Care worker's mum inspired him 'to keep going'

Billy Aston-Wright gave up his job as a teaching assistant and became a care worker, after seeing the compassion and dedication of the care workers who look after his mum.

As a child, Mr Aston-Wright was diagnosed with autism: “I went to a special needs school, where they inspired me and pushed me to do certain things.”

However, the encouragement to carry on has always been from his mum. He said: “My mum has been a big inspiration to me to keep me going. She has had to overcome obstacles in her time, and I saw how hard she worked. I didn’t want my disability holding me back and that has inspired me to keep going.”

So when a job advert appeared for Caremark (Redcar and Cleveland), ‘he jumped at the chance’ to become a care worker at the same company that cares for his mum.

Mr Aston-Wright told homecare.co.uk: “My mum has been using Caremark for years and they have impressed me a lot, so I wanted an opportunity to work with them.

“Mum has always been very complimentary about the care she receives from Caremark and I saw it myself when the carers were in our home, so when the opportunity to become a carer myself arose, I jumped at the chance.

“I’ve seen how they are with my mum and I have so much respect for them. It’s a great company to work for because you get fantastic training and ongoing support and it’s like being part of one big family.”

’He is a passionate young lad who wants to give back’

When he left school, Mr Aston-Wright enrolled on a childcare course at Redcar and Cleveland College. After college he became a qualified support worker before working as a teaching assistant back in his old school, helping children with autism and special needs. “I ended up doing childcare and then I wanted to work with people with special needs and youth and support work.”

Mr Aston-Wright still volunteers at a local youth centre and been asked by his old employer Creative Thinking Resource and Arts Centre in Redcar to do a talk to the local council about his special needs. He said: “They want me to talk about autism with how it affects me and how it can help other people. This has given me so much confidence which has helped me in my new job.”

Caremark manager Michelle Jackson said: “Billy’s main role before coming here was caring for people with learning disabilities with autism. He is a passionate young lad who wants to give back.

“Billy said he wanted to work for Caremark and came for the interview. This is a different level working with the elderly and Caremark has put another string to his bow. He knows how much we support the carers and what the supervisors do to support. He is very caring and his passion and commitment is wonderful. He’s so good. He is really enjoying it.”

Mr Aston-Wright’s mum, Tam, said: “I am thrilled that William has chosen to become a carer. He has lots of passion and enthusiasm for it and he always comes home from work happy, which says it all.”

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