Written by Amelia’s mum Trudy
We welcomed Amelia into our lives on 22 May 2001 when she gatecrashed her sister Amber’s first birthday. It soon because apparent that she was very poorly. She had a successful operation two days later to correct a duodenal atresia and consequently, we have faced quite a few medical battles since.
The most impacting one was being diagnosed at age four with type 1 diabetes. This was a huge adjustment for our whole family – the hopes and aspirations we had been daring to dream for Amelia seemed to come crashing down at that moment but our little warrior just battled on and adjusted extremely well to regular blood glucose testing, insulin injections and food monitoring. In 2010 she was funded for an insulin pump and has had pump upgrades over the years. With lots of help she is able to manage her diabetes well, especially since being on the pump.
Amelia attended mainstream primary school, a special needs secondary school and at age 16, further education college based in the Skills for Work and Living faculty. Because of her medical needs, she progressed through education with 1:1 support which has been a huge help.
It was during her first year of college that it was brought to our attention that Amelia has great potential to eventually get a paid job, she seemed to have a good work ethic.
We always envisioned her having a voluntary job but paid employment? Would this be possible with her medical needs?
Over the course of her six years at college she gained more and more confidence and we as a family, we came to realise that this could become a reality. In September 2022 Amelia enrolled onto the one year Supported Internship Course. We secured a work placement in the restaurant at The Holiday Inn hotel working two mornings, 8am-12pm. She was allocated a Job Coach through college who oversaw her medical needs.
This all coincided nicely with the opening of a brand new cafe in the area for people who have Down’s syndrome to work voluntarily to gain skills and experience. Amelia started in January 2022 working on her day off from college where she gained invaluable experience and grew in confidence. It was again recognised that she had a great work ethic, in fact, she had to be strongly persuaded to take her breaks!
By the summer term this year The Holiday Inn recognised Amelia’s hard work by offering her a zero hours contract which started on 18 July, perfect timing for her finishing college at the end of June. The biggest stumbling block for making all of this happen was the fact that Amelia needed a paid 1:1 support worker to help her. I applied for a grant through the government’s Access to Work scheme and secured a wonderful support worker who already worked with her at the cafe. All systems go!
However, Amelia was due to start work just as the slack period began in the restaurant and she wasn’t given any hours for her first week. I quickly enquired if she could cross-train into housekeeping – Amelia loves cleaning! She was trained up immediately and is now a very valuable member of both the restaurant and the housekeeping team. So much so that she was voted Hotelitarian of Month for August!
Amelia looks so happy and proud in the photo. We couldn’t be more proud of her.
They say it takes a village to raise a child and we can certainly testify to that. Amelia has been, and continues to be surrounded by lots of wonderful people who support her:
* Family and friends, especially her sister Amber who is the calm voice of reason when things don’t go to plan.
* Peterborough Area Down’s Syndrome Group. We have been members since Amelia was born.
* Wendy, her wonderful respite carer since she was ten and her TA at primary school.
* Birch Tree Cafe, run by the charity T21 who offer voluntary opportunities to 28 (and counting) people who have Down’s syndrome.
* Kathleen, her amazing Support Worker at the cafe and The Holiday Inn.
* The lovely staff at New College Stamford for inspiring the dream and encouraging us as a family.
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR JOB AMELIA AND THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR STORY
