We recently held an Everyone Everywhere event in Leicester for staff and people who draw on our support in the area. Present on the day was a young man we support, called James, and someone who works closely with him, Sunday Ifenkwe.
Sunday recorded a brief video sharing his thoughts, which you can see below, and he has kindly agreed to be featured as this month’s Human of MacIntyre.
How numbers and people are linked
We asked Sunday about his background, and were interested to hear he worked as an Accountant for over eight years before coming to MacIntyre. His love of figures and problem solving then led him into audit and investigation. He says:
As an auditor you tend to take your time to examine records and information by other people and when you write your report it either makes or mar them. For me I really love giving the benefit of doubt to people to explain or express themselves as regards the outcome of my report.
Sunday then had a complete career change and started working with MacIntyre in August of 2022. He is now a Senior Support Worker with the Leicester team. He tells us that what he enjoys most about the job is seeing the smile on the faces of people we support every day, knowing he is able to support them in achieving and improving in lots of ways, enjoying life to the fullest.
Starting with small connections
This is particularly true of Sunday’s relationship with James. Sunday has recognised the importance of small connections leading to bigger things and of encouraging people to express themselves.
Part of the reason we thought Sunday’s background in accountancy and audit is so interesting is that ability to look at detail and take time to explore information. Applying that mind-set of curiosity can be as helpful building relationships with humans as it is looking at numbers.
When MacIntyre launched our Everyone Everywhere approach, based on community and making a web of neighbourhood connections, Sunday realised that was what we were already doing instinctively. He says:
We said "Everyone Everywhere, how can we go about that?" We didn't realize at first those are the little things that we do on a daily basis with people we support … I'm sure that you will realise that those little things count.
Encouraging potential
Sunday is honest about the inclination to keep people in secure routines:
We tend to sometimes limit people we support to the things we think they can do, but we forget that they need to be connecting with their environment, they need to be connecting with their society and they can do a lot among the community.
You can watch Sunday’s brief video below. We found it both inspiring and down-to-earth.
Footie and music
Outside of work, Sunday loves football and looks forward to weekends when he can watch his team, Chelsea FC. And music is a big thing for him. He finds it relaxing and can’t go a single day without listening to music.
James's Gloriously Ordinary Life
Here's a short video of James, going about his life, supported by Sunday and his colleagues. You can feel the joy!
More Humans of MacIntyre
Read more Humans of MacIntyre stories below and here, and get a feel for all the varied roles we have at MacIntyre, filled by ordinary but amazing people just like you.
