“Helping people to live a more fulfilling life is tremendously rewarding. I have seen much suffering in my own country so if I can make a difference to my service users in a positive way and help lift people’s spirits then that’s all I need to make me happy in life!” These are the words of Mehdi Mohseni, Care Newcomer finalist at this year’s Great British Care Awards.
Mehdi joined the Adult Social Care sector earlier this year, where he successfully landed a job at Merit Homecare as a domiciliary Care Assistant. He impressed judges at the care award interviews with his lovely nature, his values and his background story.
Originally from Iran, Mehdi moved to the UK to create a safer life for himself. He had witnessed much hardship and suffering and decided he would like to give back to the community around him. Living in Iran has shaped and influenced Mehdi in numerous ways. He wouldn’t change his upbringing for the world and greatly appreciates the life his family curated for him; however, he saw travelling to the UK as an opportunity to grow and enrich his own life. He misses his mum and sister and stays in touch with them regularly but nonetheless he said he has no plans to move back to Iran in a hurry.
Mehdi has been employed with Merit Homecare now since the beginning of April this year, and although he doesn’t have direct care experience, his thoughtful and compassionate soul is certainly making a positive impact within the company and is contributing massively to the service Merit Homecare are providing.
Previously Mehdi worked in catering for over 20 years in a large department store and felt he had reached a point where he wasn’t getting much job satisfaction from his role. He decided he would like to change his career to something where he would feel more rewarded, satisfied and which would enhance the quality of his own life.
Little did Mehdi know when he attended an industry awareness workshop at Newcastle city library that this would soon change the course of his career. Present at the event was Wendy Adams, from Skills for Care and Sarah Jones a Recruitment Officer at Merit Homecare. Mehdi quickly impressed both ladies and even though he didn’t have any experience in care they both identified him as having the right qualities to work in the industry. Mehdi was invited to Merit Homecare the next day for an interview where he successfully landed his dream job!
Both Sarah and Wendy described Mehdi as ‘A kind, considerate soul’, and are delighted that he chose to join social care. They are even more proud that he has since been shortlisted as a finalist for the Great British Care Awards in the Care Newcomer category.
Mehdi has already been awarded ‘Star of the Month’ by Merit Homecare to congratulate him for his hard work and contribution to care. Service users and office staff alike, have nothing but praise for Mehdi, as Sasha House, Registered Manager at Merit observes, ‘’His commitment to our service users’ personal choice is admirable. He always goes above and beyond for each of his clients, he’s extremely tentative and very thorough in his work. He treats all with an individual respectful approach and continually demonstrates that he puts others before himself. He cooks a full English breakfast if someone desires, plans his time effectively and efficiently in people’s homes, has excellent communication with the office staff, and is having a big influence over the positive quality of service users lives and their living conditions.
We are all so proud of him and what he is continually achieving.”
Ever humble, Mehdi says, “I am grateful for the support and belief of the Merit Management team, who have enabled me to pursue a job where I feel so much reward” Merit Homecare believe that his story is a great example of the positive difference that one person can make to the lives of many.
