“Meet The Team” – Support Worker Tom

This week’s ‘Meet the Team’ quiz fell upon Tom!

Tom is a member of our support team, as well as a teacher, who has a key role in supporting our tenants!

Tell us a bit about yourself… (brief introduction)?

I have lived in Bristol for eight years since graduating from university in 2007.  I have worked with various refugee organisations in the city and have been with ACH for two years.

Tell us about your job?

I am a support worker working directly with around 35 tenants at any one time.  I support tenants with employment, immigration issues and education, amongst other things.  I also work as part of the training team, delivering the English My Way programme (a pre-entry ESOL course).

What do you like about ACH and why?

I love having the opportunity to work with people (both other staff and tenants) from all over the world and find out about their experiences.  Supporting people from a refugee background and making a positive difference in their lives is incredibly rewarding and allows me to do something worthwhile every day.

What’s your favourite thing to do outside of work?

I love reading, particularly fiction, poetry and philosophy.  I also write myself and am currently trying to finish a novel that I have been working on for the last three or so years.

What was the best thing that happened to you this past week?

Recently I have had a couple of successful family reunion applications.  Seeing how happy tenants are after seeing their partners and children for the first time in over a year and being part of making this happen is one of the best parts of the job.

If you woke up as an animal, what animal would you choose to be and why?

I would like to be a different human being.  It would be amazing to be able to find out if other people’s experience of reality is the same as my own.

If you could live anywhere on this planet, and take everything that you love with you, where would you choose to live?

I really enjoy living in Bristol, however, I have friends and family who live in various other parts of the country/world.  It would be great if they all moved here so I could see them with greater regularity!

What is your favourite place to visit in the world?

There is a beach in Cornwall called Godrevy which I visited often as a child.  It is National Trust maintained, and to get there you have to climb down some rocks which helps prevent it from becoming overly busy.  I have many happy memories playing cricket on the beach and swimming in the sea.

Thank you very much Tom!

Next week we will be interviewing a member of staff from the Birmingham office, see you then!