Seeking
- Speaks: English
- Additional details: Current DBS/CRB check, Full driving license, Use of own transport
About the Client
- Gender: Other
- Age: 25-55
- Location: Newark and Sherwood
- Requires support: Cleaning, Cooking, Transport, Support with Activities
Job Description
Hourly rate: 20
We are looking for a thoughtful, reliable and flexible Personal Assistant to support an adult in their early 30s, who is creative, intelligent and enthusiastic while living independently near family.
The client is autistic and also lives with physical health conditions including EDS and POTS, together with mental-health difficulties. Their support needs can vary considerably from day to day depending on pain, fatigue, sensory overload, energy and general wellbeing.
The right person will be able to provide practical help while also supporting the client with organisation, planning, executive functioning, accessing activities and maintaining independence.
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About the client:
The client is highly creative, curious and largely self-taught in many areas.
Their interests include art, craft, sewing, embroidery, spirituality and a wide range of creative and intellectual subjects.
They enjoy interesting conversation and learning about new things and would particularly value a PA who is curious, open-minded and comfortable engaging with someone who thinks deeply and has a wide range of interests.
The role is about working alongside the client rather than taking over.
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Hours and availability:
The usual requirement is
• Friday, Saturday and Sunday
• Approximately 3 hours per day on average
There may occasionally be a need for a longer day, a full day, or a weekend involving travel or attendance at an event or activity. Where this happens, the additional time would normally be taken from agreed or banked support hours and would be discussed and planned in advance.
The client currently has two other Personal Assistants who normally provide support Monday to Thursday. With prior discussion and agreement, days can sometimes be changed, particularly to accommodate holidays, appointments, events or other commitments.
The role therefore requires someone who can offer a reasonable degree of flexibility while also being clear about their own availability and boundaries.
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Overnight Support and Overnight Travel:
There may occasionally be circumstances where an event, activity or journey involves an overnight stay.
Overnight support is not part of the normal weekly role and would only take place by prior discussion and agreement.
Before any overnight support is undertaken, the arrangements would be agreed clearly, including:
• The purpose and location of the overnight stay.
• Working/support hours.
• Whether the PA is required to provide active support during the night.
• Sleep arrangements.
• Breaks and rest periods.
• Payment arrangements.
• Travel time.
• Accommodation costs.
• Food and other reasonable expenses.
• Emergency arrangements.
• Any impact on the PA's usual working hours before or after the overnight period.
The PA would not be expected to undertake overnight support without prior agreement.
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What might the role involve?
The support required will vary according to the client's health, energy, activities and priorities. It may include:
• Cleaning and household tasks, sometimes working alongside the client when they are able to participate.
• Washing up and kitchen tasks.
• Putting away clean laundry. Laundry itself is currently undertaken externally.
• Shopping.
• Cooking and meal preparation alongside the client.
• Helping with post, emails, paperwork and general administration.
• Supporting organisation and planning within the home.
• Helping the client organise tasks, information, appointments and activities.
• Supporting projects and special interests, including art, craft, sewing and embroidery.
• Supporting the client to prepare for and attend appointments and meetings.
• Accompanying the client to activities, events or other agreed outings.
• Helping with communications where the client would like support, including communicating with organisations or professionals with the client's knowledge and agreement.
• Providing reminders and practical support around self-care and wellbeing. The client is independently able to wash and dress.
• Supporting transitions between activities or tasks, particularly where the client is experiencing cognitive overload, pain, fatigue or overwhelm.
• Helping the client pace activities and recognise when tasks may need to be broken down, changed, postponed or approached differently.
• Providing practical support during periods when physical symptoms, fatigue or mental-health difficulties temporarily reduce the client's ability to manage usual daily tasks.
Not all of these tasks would be undertaken during every shift. The role needs to remain responsive to what the client requires on a particular day.
Not all of these tasks will be required during every shift. Some days may involve practical household support, while others may involve planning, administration, attending an activity or simply helping the client work through tasks that have become difficult or overwhelming.
The role does not routinely involve personal care or lifting. The client is able to wash and dress independently but may sometimes benefit from reminders, encouragement, pacing and practical support around wellbeing and daily routines.
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Approach to the Role:
The overall purpose of the PA role is to enable the client to live as independently and fully as possible, rather than simply doing things for them.
There will be times when the client needs direct practical assistance and other times when the most useful support will be helping them organise their thoughts, plan something, begin a task, manage a transition, attend an activity, work through something that feels overwhelming or simply work alongside another person.
The client is an intelligent and creative adult with their own interests, views, choices and preferred ways of doing things. The PA therefore needs to be comfortable working collaboratively and adapting their support accordingly.
