Callum MacKinnon

The thought of becoming a therapist seemed very alien, a bit too prestigious and ‘not for me’. However, once I read into what occupational therapy was, the wide range of jobs you can do as a therapist in a wide range of workplaces, I could not believe that I had never heard of this job title before.

“I set up my own business once I qualified as an occupational therapist in 2017. It was only intended to be a small, part-time project to enable me to gain relevant experience in the field of learning disabilities, but it’s still going strong today.”

My area of practice is very broad, I go out to work with people in the community as well as within our therapeutic playroom. I enjoy working with both children and adults, and their families and carers. I founded the service on being open for families to self-refer themselves, and that means we can deliver a variety of projects that are not offered by traditional health and social care services locally.

“Within learning disabilities, we use the core skills of occupational therapy to enhance people’s physical and mental health and wellbeing. There are great career progression opportunities within this practice area too.”

I love so many things about my workplace. It allows me to be flexible; I get to do things differently, in an effective way that makes a real difference to the people I work with. I’ve also won awards from national bodies for social enterprise and occupational therapy. This recognition has been fantastic, and very motivating. And it’s given me a platform from which I can promote the diversity and role of occupational therapy to audiences who’d never heard of it before.