Our Team

From an acorn an Oaktree grew…

 

On 1st May 2012, Andrew and Amanda, who have a son with Autism opened the doors of Oaktree Farm Care. Along with staff they strived to provide a safe and welcoming environment for people with Learning Disabilities and Autism.

 

Their vision was for each and every customer to grow in confidence, develop life and work place skills in a progressive setting, whilst feeling empowered to have a voice in their person centred support.

 

The 33 acre site offers a calming social environment for each individual to learn many life skills. Alongside this OFC offers unique opportunities and a different way of progressing in a holistic manner by empowering them to have a choice.

 

Life skills are a vital tool in our “Dashboard Skills Program", encompassing the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. In 2023 our first customers obtained their Gold Award and attended Buckingham Palace to receive it.

OFC encompasses exercise and well-being in its ethos. Sport sessions are tailored to meeting each individual’s needs with our new onsite outdoor gym equipment.

 

Andrew and Amanda look forward to showing you around Oaktree Farm Care.

I now have over 7 years of experience working within the care industry. I first started my career studying Health & Social Care at college before moving onto University where I graduated with a Social Work degree.

 

In July 2016 I joined the OFC family as a Support Worker and was welcomed with open arms. I threw myself into learning about each customer as an individual and absorbed as much information as possible to ensure the support I provided was what they needed and met the standards of the organisation.

 

With the support and encouragement of the Directors I have been able to develop my professional care within the organisation. Having been given the opportunity to complete level 3 & 5 CIPD I was able to take up the role of HR. My knowledge, skills and dedication are what have led me to my more recent role of Company Secretary. Whilst this role requires attention and detail to the operational side of things, the core of this organisation remains the same and everyone plays an active role in supporting our customers on a day-to-day basis.

 

OFC is an accomplished and devoted organisation and whilst job roles may change and the OFC family grows, one thing has and always will remain paramount and that is the well-being and happiness of our customers. I strive to ensure that I promote this everyday.

After many years of experience in administration I joined the OFC management team in August 2022. The role encompasses administration, but I also support the customers in learning their monetary skills.

 

After a settling in period alongside my role I was offered the opportunity to become the OFC Duke of Edinburgh Award Ambassador, I of course jumped at the opportunity.

 

My role has developed organically and I enjoy time with all our customers. Watching them grow in confidence, learn new skills in the kitchen, enjoy a variety of sensory games, even karaoke is not unheard of.

 

Outside my day job I have years of involvement with fundraising committees and dedicated my personal time to volunteering at said events. With the experience I have meant I was the ideal candidate to take on the role of Lead Fundraiser for OFC.

 

I work closely alongside Andrew, Amanda, Megan and Naomi in ensuring every customer, each day, enjoys the best OFC and the 33 acre site has to offer.

Deciding on a career change after 18 years in retail appeared daunting at the time, now I wonder why.

 

I began working at OFC in January 2020. Extremely quickly I discovered support work was so rewarding. The honour of being trusted with the customers is truly humbling. I knew this was my forever choice of work.

There is never a day, even an hour when the customers are not laughing whilst learning and achieving new skills.

Little did I know promotion to a supervisory level would be offered to myself.
In 2022 I completed my Level 3 in Health and Social care; I found the qualification interesting and informative. Having been promoted to Trainee manager I have begun my Level 5 qualification. My colleagues' continued support and guidance has been important to me.

Oaktree farm is never quiet, the range of opportunities are endless for all our customers.  The reward is seeing each and every one of them grow in confidence, skills and do it with amazing smiles on their face.

Each customer I believe grows in a different way; from day to day they thrive and achieve new goals in being confident and independent.
I look forward to the future with Oaktree, not just my future but that of every customer we support

 

My demeanour and attitude towards OFC customers was what first caught the eye of Amanda.

 

I took the leap into the care industry after having worked in hospitality. Skills that I have gained during this period I have been able to transfer into my role at OFC. I am currently working towards my Level 3 Health & Social Care qualification and with this my knowledge and understanding of the social care sector will grow even further.

 

I very much look forward to seeing what the future at OFC brings.

Having started at OFC as a 14 year old girl, I have quite literally grown up alongside the customers, some of them even remember me hitting milestones in my life, whether this be birthdays or passing my driving test!

 

I started off completing my 2 weeks work experience at OFC and on finishing at school I made the decision to complete an apprenticeship with OFC. Since I made this decision my knowledge and confidence has grown in wealth. I successfully completed my Level 2 in Health & Social Care and now aim to complete my Level 3 qualification.

 

I am a fun, humarist person and this shows through my work. I endure to bring the best out of the customers and lighten up their day by making them laugh and smile. I do my very best to make sure that I work in a holistic, person centred way for each individual. The need to be able to adapt my way of working led me to completing a Makaton course. This opened up a whole new avenue for me which only helped me in my ability to be versatile and inclusive.

 

I am very lucky to have been given the opportunity to work in such a dynamic and diverse environment. I will continue to make customers laugh daily doing what I do best, bringing humour and entertainment!