My name is Ollie and I have been at IC24 since May 2018, starting as an overnight 111 Health Advisor based in our Ashford Contact Centre. The attraction of coming to work for IC24 was my caring nature and love of helping people, and being able to work within a healthcare setting supporting our patients and really making a difference at a time when it was needed most was the biggest draw, and a role that I still hold close to my heart.

Due to a change in my personal circumstances, I applied for and was successful in being appointed as an IT Administrator, which enabled me to work Monday to Friday, supporting a better work-life balance and allowing me to have regular set days with my children. The IT Admin role gave me exposure to a different side of IC24. Whilst I was no longer on the front line, the roles of all of our support teams really make a difference and, as part of this, I found an unexpected passion for Data Protection and Information Governance. I was supported in completing a Level 4 Apprenticeship as an Information Governance and Data Protection Practitioner and, as part of my apprenticeship, completed my Foundational Skills Level 2 in Maths (a GCSE C grade or level 4–9 equivalent in the modern system) at the tender age of 38.

As part of really caring and wanting to make improvements, I found a passion for our people and how we can make IC24 a better place to work for all colleagues, and I joined our Employee Network ViP (Values in Practice) as Deputy Chair in 2021. The group has evolved in that time to be known as Link24, and one of my proudest achievements was being part of the team that aligned all of our colleague-led groups (Link24, CRGs, TRIM, FTSU and Wellbeing) to form the Employee Alliance, a steering group to promote collaborative working with the intention of ensuring that all our colleagues have a voice and are fairly represented.

As part of the Employee Alliance, Listening into Action (LiA) was born, a programme designed to ensure that the people at the heart of what we do for all of the communities we serve not only have a voice but can see tangible change being implemented off the back of their listening. I have had the great honour of working full time as the LiA Lead since March 2025, working with senior leaders across the organisation to provide support within priority projects and ongoing workstreams, ensuring that colleague feedback and suggested improvements are considered and, where feasible, implemented. The role has come with many challenges as, in a fast-paced environment like IC24, priorities can often change, with new contracts or legislation forcing change quicker than we would like. Being able to support tangible change in the midst of an organisation restructure has provided many obstacles.

Working for an organisation that not only wants to hear the views of its people but wants to empower us all to be part of the solution is exciting and, for me, sets IC24 apart from any organisation that I have worked for previously. There have been many positive changes within the last 12 months, and seeing how these changes reflect the views of our colleagues is extremely rewarding, although I feel we can still improve and ensure the colleague voice can grow further and be even more instrumental in all change processes moving forward.

IC24 has some of the most passionate, caring and hard-working colleagues that I have ever met. So many colleagues highlight that it is the people we work with that make IC24 such a brilliant place to work, and I feel this is highlighted by the fact that I am very fortunate to have met my amazing wife through working at IC24. For me, IC24 has provided not only a great professional outlook on life but a personal one too.

If I had to summarise my role as the LiA Lead into three words, I would use Empowering, Influential and Collaborative.

When I’m not focused on my day-to-day work, you’ll find me wrestling under the alter ego 2Tone! competing at a local level, where I currently hold one of the championship belts!