International Women’s Day – Jennifer Allan, Service Administrator
Jennifer Allan is a Service Administrator at Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust. For International Women’s Day Jennifer shares her career journey and some of the challenges she has had to overcome along the way.
Tell us about your role and what you do
“I am Jennifer Allan and I have worked in the NHS for almost eight years. Currently, I work within the Psychological Skills Development Service as a Service Administrator. Working in the NHS was one of my goals in life because supporting people has always been a passion of mine.
“Previously I worked in the Recruitment Department and after a while, I wanted to push myself to further develop my career. This is when I came across the role I am currently in now, within the Psychological Skills Development Service. My role has given me the freedom and opportunity to use my initiative and innovate for service improvement whilst having inspiring supportive leaders to help me achieve this. Being in this service has given me lots of new skills and has helped me to develop myself as a person and be the strong and confident woman I am today.”
What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
“For me, International Women’s Day is a day for celebrating the wonderful achievements and successes in life that we, as women, can achieve and the barriers that we can overcome. Quite often, we women have fast-paced lives and can lose sight of the strong, powerful individuals we are. There are always lots of roles women play, whether it be the daughter, mother, sister, friend, co-worker etc. and with these, there is the ‘struggle with the juggle’, with all the plate spinning we do to keep things going.
“The last 3 years have taught me a lot about myself, and I am hoping some of you will feel the same too. We have all been through a global pandemic together and managed to make it to the other side. We struggled with losses, the challenges of not seeing our loved ones when we wanted to, working from home, home-schooling the children as well as meeting the demands of the household, and then there is the physical side of being a woman with fluctuating hormones throughout our lives- there certainly is the struggle with the juggle.
“I have learnt that although times are hard and we do have those struggles, we are only human, and our best is always good enough. My personal journey has been tough, however, this helped to make me the kind and compassionate person that I am today. I was a young carer for my mother and helped to support her to get to where she is now. Very recently I lost my father after a short illness. The loss is tough and hurts every day, but life experiences have given me the strength, courage, and determination to continue giving the best I can. On those days when it is difficult to do this, I remind myself that pacing is important to offer myself space and kindness, in the same way I support others to do this for themselves.”