Paula Keegan has worked for JLR for a staggering 19 years, in that time she has found herself in a number of HR roles and is currently working in the case management team.
Paula has really found Care for Carers (CfC) a great source of support, the network is one of newest networks at Jaguar Land Rover, and provides support, advice and information to and for Carers. Paula shares her experience with us below…
CfC is a newly created network and Paula shared it seemed to come just at the right time for her. Paula’s mum sadly passed away 13 years ago, leaving her dad to live alone. He recently had a fall leaving him needing a knee replacement, along with this and other health issues it meant Paula and her sisters needed to become carers for him.
At the same time, Paula’s daughter was also diagnosed with Autism and Attention Deficit Disorder which left Paula realising all of a sudden that she is a carer, telling us: “when you’re a carer you never get to clock off, it’s a never-ending job, you finish your day job, and you’re straight into doing other things, whether that’s cooking meals, shopping, making appointments, or just worrying, there always seems to be something you need to do!”
CfC is a great opportunity for people who find themselves caring for others to get together, share their experiences, share where they have found support and also to support each other. The group can also raise awareness with the business, talk about their struggles, how the business can help and how they can get help juggling everything they need to do.
Paula shared with us: “We spend time caring for other people, but we also need to care for ourselves. We sometimes need to put ourselves first and seek out support, so that we can do the best for those that we care for. We have a great opportunity working here to do that, with this network, to unite together, help each other and to get support from the business.”
If you’d like to get involved or support this network, please contact Paula for further information: pkeegan7@jagaurlandrover.com.