29 May 2024
VN Times Podcast, Ep 47: Happy Hour 16 – The profession and parenting, are we progressing?
VN Happy Hour made a triumphant return for Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month 2024, tackling the topic of parenting in the profession and asking, are we progressing?
In her first Happy Hour as host, VN Times editor Lacey Pitcher was joined by a brilliant panel who shared their wisdom and candour to bring the community together and answer some tricky questions.
Guests included Lianne Macfarlane, AKA @mortagefreeleigh – a content creator passionate about tax-free childcare and making things less overwhelming – who provided our audience with some great advice and signposting.
Lianne then joined our panel of Emma Townson and Miles Asteri, both experienced RVNs who have worked in a range of roles to unpack key themes, such as flexible working.
Happy Hour returned with a bang… we hope you enjoy the conversation!
Useful links
- mortgagefreeleigh.com
“Money + mumlife” with Mortgage Free Leigh, AKA Lianne Macfarlane. - www.gov.uk/tax-free-childcare
You can get up to £500 every 3 months (up to £2,000 a year) for each of your children to help with the costs of childcare. - www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/tax-free-childcare/
Tax-Free Childcare: How it works and how to make the most out of this benefit - www.childcarechoices.gov.uk
Government help with childcare costs for parents. - www.gingerbread.org.uk
Creating a world where single parent families don’t just survive, but thrive. - www.cipd.org/uk/knowledge/factsheets/flexible-working-factsheet/
This factsheet outlines different types of flexible working arrangements, including part-time and compressed hours, remote working and job-shares.
LIANNE MACFARLANE
A personal finance content creator with a family focus, Lianne loves to share parenting, money saving and personal finance content with her social media audience.
Since starting her Instagram account Lianne has grown an audience of more than 38,000 followers, 18,500 on Tik Tok and now has a fledgling YouTube channel.
In addition to her self generated content, Lianne also work with brands to create and deliver social media advertising campaigns and user generated content to highlight their services to her followers and other platform users. Mortgage Free Leigh has showcased brands such as Birds Eye, Greene King, Asda, Carex, Harpic, McCain, Vodafone, GreenJinn, Sprive, Beanstalk and Top Cashback, creating instagram reels, Tik Tok ads, static posts, UGC content and affiliate marketing.
EMMA TOWNSON
Emma grew up and lives in Portugal, where she began her veterinary nursing training. After living in Africa, she moved to London in 2013 to complete her veterinary nurse training – she qualified in 2017, and completed her Certificate of Veterinary Nursing in Emergency and Critical Care in 2020.
Emma’s daughter arrived in July 2020, which sparked her move to a non-clinical role – and she joined the VBD team in 2022 as recruitment fulfilment executive.
MILES ASTERI
Known to many for his stint on season two of BBC One’s The Traitors, Miles Asteri is a “dance-loving veterinary nurse from Worcestershire” and, most importantly, proud parent to two daughters alongside husband Pip.
Sponsored by Linbells Veterinary
- www.lintbellsvet.com/pages/mobility-library
Designed for dogs and cats under veterinary supervision that are experiencing joint stiffness. - vetactivelife.com/
An educational platform for veterinary professionals offering a selection of free CE and CPD, educational articles, on-demand and live webinars.