We bid a fond farewell to our Head of Area (Midlands) Renny Wodynska
26 May 2023
5 min read
With our Head of Area (Midlands) Renny Wodynska retiring this week, we look back on her contributions to the social care sector throughout her varied career.
Renny first dipped her toe into the world of social care during her school work experience as part of her O-Levels. She did her work experience at a sheltered scheme for people with visual impairments, and she loved it so much that she ended up working until 10pm when she was only supposed to be there from nine to five.
But social care wasn’t an avenue that her school actively encouraged a career in at that time, and so after school Renny went to university to study Latin. However, she ended up spending most of her time volunteering in the Students Welfare Association. A sign of her love and talent for communicating with and supporting people.
She then switched her degree to study communication studies, mass media, sociology, and psychology.
After that she was looking to volunteer at a day centre, and on the day she went along to see if they needed any volunteers they told her they were actually hiring for a social work assistant – and she got the job.
After a few months, due to job cuts, she had to leave that role and then moved to London. Here, she got a job as a daycare assistant in a day centre and after seven months she was promoted to acting deputy manager.
Renny then decided she wanted to train as a social worker, and got a job with the council working as a residential social worker.
From there she completed her postgraduate degree in social work.
Renny’s number one passion through her career has been working with older people.
After university, she worked for Kingston Social Services. Here she ran a support group for individuals looking after family members with dementia.
This was the 1980s and there was two leading activists in the disability rights movement living in Kingston, they approached the Director of Kingston Social Services and proposed the need for personal budgets – something they’d seen happening in the USA at that time.
Renny was then asked to work on this project to look at introducing direct payments; a project which she says was life-changing. She learned a lot about disability rights from this role, and accompanied her director and others to the Houses of Parliament to lobby for the legislation, which was successfully passed.
Upon moving back to the Midlands, Renny enjoyed a varied career across the social care sector including working for Herefordshire and Worcestershire social services, working as a project manager for home care, and working as Head of the National Care Support Service for a specialist care insurance company.
She then went on to be the National Director for the Rural Stress Information Network, a charity which focused on mental health within the farming industry and rural areas. This role involved working with The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Welsh Assembly Government.
Following this she moved into the role of nominated individual at Bournville Village Trust, running their Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered services, where she stayed for 10 years.
Here, Renny became a Dementia Friend with the Alzheimer's Society and trained all of the staff and the trustees in dementia.
Following that she worked as a registered manager for a short while before joining us here at ÁÕÀÅÊÓƵ, bringing her many years of experience in social care to head up our local Midlands team.
One of Renny’s favourite achievements at ÁÕÀÅÊÓƵ has been setting up the first Nominated Individuals Network.
A highlight for Renny throughout her whole career has been building friendships with colleagues and people who draw on care and support, and she’s still in touch with many of the people she’s met along the way in her different roles within social care.
Speaking of her career in social care Renny says:
I think we're very lucky in this job. If this is the right job, you're going to have a fantastic career. You can dream and achieve whatever you want. You can start off as a gardener or a cook, and you can end up as a director. Whatever you want, you can achieve if your passion is to support people to be their very best version of themselves.
As Renny finishes up at ÁÕÀÅÊÓƵ and begins her well-deserved retirement, her team share a special message for her:
If you’re looking for someone who embodies the values of our sector and models the right behaviours every day Renny Wodynska is a shining example. In the time we’ve worked with her we’ve seen her gentleness and warmth as she sits chatting and talks to people living with dementia; her conscientious response to problems inside and outside our organisation and her willingness to champion her team, our organisation and our partners to bring about positive change.
She’s patient and kind with new or struggling care providers, helping new managers to find their way to lead their service effectively and raise standards. As a manager she's supportive, honest, and open as well as caring. She continually pushes people to achieve their best but with health and wellbeing always at the forefront. She’s compassionate, adopting rescue cats no-one else will take and misting her chickens with cool water in a heatwave.
Renny has a depth and breadth of experience to draw on. She’s worked across private, not for profit and statutory organsations. As a social worker she was involved in the early development of direct payments in Kingston-Upon-Thames, embodying co-production with local people and forging enduring relationships. In rural areas she worked sensitively with farming communities where people felt stigmatised by the impact of stress and poor mental wellbeing. A Brummie at heart, she returned to Birmingham to be a home manager and nominated individual where she supported her team with selflessness but also with the determination and grit to root out poor practice to drive up quality for her residents.
Her knowledge and sector insights are widely respected as one of the team recalls: At my first team meeting we were interrupted when the local care association burst in to present her with an award for her contributions to social care. She is never complacent, each and every day she sets out to increase her knowledge and is always willing to share with others, taking time to discuss and explain.
She values and respects each team member and has helped us navigate the challenges of the last few years - personal and professional. But it’s not just her passion for social care we appreciate. We will sorely miss her quirky humour - who else would bring a hula hoop to a team meeting for the wellbeing slot or send a Monday morning email updating us on the tree creepers in her garden? We will miss her love of music and dancing and her singing Happy Birthday in Polish. We know Renny will not be slowing down when she leaves. She’s currently working on doing the splits.
We are reflecting on all the lives she has touched, the untold difference she will have made to so many people and we will watch with interest to see what she does next. But what a career!
ÁÕÀÅÊÓƵ Midlands Team
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