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Too Many to Count is the first study in the United Kingdom to explore the prevalence of brain injury in domestic abuse survivors accessing community-based services.
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Home / Thirty years at Brainkind: Lindsey’s story
Thirty years is a long time to spend at any job. For Lindsey Tate, Service Manager at Brainkind’s Jane Percy House in Cramlington, Northumberland, the time flew by.
We spoke to Lindsey about her experiences working for Brainkind over the last 30 years, and why she doesn’t want to leave any time soon.
Lindsey joined Jane Percy House in 1995 as a bank support worker, without quitting her previous job – “just to see what it was like”. Just a few weeks later, however, she knew Jane Percy House was for her:
“Within a few shifts, I knew this was where I was meant to be. It was really different to my other workplaces.”
“I was particularly surprised by the high staffing levels. I was used to working with the bare minimum levels of staff, where it was all for profit. I could tell that Brainkind really cared about the people using the services. It was weird – but nice!”
In her time here, Lindsey has seen us go from supporting less than 100 people in 1990 as The Disabilities Trust to over 600 today as Brainkind. We’ve changed a lot, but Lindsey said that it was our growth as an organisation that stood out to her the most:
“The senior leadership team has changed a lot. It was all men when I first started. We have a lot more women now, and leadership has more experience in the industry. They’ve become more approachable, more connected, and more in tune with the needs of both staff and the people we support. Things have definitely moved on.”
What hasn’t changed, Lindsey told us, is the people that inspire her to keep turning up. “Having good staff around makes my job a lot easier,” she said, “and the people that live in Jane Percy House are an amazing bunch.”
“I love it when I can go out of my office and just sit and chat with the people we support. Over the years, I’ve been on day trips, taken people on holiday, and we even had a mock jury trial a few weeks ago which everyone was really engrossed in.”
“The people we support are what have really kept me here – I’ve met some truly lovely people, and those relationships have meant a great deal to me. If Brainkind didn’t care about them, I would have looked for other work.”
When we asked Lindsey what advice she’d give to her 20-year-old self, starting work with us in 1995, she had a clear answer: “Enjoy the learning of it! Grow with the people you’re working with and evolve yourself.”
“Trust the journey. All the mistakes I’ve made over the years, I’ve learned from. Even after 30 years, I still learn. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
We can’t thank Lindsey enough for her 30 years of hard work, commitment, and care. At Brainkind, we strive to be a great place to work – the kind of organisation to which people want to dedicate their careers – but we couldn’t do that without passionate staff like Lindsey.
If you’d like to find out more about our services, click here.
If you’re interested in a career that makes a difference, you can find out more about working at Brainkind here.
