Our latest Humans of MacIntyre story features Tracy Staniforth from Chesterfield.
As the area Administrator, Tracy is the lynchpin keeping everything we do across our Derbyshire locations running smoothly.
A lot of changes
Tracy has been in this role for an impressive 35 years and has seen a lot of changes. When she first joined, she had never worked with people who have a learning disability, but she did have good administrative experience and one day by chance saw the vacancy.
At the time, there was just one large day centre supporting people, and as the new Administrator, that was where Tracy was based. Thinking back to those early days, Tracy admits it was overwhelming to start, and she spent the first three weeks exhausted, going straight to bed after work, not sure if she was actually going to go in the next day. Then something ‘clicked’ and she’s never looked back.
Since then, there have been a lot of changes in Derbyshire, with several smaller learning hubs being developed, which are all a hive of activity. Tracy now works from an office located at the Chesterfield Football Club Stadium, but gets out and about visiting the learning hubs, carrying out audits, attending meet and greets for new employees and whatever else is needed.
Enjoying the variety
Tracy says what she enjoys most is the variety of the role. At the moment, the biggest proportion of her work is supporting the recruitment of new staff, carrying out all the pre-employment checks needed in a heavily regulated sector.
Building relationships
When we asked what Tracy does in her spare time, she laughed and said “What spare time?” She has three children, the youngest of whom is disabled. Her oldest child has just made her a grandparent.
Tracy does find time to enjoy a number of crafts though, and often brings activities in to the learning hubs to share. After all, she’s known many of the people we support in Chesterfield for decades, and it’s important to her to keep those relationships going.
Thanks to Tracy for all her hard work over the years and for sharing her Humans of MacIntyre story.
