Be Organised
There are so many things to arrange before you leave home that you need to be extremely well organised. Write lists of what you must do and tick off each item when it has been done to make sure you do not forget anything.
Have separate, labelled folders to keep paperwork in good order. Have a notebook in which you record all important information such as passport number, credit or debit card number (and the card company’s emergency telephone number for lost cards), driving licence number, bank account number and contact details for family, friends and work. For obvious reasons, you must keep this in a secure place. Leave a copy with your family.
A spiral-bound notepad with tear off pages is very useful for short to medium term information. Remember to put a pencil or ballpoint pen through the spiral.
Plan Ahead
Be clear why you want to do care work in the UK and whether, if all goes well, you would go again or even develop a pattern of visits say, three months caring and then one at home. This will help you to focus on the practicalities of leaving home, such as:
- Who is going to look after the house and garden?
- Payments for house purchase and hire purchase must be maintained.
- How are important bills such as school fees, health and other insurances, going to be paid?
- How will bills for utilities (water, gas, telephone, TV) and community taxes be paid?
- Who is to look after your pets, elderly relatives, children (or even your husband) in your absence?
- What about your car?
- Will your credit card bills, perhaps with items charged in the UK, be paid?
- How will you handle your banking in the UK? Will you need to open an offshore account?
- How are you going to keep in contact, by email, mobile phone or land line?
- Will there be income tax, or other bills to be paid.
Bookings
Because many Carers from Africa and Australia prefer to be in the UK during the warmer times of year (May to September) there may be fewer opportunities then than in the colder months (October to April). Also, there are generally fewer opportunities for male Carers.
Be aware that applications for passport renewal, copies of birth certificate(s), visa (if required), Police Record Checks etc. are not always processed as rapidly as you might anticipate:
If you are working, do not resign from your job too early.
Do not make travel bookings until you are certain that you will have received all the documentation.
Travel
Direct flights to London (especially from South Africa) are often more expensive than flights which require changing planes in another country. However, you must decide whether the hassle of changing planes at, for example, Rome (Alitalia), Paris (Air France) or Dubai (Emirates), is really worth the saving.
You will be keen to start work as soon as possible, so you should plan your arrival in the UK to give you the best chance of an early placement and yet allow time to make practical arrangements. Carers change assignments on any day of the week but Fridays and Mondays seem to be the most popular. Try to avoid arriving just before UK public holidays (“bank holidays”) when the Agency’s office will be closed as this will prolong the time before your first assignment.
Induction interview
You will normally have an interview at the Agency to register, to complete formalities and, in some cases, undergo training.
Before making the appointment for your interview, decide whether or not to have it on the same day as your arrival in the UK. You will not be at your best after a long flight and may prefer to spend the rest of that day relaxing at your B&B, telling folk of your safe arrival and getting acclimatised, and then to go to your interview the following day.
Practicalities, such as buying a mobile phone, organising your banking and trying to find out about the UK scene, will take some time, too.
Accommodation
Your Live-in Care Agency or your Recruitment Agent may be willing to arrange accommodation for your first few days in the UK or they may have a list of B&Bs that you can contact yourself. Unless you are intending to stay with friends or relatives after your interview at the Agency, you should plan for a two week stay at a B&B before your first assignment, see “Into Caring/ Essentials/Money”.
Communications
As you are going to be away from home, probably in unfamiliar surroundings, you will be keen to let family and friends how you are getting on and to keep up with their news.
Make a note of the addresses and phone numbers of everybody you may wish to contact, especially those in the UK. Remember that your international numbers will have to be modified when you call them from within the UK. For example:
From South Africa, the number: 0944 1234 567890 becomes, within the UK: 01234 567890
i.e. the international exchange code (“09” in this example) and the country code (“44” for UK) are omitted and a zero is added at the front of the area code. When you are calling home from the UK, the international exchange code is “00”.
Set up an email account. You will only be able to access the internet during your breaks, unless you have a laptop computer and a contract with a mobile phone company for a 3G modem or data card which will give you access in most areas.
A cell phone (“mobile”) is essential, not only to keep in touch with family and friends but also to make sure the Agency can contact you as soon as there is a possible assignment.
Should you already have a mobile phone, do not forget to pack the charger as well as an adaptor for UK sockets. You will probably have to buy a new SIM card in the UK and, if you do, remember to ask the shop if it will transfer all the data from your old card to your new one to save you the trouble of having to enter it all again manually. Write the number of your new mobile phone on a label and stick it onto the back of the phone: this is so much easier than having to find your number in the phone’s contact list (assuming you have entered it!).
Like teenagers, Carers often use SMS (“texting”) to communicate because it is so much cheaper than phoning.