Thankfully, there is something good to have come out of Covid. Really? Yes - the flexibility of the workplace. Employers now realise that 'working from home' does not mean employees are being lazy or inefficient, in fact in many cases it means the opposite. You really can trust your staff.
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| Our new woodwork shed |
I went to an interview pre-Covid and asked whether home working was a possibility. The Trustee on the panel said 'We give plenty of holiday, home working isn't necessary'. Well, I was gobsmacked, and knew that the Trustee totally didn't understand the reasons or benefits of staff working from home. I wonder if they've changed their tune now?
After just about five years with EAAA, where my contract was home based (but I chose to go into both offices often, to connect with my team), I have had a few months off and now I'm going to help out a charity in London with a maternity cover post.
Travel to London from my home in the woods is at least a two and a half hour journey, so if it wasn't for the option of home working, I wouldn't have taken the job. But it's a great charity, and even though I'll only be there for 10 months, I'm looking forward to making a difference and helping them through unitl the post-holder comes back.
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| We made the workbench |
Meantime my health is great (living with Ripley is no problem at all), and I am probably fitter now than I have been for years. I go to Pilates every week, to an excercise class for post and pre cancer operation fitness, and I've started a swim class too. And, of course, I'm still chopping and shifting wood, making things (like our shed, love our shed!) and walking the dogs.
It's nearly a year since my surgery, and I am here, smiling, looking forward to a new job and enjoying married life. A positive outlook has got me through and I am going to carry on as best I can with that - no matter what.
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Photos (C) Carolyn Tyrrell-Sheppard
