Guest blog by Josh Williams

Josh Williams recently joined the Penrose Farm team near Truro as a Support Worker. The team support five people with autism and learning disabilities.

In a world full of uncertainty, I think one thing we can all accept is that this is a pretty weird time for everyone. Don’t you agree? That’s the one positive you can take from this absolute titanic of a situation… We are all in the same boat. Locked down, two-meter social gaps, extreme use of hand sanitiser and the greatest toilet paper shortage in history; this is literally everybody’s life at the moment.

I’m going to roll the clock back a few months from now, back to when Corona was the name of a weak lager, back to when we still had a bit of optimism for 2020. It was January. I had just put the phone down to the amazing recruitment team at Green Light offering me a full-time position in one of their homes. I’m sure you can all remember that slightly nervous, but more excited feeling of starting a new job. Especially when it's something you’re completely new to. Little did I know, I was about to begin my journey in one of the strangest circumstances imaginable. Last May, my partner and I filled up a moving Lorry after making the life changing decision to move down to the pasty capital. Being from an estate agency background in the hustle and bustle of East London, transitioning over to care was bound to be an eye-opening experience for me. I was looking for a more fulfilling career path that gave me a personal sense of achievement as well as tying in with my university course. Before I knew it, my first day of training had come around. I enthusiastically skipped through the rather fancy entrance of the Green Light hub, Mor workspace, prepared to start my new chapter. 

Days one, two and three of training were fantastic. Being a complete ‘tubala rosa’ (blank slate), each session was extremely easy to understand as well as informative. The trainers were all full of energy and passed on a real sense of passion that made me eager to start, which was lucky really because day four of training never got to see the light of day. Due to strict government guidelines on restricting large gatherings, Green light made the sensible decision of letting us continue our training at the homes chosen for us. There was a real sense of camaraderie as the news was broken to us. Everyone in the training group looked slightly worried (It was quite daunting) but at the same time we all agreed that we were ready and were going to give it our best shot. 

The Penrose Farm team have welcomed me in with open arms. The managers are all so helpful, the team is so creative, smart and funny and the guys I have been supporting are total superstars. Although we’re locked down in the house most of the day, the activities are endless. From vegetable patches to paper aeroplane competitions (well done Kathryn!!) It has been refreshing to see how positive everyone has been through a time where nobody really knows what’s going on.

Josh Williams & Teddy

Technology deserves a shout-out too. How amazing is technology?  We have all been able to continue our training through a series of online courses and zoom meetings and dare I mention, keeping ourselves entertained making good ol’ Tik Toks. If I wasn’t in awe of technology before, I certainly am now. 

Hopefully in a few months, this will all be a distant memory. We will be out enjoying the Cornish sun, back doing our regular activities, everyone would’ve pulled through safely and I’ll be able to get my hands on some yeast. Seriously does anybody know where to get yeast? It’s like gold dust. I will seriously loaf you forever if you have any suggestions.  

Thanks for reading everyone! Look forward to meeting you all in the future.