Colleague Spotlight: Marina Phillips

Our Colleague Spotlight feature is on Marina Phillips who is one of our Community Support Workers at Surrey Choices. Read her interview below to learn about her goals, memorable moments, and much more!

How long have you worked at Surrey Choices?

I have been with Surrey Choices for three and a half years.

What is your biggest motivation each day?

Seeing the people I support enjoy their activities, when someone I support trusts me or listens to my guidance on something, I think that is a real privilege.

What is a personal goal of yours for 2023?

To perform my first comedy show at Camden Fringe and to keep improving my practice as a trainer.

What has been your most memorable moment at work?

Seeing people grow who a year or so ago would not have progressed. For example more people going out into the community who would never have gone out before.

How have you been able to support colleagues with your Mental Health First Aider (MHFA) Training?

I think this training has helped me to stop giving advice! Most of the time people already know what they need – they just need the right environment to discover this for themselves. This has helped me to give people a space to work things out for themselves.

What does it mean to be a Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) Lead?

This means making sure we meet the needs of people who may be acting in challenging ways, so that we can improve their quality of life and give staff the tools to do this too!

How does this make a difference to the people you are supporting?

People with complex needs can receive the support they need and learn new skills, such as given extra space or sensory activities so that they can learn a new skill.

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