Maxine Jenkins
R.G.N., R.H.V., B.Sc. ,B.A., Queens nurse
Beaumont Leys Health Centre, Leicester
I qualified as a health visitor in 1997 and for the last 16 years have worked in the area of inclusion health. I worked for 4 years in Hinckley a small county town with homeless families, 4 years in Leicester working with families seeking asylum and housed in Leicester and for the last 7 years with families facing homelessness in Leicester City. During this time I have had opportunity to develop projects such as a bus project providing play space and education for families in temporary accommodation, a directory of services that acted as a spring board for agencies to start to work together to support families I the local area, the development of a support group for parents seeking asylum, a survey of homeless families views of the services and an audit of homeless families nutrition. I consider myself very fortunate to have ben enabled to work alongside families during a period of great difficulty and to also have received such great support from the Queens Nurse Institute to develop my skills.