‘I love learning and developing:’ How Cherianne, our Regulation and Compliance Manager, received a promotion every two years – all at Lifeways!

For someone who began full-time work 18 years ago, Cherianne, a Regulation and Compliance Manager at Lifeways, has a long CV.

But what’s even more surprising is that since Cherianne completed her degree at university, back in 2004, her entire career has been at Lifeways.

Why? “Lifeways has always been kind to me,” says Cherianne.

Cherianne’s CV speaks for itself: back in 2004, Cherianne joined Lifeways as a Support Worker. She then became a Senior Support Worker, Team Leader, Acting Service Manager, Service Manager, Quality Auditor, Quality Audit Manager, a joint role as a Regional Quality Manager and Quality Audit Manager.

Since 2019, she’s been in her current role as a Regulation and Compliance Manager.

These nine job roles mean that on average, Cherianne’s received a promotion at Lifeways every two years. And along the way, she’s been able to see how supporting individuals works at many levels.

‘My job has been very exciting’

“I’ve been comfortable where I am at Lifeways,” she says. “And my job has been very exciting.”

“I like seeing the reward in helping people. That’s the biggest thing for me, and I get to do that a lot with the role that I’m in.”

In her current role, Cherianne ensures that Lifeways’ supported living and residential services meet and exceed regulatory requirements from England’s Care Quality Commission (CQC), and Scotland and Wales’ respective Care Inspectorates.

To do this, Cherianne manages a team of nine individuals. She also works under the leadership of Gareth Roberts, Group Head of Quality, Health and Safety; and Jodie Allen-Cawley, Group Lead Quality Manager.

Cherianne primarily works from her home in Leicester – but her role in visiting services sees her travel across the country regularly.

Although the pandemic restricted most non-essential visits, Cherianne reckons she’s still personally been able to visit about 60 percent of Lifeways’ 1,500 services.

Positive stories

Like most people who support adults living in the community, Cherianne has plenty of positive stories of how people were supported to increase their independence – and have more fun.

“In one service I visited, an individual wanted to go horse riding,” Cherianne recalls.

“With her best interests at heart, the individual’s support team were not certain on how to proceed – and they believed that horse riding might be too dangerous an activity to support the individual to do.”

In response, Cherianne spent time with the support team to work out the details in what she calls ‘positive risk-taking.’

“As a result, that person then went horse riding, and said it was the best thing that they had ever done.”

While visiting a service, Cherianne’s always keen to support local teams with new ideas and ways to make support for individuals better,

“It’s important to showcase the extraordinary support that people are receiving,” she says.

“We are all one team working towards the same outcome, ensuring that people are at the centre of all we do. I enjoy visiting services, meeting people and seeing the difference our support is making to peoples’ lives.”