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Haleema Razaq

Find out more about our vtalent volunteer.

What are you doing?

I am working at the Children and families care services as a volunteer. Children and families care services is a local authority provider of domiciliary care for children, young people and their families who have some form of disability. Currently the service sits within Oxfordshire County Council’s Children, Young People and Families Directorate; accessing education and SEN team then the children’s disability team. The purpose of the directorate is to improve the outcomes for children and young people. They are governed by legislation called Every Child Matters, which set out five targets that all service providers working with children and young people must adhere to:

Be healthy
Stay safe
Enjoy and achieve
Make a positive contribution
Achieve economic well-being

What are your reasons for taking part?

The reason as to why I decided to take part in VTalent was because it seemed to be something new and exciting that would really help me get started on a career path. I am very interested in becoming a Midwife and not only is my placement helping me to go in that direction but it is also showing me that there are many more different paths that I can take to get there.

What sort of things have you done so far?

I have observed what office staff do on a daily basis. There is always someone on ‘duty’. This is answering phones, taking messages and dealing with any problems or issues that arise throughout the day. Such as covering staff that are off sick, cancelling and moving visits, debriefing and supporting staff, providing information about the service etc.
I’ve been shown the different ways of communication with disabled children and young people, which is through using picture symbols or sign language or even just using your eyes.
Phoned up all the careworkers as soon as the swine flu hit the UK, just to make sure they have enough equipment such as aprons, gloves and alcohol rub just so they are prepared.
Went to a direct debit meeting, which seemed to be a VERY complicated process, but it was just a chance for me to meet a lot more of the staff who are part of children and families care services but do not come to the office often.
I have shadowed 2 careworkers out on patch. This was really interesting as it showed me exactly what the children and families care services do. One family was in Banbury and we took out 3 children for a couple of hours and their ages ranged from 4-10months. The other was in Chinnor and they were twins we stayed in the family home and helped mum care for her children as she had a disability.
I went to Birmingham for a day. The managers had prepared projects for the Children’s Workforce Developmental Council.
I’ve been out on a hair and beauty training course which was to help all careworkers know how to apply make-up on disabled children or do their hair etc.
Made a birthday calendar for the office staff.
In the process of making a board in the office which has photos of all the office staff and their job roles, and also a rules and regulations board within the office.

What do you feel that you, personally, will get out of the programme?

Learn new and different things about what is available for children and young people who are either disabled physically or mentally. I want to be able to help them and let them or their families know what kind of help is out there for them. Also a new experience in working with children and families that have disabled parents, children etc learning how to care for them. I want to be able to take forward everything I learn from here to pursue a career in midwifery and so that I am almost fully prepared to take on such a rewarding role.

Any message you’d like to add?

So far it’s great!! and I think that we should advertise it a lot more for next year’s crew so a lot more people will know that this is out there and available for them to get a push in the right direction. You can learn LOADS about children and young people and what they need, and you also learn a lot more about yourself along the way. Personally it has made me a more confident person, which is awesome! And you meet a lot of great peeps.

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