Member Article

Dedicated night carer will continue to help others and enjoy a lay in as retirement approaches

A dedicated night carer is looking forward to returning to a normal sleeping pattern and becoming a street pastor when he retires at almost 70 next month.

David Kennedy has worked at Woodley Grange care home for ten years after he made the decision to work in the sector following 14 years printing brochures and catalogues.

The Southampton native uses his spare time to work with homeless people in the city - delivering sleeping bags and food around the community for over 30 years.

“I’m retiring because I’ve worked long enough and I can now get my weekends back. I’m looking forward to spending more time with my family and I would love to train as a street pastor to help people in my local community,” said 69-year-old David.

“I haven’t been able to go to church regularly for a long time so it will be nice to be able to do that as well as continuing with the walking club and coffee mornings.

“I love making a difference in the resident’s life and finding out their stories. I ‘m not sure I will miss answering the call bell buzzers, but I’ll miss the relationships I have built with the team and the residents.

“Trying to regain a normal sleeping pattern could be difficult due to the amount of years I’ve done nights, but I hope I can!”

Liliana Macieira, care home manager, added: “David has given so much to our residents here and he’s an incredibly valued member of our team.

“The level of dedication he has shown highlights the kind of person he is and shows why he is perfectly suited to the homely and loving environment we have built here at Woodley Grange.

“Not only has David gone above and beyond for our residents during his time here, he has also given his own time to improve the lives of vulnerable people in the local community.

The father of six loves to travel with the Great Wall of China being the best place he has visited but has always been driven to make a difference in the community.

David was previously a carer for his former wife and children and offered a few words of advice for anyone thinking of working in care themselves.

He said: “For someone starting out in carei would say be confident, be kind, compassionate and treat everybody as if your own family. Only do the job if you care!

“With my 70th birthday approaching, I’ve been told there are surprise plans in place. I went to New York on my 50th and Venice on my 60th so I’m looking forward to find out where I’m going.

“Family is very important to me. I’m very proud of my children who have grown up to be very intellectual with one working in finance, one traveling the world with his jobs, one is a paediatric nurse, another is a personal secretary for a doctor who specialises in cystic fibrosis and another works at IBM.”

Liliana added, “We are very proud of him and have been really lucky to have him as a member of our brilliant team. We wish him a happy retirement, although if I know David, he won’t stand still and will continue to give his all to help others.”

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