The aim is to promote autonomy, choice, independence, participation and quality of life.
A family member currently acts as the client’s appointee and will initially be the main contact regarding applications, recruitment arrangements, payments/invoices and other administrative matters.
The aim, however, is for the PA to develop a positive and respectful working relationship directly with the client.
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Confidentiality, Privacy and Boundaries:
The PA will have access to personal information concerning the client's health, home, appointments and private life.
They will therefore be expected to maintain appropriate confidentiality and respect the client's privacy.
Information should not normally be shared with family members, professionals or other people without the client's knowledge and agreement, except where:
• The client has specifically authorised the PA to do so.
• The PA is carrying out an agreed administrative task.
• There is an immediate and serious safeguarding or safety concern.
• Disclosure is otherwise required by law.
The PA will also need to maintain appropriate professional boundaries while recognising that this is a highly personalised support relationship.
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Rate of pay:
The hourly rate will be discussed and agreed in person.
As an indication, the expected rate is approximately £20–£25 per hour, depending upon experience and the nature and responsibilities of the role.
Arrangements concerning longer days, travel time, mileage, expenses and any overnight support will be agreed separately and clearly before such work is undertaken.
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Driving is essential for this role.
The PA may sometimes need to transport the client to appointments, activities or events. Depending on the arrangements agreed, use of your own vehicle may be required.
You will therefore need:
• A full valid driving licence.
• Appropriate insurance if using your own vehicle for work purposes.
• A safe and legally roadworthy vehicle.
Mileage and other agreed travel expenses will be reimbursed according to the arrangements agreed before starting.
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Physical Considerations:
The client currently lives in a flat accessed by steep stairs, so applicants need to be physically able to manage these safely
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Suitable applicants will normally be asked to provide two references, ideally including a recent employer, client, professional contact or other person who can comment on their reliability and suitability for the role.
Where possible, at least one reference should relate to previous employment or work involving:
• Disabled adults.
• Neurodivergent adults.
• Personal assistance.
• Social care.
• Support work.
• Education, health or a related role.
Where an applicant has extensive relevant life experience but limited formal employment history, this can be discussed rather than automatically excluding them from consideration.
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The PA should:
• Be able to drive.
• Be physically able to manage the steep stairs leading to the client's flat.
• Be able to cook and support the client with meal preparation. The client has specific dietary requirements and requires a gluten-free diet.
• Have good communication and interpersonal skills.
• Be able to take complex, confusing or overwhelming tasks and help break them down into clear, manageable steps.
• Be able to provide support without unnecessarily taking over tasks that the client can undertake themselves.
• Be comfortable adapting support according to the client's levels of pain, fatigue, sensory overload, physical symptoms and mental wellbeing on a particular day.
• Be able to remain calm, patient and flexible when plans need to change.
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Experience and Understanding
Ideally, the PA will have experience of supporting neurodivergent and disabled adults.
In particular, it would be helpful to have:
• A good understanding of autism/ASC, including sensory processing differences, executive functioning difficulties, social overload, communication differences and periods of overwhelm.
• Experience of working with autistic adults.
• Some knowledge or experience of physical disability and fluctuating health conditions, particularly EDS and POTS, or a willingness to learn about their practical effects.
• An understanding of anxiety, depression and other mental-health difficulties.
• Experience of supporting someone through periods of change, reduced functioning, fatigue or difficult life circumstances.
• An understanding that disability and support needs can fluctuate considerably from day to day.
Formal knowledge is useful, but the ability to listen to the client, learn how their individual conditions affect them, and adapt support accordingly is equally important.
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Personal Qualities
The client is looking for someone who is:
• Curious and willing to learn new things and share new experiences.
• Comfortable engaging in conversation with someone who is highly intelligent, creative and largely self-taught in many areas of interest.
• Able to encourage rather than instruct or take control.
• Patient and compassionate.
• Reliable and able to communicate clearly.
• Flexible in their approach while respecting the client's choices and independence.
• Comfortable working collaboratively rather than adopting a parent/carer or supervisory role.
• Respectful of the client's spirituality. The PA does not need to be spiritual themselves.
• Accepting and respectful of LGBTQ+ people.
The client has no preference regarding the gender or sexual orientation of their PA.
A good relationship, mutual respect and compatibility between the client and their PA will be particularly important.
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Interested?
If this sounds like a role that might suit you, please get in touch with a little information about:
• Yourself.
• Your relevant experience.
• Your experience or understanding of autism/neurodivergence.
• Your availability.
• Whether you drive and have access to a vehicle.
• Why you think this particular PA role might suit you.
Contact details will be provided on application. Initial contact by email or text is preferred rather than telephone.