sprowston. […]
Developments in Social Care (1951-1990s)
Betty talks about development in social work Shall I start with how I got involved with social work, how I got interested in social work to start with? I left school when I was eighteen and at that time the war had finished and there was a lot of thought being given to how we […]
From art to occupational therapy (1958-2001)
Carolyn tells of her working life from her art training and holiday jobs (including supplying embroidery materials to Judi Dench!) through to qualified occupational therapy work with dementia patients, amputees, and in mental health on rotations in the Norfolk area. After an adventurous trip to Argentina, she worked in social services assessing benefits and moved […]
Governing Prisons: despair and hope (1965-2015)
Andy reviews his work in the UK prison service and a second career in the International Centre for Prison Studies. I was bought up in post war Coventry, which was a very prosperous city. I come from a background of public service both in terms of my father and my grandfathers and I moved to […]
Happy days. Shoes, shops, school and caring (1960-2016)
From the age of 15, Paulette worked in Norwich making heels for shoes, later for British Home Stores, made crackers at home and worked with children and older people. She still cares for people and helps her fellow residents at Doughty’s Hospital. The heel factory I started work at fifteen at Andrews Wood Heels on Mile […]