Ex-soldier turned care worker says he has 'never felt more fulfilled'

Taking part in army manoeuvres in the former Yugoslavia and abseiling down the side of oil rigs were all part of Alex Jones' adrenaline-inducing jobs but now with a new career as a care worker, he says it is “mentally and physically challenging" but he has "never felt more fulfilled”.

Following a knee injury that saw his career in the army finish, Mr Jones found himself moving in with his grandad where he became a full-time carer and says this experience helped to nudge him along the path to being a care worker for Balhousie Care Group at the Alastrean Care Home in Tarland, Aberdeenshire.

Mr Jones said: “I spent 26 months living with my grandad after my gran passed away. I was his sole carer and it was a full-time job. I’d never really spent any longer than a couple of hours with him and now I was washing him, feeding him.

“He was an old style gentleman with a lot of dignity. It was hard for him and for me. But in the end, that time was special. We had a bond that I’d never ever have had otherwise.”

Mr Jones then became an oil rig rope access technician. “It’s basically abseiling from the top of the rig down the sides and carrying out repairs that no one else can get to. It takes a certain sort of person to hang 30 feet up in the air on a bit of rope over the North Sea.”

Mr Jones was made redundant from the rigs in May 2021 and with a daughter, partner and stepdaughter to help support, he needed to be back working as soon as he could.

’I see that glint in their eye and it melts me’

But it was his auntie, who works in the care sector that told him Alastrean Care Home was hiring and urged him to apply.

“She described it as the crème de la crème of care homes and she’s right,” he says. He applied and started as a care assistant within the month.

Even though the hours are long and his commute from Aberdeen to the remote village of Tarland is an hour each way, Mr Jones says he “never wants to leave”. Mr Jones works Mondays to Thursdays, at Balhousie Alastrean so he can spend time with his family at the weekends.

Mr Jones says the best thing about his job is the residents. “It’s getting to see a smile on someone’s face when the smiles may be few and far between. I see that glint in their eye and I’m happy. It melts me.”

He is known affectionately as “Big Sandy” to residents at the care home and always finds a way to connect even with the most challenging personalities.

“We have one resident who is ex Merchant Navy. He can be angry and grumpy sometimes. I started knocking on his door and asking ‘Permission to come aboard, sir?’ It makes all the difference to his mood.”

’I’ve never felt more fulfilled’

Mr Jones also like the team he works with. He says: “I have three nurses I work with who have supported me, made me stronger and made me want to do more.

“When I’m doubting myself, they pick me up and tell me ‘Just be all you can be, that’s all you can do’. Plus, I feel lucky to be part of a team that wants to make a difference to the home and goes above and beyond. You feel appreciated, the fact the manager asks your opinion and to help with things.”

Mr Jones’ experience of caring for his grandad has shaped his approach to his job.

“Now I just expect carers to have the same respect for care home residents as I had for him. That person is someone’s mum and granny and I know how I would feel if I was ever in a home, I’d want to be treated with the same respect.”

Mr Jones is already considering how he can progress up the ladder to a more senior care role, or perhaps into nursing.

He says it’s “one of the hardest jobs I’ve ever had, mentally and physically challenging but in different ways than the army or working offshore was. I’ve never felt more fulfilled.”

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