Ellie previously worked in family support for 9 years, working with complex families, and latterly worked in therapeutic and mainstream schools. Before she joined the Community Catalysts programme in Suffolk she was in receipt of universal credit and knew that she wanted to do more in her local community, as well as finding a role that worked around her young family.
With the support of Community Catalysts and the New Enterprise Allowance, she had the confidence to develop an enterprise that has person-centred practice at its heart. US4UP offers support with the flexibility to tailor to each individual, whether that be around daily living, building on skills maybe after a time in hospital or ill health, offering much needed breaks for carers or spending time with people in their local community. Ellie has undertaken lots of additional training to complement her existing experience, including first aid, dementia awareness and mental health. After a few months of planning, US4UP opened for business in October 2021 and immediately began working with customers.
“I feel having a local person that has the knowledge, experience and skills that I have is special as I know how to approach situations, what I can offer and how it will help. I make no judgements and am not there to tell individuals how I think they should live their lives. What I will do is provide a broad service that covers a lot of things to enable people to make positive changes to their lives.
I love being able to make a difference to people’s lives, empowering and inspiring them. I have been able to learn lots working with a diverse group of people, some of whom have lived such wonderful and interesting lives, and I always make time to listen.”