Joy Rickard

How did you get into working in mental health? I’d always had a passion for supporting people with mental health challenges, following some personal experiences of friends and loved ones. I’ve always wanted to make a difference to the support and help that individuals and families/carers receive so that they are heard. For me, social work provided this platform to advocate for our service users – seeing them as individuals, not just diagnoses.

Why are you working at HPFT? I started with HPFT on a university placement during my degree. I was then lucky enough to join the Trust as a newly qualified social worker and I was so impressed with the range of support, learning and development opportunities. After completion of my ASYE, I was able to apply for a Band 6 position in the team I was in.

How has HPFT supported your career development? I was accepted for a Practice Educators course, with strong support from my supervisor at HPFT. I was also able to attend conferences and a number of training opportunities, whilst getting a variety of experience at the Trust. I’ve now facilitated my own student social worker and have also completed my AHMP training.

I’ve been promoted twice in the relatively short time I’ve been at HPFT. I feel really appreciated and I was even nominated for the ‘social worker of the year’ award where I won silver, which was really brilliant.

What about your future plans? I would love to continue to pursue a social work leadership career at HPFT. I want to be an ambassador for safeguarding, carers and social care and continue to improve the ways in which our service users receive care and support.