Inspire Magazine - Autumn

Meet our mobile cleaning team...
Kirk Moore leads our mobile cleaning team and is responsible for managing nine operatives
working in our communities to make sure neighbourhoods are clean, tidy, and safe to live in.
We asked Kirk to describe a typical day, and to give us a glimpse of what they do to make sure our neighbourhoods are great
places to live.
Q
What
sort of services do the mobile
cleaning team provide?
“On a day-to-day basis an operative’s job can range from
cleaning areas inside and outside of buildings, to inspecting
communal areas like playgrounds. We’re looking for any
defects on the equipment to make sure it’s safe for people to
use. Then there’s removing offensive graffiti which has to be
done within 24 hours.
We currently provide a mobile cleaning service to 429
communal areas across east and south Manchester, and then
there’s also the service we provide to eight sheltered living
schemes, so we keep nice and busy.”
Q
How does your team get involved
in the community?
“We’ve had members of the team who have been involved in
gardening projects recently, and we’ve been very involved in
setting up parties and events for the sheltered living schemes.
We were recently at Abbey Hey Football Club helping to set
up for a family fun day event. We tend to get involved in a lot
of the neighbourhood events because of the resources we’ve
got like skips and our team have experience in handling large
bulky items.”
Q
What feedback does your team get?
“Through consultations with residents and members of staff
we’ve seen that everyone is really pleased with what we’re
doing.
In 2015 we won Team of the Year at the staff awards and
I couldn’t believe it. I was away in Spain at the time and I
got a phone call from an operative who told me we’d won
the award. I was absolutely made up because we’d got
recognition for all the hard work that the team had provided
throughout the year. I was over the moon to be honest for the
next six months after we won and was taking the trophy to all
the team meetings!”
Q
How do you see your role as an assistant
manager with the mobile cleaning team?
“I’ve been in this sort of work now for about nine years.
I started off as an area caretaker, worked my way up to a
supervisor and then from there I was fortunate enough to
get my current role. During all that time I’ve put myself
through college and earned loads of qualifications which
help with the job. It’s been a good few years and I feel
I’ve done well.
I like to lead by example and take charge by leading from the
front. I’m more than happy to roll my sleeves up and get my
hands dirty. I’m passionate about the people we work with
and the job we do and I try to be positive and upbeat to instil
that attitude in my operatives.
Q
What types of roles are available
with your team?
A DAY IN THE LIFE
“We’ve recently employed a mobile cleaning coordinator,
Ronan, and he creates training programmes and brings in
new initiatives and ideas to the team. He’s only been here a
few months and he’s already made his mark in the role.
We’re always willing to have a work placement jump on
board with our team, to learn new skills and hopefully find
employment. We’ve had three work placements recently who
were here for eight weeks and they all did really well.”
To find out more about the work
placement opportunities available at
One Manchester, visit the ‘Employment
Help’ section of the website or email
onefuture@onemanchester.co.uk
0330 355 1002 21