Donna

When painting the nails of a friend’s elderly parent, long-time beautician and mum of five Donna Hampson was introduced to one of ECL’s friendly Community Care Assistants. After seeing the CCA in action and chatting with them about their role, Donna saw an opportunity to pursue her interest in care and passed on her contact details.

“I’ve always liked working with the elderly,” Donna says. “As a beautician that meant pampering them and making them feel special, but I also looked after my nan before she passed away. I’m a very caring person and love to help others, so working in care has always appealed to me although it wasn’t something I’d really followed up until I met one of ECL’s CCAs who was visiting a friend’s mum. I applied soon after.”

After a brilliant interview, Donna was offered a CCA job with ECL’s West Essex team and put her all into learning as much as possible as quickly as she could. She says, “I found the CCA role very rewarding and picked up every shift I could, plus overtime as I just loved being at work.”

Although she enjoyed being out in the community, from the very beginning Donna could see that there was huge potential to progress and build a career with ECL. She was keen to explore more areas of the business and soon moved onwards and upwards, taking on a planning position.

“I stayed in my planning job with the Mid Essex team for a year and a half,” says Donna. “I loved that, too but I really wanted to push myself, so I applied for a promotion to Trusted Assessor. My favourite part about the TA role was seeing customers that needed a lot of support initially regaining their independence through working with us.”

Not content with stopping there, after seven months Donna took on yet another challenge – stepping in to act as Local Business Manager. Despite flying through the ranks, she has taken the journey in her stride thanks to the support she’s received from her ECL colleagues. She says, “I’ve been so well supported throughout my time with ECL. It’s nice to know that the people around me believe in me and are happy to see me flourish. They have given me the confidence I need to keep moving forward.”

“I’m so proud of how far I’ve come. I’ve met so many different characters, gained a huge amount of experience, and really grown as a person since joining ECL,” Donna says. “It is a great company and I’m so happy that I can now support others as they begin their careers in care.”