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The Guardian - Back to homeThe Guardian

My working week

This series gives the lowdown on what it's really like working in public services. If you would like your job to be featured, contact[email protected]

21 December 2020

  • A woman waits in the shadows

    My working week: ‘I wonder who buys sex from the vulnerable women I try to help’

    I support women who sell sex on the streets. Coronavirus has made life harder and has had terrible consequences

14 December 2020

  • ‘Minor changes make a big difference for disabled people.’

    My working week: 'Julie is disabled and the only one in her team made redundant'

    I work to support disabled people to find employment. The coronavirus pandemic has led to a massive increase in people seeking help

7 December 2020

  • GPs have had to adapt patient care during the pandemic.

    My working week: 'A patient arrives at my GP surgery with Covid symptoms'

    Working as a GP in a deprived part of the UK has its challenges, particularly during this pandemic

30 November 2020

  • ‘Faith feels lost after the removal of her children. So much of what she knows about herself is as a mother.’ Picture posed by model.

    My working week: 'Fiona's son was taken into care a year ago. Today is his birthday'

    I work with mothers who have had their children removed, often because of domestic violence and mental health issues

12 October 2020

  • A school classroom

    My working week: 'A pupil has OCD and is terrified of people in masks'

    Return to school after lockdown is difficult for the children I help with special educational needs and disabilities

5 October 2020

  • A hand clutching a wad of notes

    My working week: 'One woman is forced to pay off debts with sexual favours'

    The past six months in my job working to help people targeted by loan sharks have been busier because of the pandemic

14 September 2020

  • A woman, upset, sits on a sofa

    My working week: 'I cry after hearing one domestic abuse survivor's story. She is lucky to be alive'

    My job is to make women who suffer domestic violence safer. I wonder if they know how I wish I could do more

7 September 2020

  • A man sleeps in a doorway

    My working week: 'Jakub has been sleeping rough for 10 days. I threaten the council with legal action'

    I am a housing solicitor and am forever appalled by the obstacles put in the way of the young people I work with

24 August 2020

  • Food bank

    My working week: 'I advise a client on universal credit who can't pay their bills or support their kids'

    I listen to clients in impossible situations every day but, as a debt advisor for Citizens Advice, I can usually help

27 July 2020

  • call handler

    My working week: 'I'm on the phone for eight hours to an elderly woman who has had a fall'

    I’m an emergency call operator at a monitoring service for vulnerable people. It’s frustrating and life-affirming all at once

13 July 2020

  • Exhausted mother with laundry basket

    My working week: 'A worried mother calls me – her domestic abuser has broken his court order'

    Adapting to a new lifestyle during lockdown has taken a mental toll on some of the families I work with

6 July 2020

  • A sign requesting people stay two metres apart in a supermarket window

    My working week: 'I worried I'd passed on Covid-19 to a woman I was supporting'

    Lockdown has been tough for those I help with mental health problems and learning disabilities. People have been lonely

22 June 2020

  • A volunteer works to sort food and create food parcels for those in need

    My working week: 'When I see kids so excited to eat again, I know how vital my food bank is'

    It’s a tragedy we’re needed at all, but I’m proud of how my team has adapted to the Covid-19 pandemic

15 June 2020

  • Exterminating a bed bug infestation

    My working week: 'A council tenant has bedbugs and is suicidal'

    Isolation is difficult at the best of times, but for our vulnerable tenants, the coronavirus lockdown has made things worse

8 June 2020

  • Foster children are already survival experts, but the coronavirus crisis is testing everyone’s limits.

    My working week: 'Lockdown has shattered my autistic foster child's world'

    Life during Covid-19 is challenging for foster carers but our children’s ability to relearn trust is a beacon of hope

25 May 2020

  • ‘Patients are very understanding of us arriving in masks, goggles, aprons and gloves.’ (stock photo)

    My working week: 'If I take a patient to hospital, it could save them. But it might kill them'

    As a paramedic I’m working harder than ever, and constantly double-guessing whether to risk exposing patients to Covid-19

18 May 2020

  • Children waiting to return into their natural family, to be adopted.

    My working week: 'I see children waiting longer to be adopted in the wake of coronavirus'

    Adoption assessments are continuing despite the lockdown but the pandemic has thrown up all sorts of challenges

11 May 2020

  • A police car at Bournemouth beach

    My working week: 'A 999 caller is hiding from someone with a shotgun'

    We get lots of enquiries about physical distancing, and there are more calls about mental health and domestic violence

4 May 2020

  • Domestic violence

    My working week: 'I want domestic abuse victims to know the police can still help'

    We are also doing work around early releases of prisoners, answering people’s questions about lockdown and more

27 April 2020

  • Drugs and drug-taking equipment.

    My working week: 'I worry about giving a drug user a week's worth of methadone'

    The coronavirus pandemic has affected our drug and alcohol services and those we are trying to help
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