A Child and Youth Care Worker for 23 years, Helen has worked at Kibble every Christmas Day since 2002.
Helen is part of Kibble’s Housing Support service. She is a consistent, familiar and friendly face to care-experienced young people who are about to live independently for the first time. She makes sure they settle into their new house, offering tips on how to cook, budget and keep the place clean. With Helen’s support, young people feel proud to call their new place their own.
Helen has a calming presence and nurturing nature, which naturally puts young people at ease. She gives them her undivided attention, taking the time to explain the reasoning of any decision or piece of advice given.
Helping others is where Helen finds purpose. She considers people’s feelings all-year-round and gives them a reason to smile every day. The busy festive season is no different and Helen’s thoughtfulness, kind spirit and warm personality thrives in December.
Helen explains her career at Kibble has never felt like work, even on Christmas Day: Over the years of being at Kibble, whether I have been in a residential children’s house or part of Housing Support visiting young adults in their own house, Christmas Day is another day I’m there for young people who need me.”
She wants to make the season special for everyone: “To me, there needs to be magic at Christmas. On the 24th December, there needs to be Christmas jammies, Christmas movies and the smell of Christmas dinner prep in the air.
“The next day begins with waking up to French toast before opening presents.”
Reflecting on the past, Helen believes the priority is to offer steady support at all times: “I remember one year, one young person being overwhelmed with the big emotions and high expectations that can come at Christmas time. However, I take the time to try and help them voice their feelings and dedicate time to talk things through and reassure them that together, we can find a solution that’ll make things better.”
As December 2025 approaches, Helen describes how she’ll be spending her 24th Christmas at Kibble: “This year, I’m supporting a young person who loves reading. She is always telling me about her latest new book. I’ll see her on Christmas Day to have breakfast, open presents and check on the turkey dinner plans.”
Helen goes above and beyond to be a constant in young people’s lives, being there for them during happy and challenging times, building trusting relationships and giving young people someone they can turn to.
A key responsibility of Helen’s essential job role is to guide young people when needed, but most importantly, she hopes to empower young people to feel confident in making their own positive and healthy choices. Sometimes life lessons are best learned first-hand and Helen is always there, not to say “I told you so” but to inspire resilience and help young people see they’re capable of creating a bright and fulfilling life.
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