Health and Social Care graduate, Tamara is currently working as a Social Group Coordinator/Manager at Sense.

I secured a position as a group management coordinator, for a charity called Sense after I completed my Health and Social Care degree at Staffordshire University. 

My role is to work very closely alongside other agencies, such as the local authority, social services, and schools where we develop and design comprehensive short break packages for children with additional needs or disabilities.  

Day to day challenges can be things such as securing funding for the children and their families we support. Due to Covid this has caused a huge impact to the funding that’s available.     

Also, I now manage a team of around 25 staff, which comes with its own set of challenges!  

The work we do makes a huge difference to the families and children we support who are often stigmatised and marginalised by society.  

The work I do is exceptionally fulfilling, knowing I have made a difference to one family or child, helping them gain the support they desperately need is a wonderful feeling. 

Throughout my time at university, the modules we covered such as leadership and management, counselling, and communication skills helped prepare my for my role. These modules gave me a comprehensive insight into the rapidly expanding and ever changing environment that is Health and Social Care.   

Any advice I would give to any students studying Health and Social Care would be: gain as much experience in as many different sectors as you can. Your degree is extremely vast, and covers many different sectors, so do not limit yourself.

Tamara booth

Any advice I would give to any students studying Health and Social Care would be: gain as much experience in as many different sectors as you can. Your degree is extremely vast, and covers many different sectors, so do not limit yourself. I never envisaged myself working within the charity sector, I originally wanted to work with offenders. However, when we did our work experience module I worked with children with additional needs and found I gained a real sense of achievement and felt like I made a positive difference.   

The confidence and knowledge I gained at university wouldn’t of been possible without the support and encouragement that I received from my tutors, namely Ana and Matt, who never wavered in their support of me, which I will be forever grateful.