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A day in the life of a Chaplain
I think what I like the most about my job is the opportunity to really build up relationships with people. I love to find out who they are, where they came from, all their individual histories. That’s an important part of care in any sense, and it’s true for spiritual support as well. Families find it very difficult when their loved ones are vulnerable, or have dementia, and I’m glad to be able to offer support to them too.
I’m a keen gardener, and I like to bring things in from my own garden to help residents to enjoy sensory experiences and feel connected to the outside world. I’ve brought my own sweetpea, pea pods and lavender, and shells from the beach. These things have such a positive effect on people, and help them to reminisce and recall their own happy memories.
I provide one to one support, but if several people would like a certain service, I arrange that. For example, at one point we had quite a few Catholics who wanted to say the rosary, so I arranged a service for that. I’m also available to staff members who want spiritual care and support
I feel very privileged to be working at Amathea and to be able to have formed the relationships with residents that I have. I got married recently and I was delighted that several residents were able to attend my wedding as guests.
Yvonne Myers, Chaplain of Amathea care home in Workington, Cumbria