We have a diverse and experienced group of colleagues at Outward. A few of which have shared their Outward journeys below.
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Rita Batir
Team Manager
I am Rita, a team manager overseeing supported living services. My journey began 19 years ago when I entered the world of care and support to help my son. Determined to give him the best possible life, I discovered a passion for empowering others. Beginning as a support worker with Outward in 2019, I quickly progressed through roles like deputy manager by taking on additional responsibilities with guidance from supportive managers. Now enrolled on an NVQ leadership course, I empower my staff and foster a positive, friendly environment - drawing from my own experiences. I am also one of the PBS coaches for Outward.
What I cherish most is the opportunity to uplift lives, just as I did for my son all those years ago. I am grateful to Outward for nurturing my growth and supporting staff progression from the ground up.
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Cynthia
Support Worker
"The most rewarding part about being a support worker is making people happy and seeing them achieve different goals, become more independent, and a part of society."
Cynthia has worked at Outward since 2019 and has worked in a number of supported living services as well as Hub Club.
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Helal
Team Manager
"What I like about working at Outward is, when I need support, I can always find someone to help.
If you become a support worker it’s a great opportunity to learn and be coached until you feel confident. There are plenty of opportunities to develop according to your skill.
I joined Outward in 2001 as a support worker and after a couple years I became a senior support worker, then moved up to deputy manager and now I’m a team manager.
If you asked me which job I preferred out of all the roles I’ve worked in at Outward - I would say - support worker because I love to make people smile. It makes my day seeing the changed lives of the people we support from the day they joined us, up until now.
If you have good intentions and your heart is in it, you can really help the people we support. It’s a very rewarding job to help people and give them a good quality of life."
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Lewis
Area Manager
Since joining Outward in 2017, Lewis has progressed through various roles, including Tenancy Management Officer, Housing Manager, and Supported Housing Manager. Currently, he is the Area Manager in the Care & Support Senior Leadership Team.
Lewis pursued professional development, earning L4 and L5 qualifications from the Chartered Institute of Housing, becoming a certified housing professional. His managers supported his growth, motivating him to achieve success within the organization.
Highlights include winning the 2022 Outward Staff Leadership Award with the most team votes, transforming the Young People's Service to a high-achieving team that won awards, and helping frontline staff advance into managerial roles.
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Samina
HR Officer
"What attracted me to Outward is what Outward stands for and how we’re trying to enable and empower people with learning disabilities to live as independently as possible. The reason this attracted me is because I have a daughter who has learning difficulties – she’s got global developmental delay and I’ve always been a strong advocate to make her as independent as possible because I’m not going to be around forever, so I’ve always tried to push her as much as I can and get her the help she needs so she at some point is able to live independently. So when I read up on Outward and what they do, it spoke to me because on a personal level it’s always something I tried to do with my daughter.
It has been extremely rewarding for me to see that we employ people we support as co-trainers or quality checkers. It is important because they’re involved in the training we do with our colleagues, to understand the way they see things. They’re also involved in welcome days for new people that join us and they visit services to complete quality checks to make sure that the services are doing all that they need to do to enable and empower them.
At Outward I have a better work-life balance. It’s quite nice to have flexibility and easy working arrangements, especially when the pandemic hit. They’ve accommodated colleagues on a personal level with what they can do and what they can’t do. As an organisation they’ve made as many accommodations as they can to keep everything running but to support you at the same time. That’s made me feel good about working here because they support you and understand you have a life outside of work, so I think that helps as an organisation."
