Rebecca-Anne Withey: Spotlight on deaf businesswoman, Corvette Silo, founder of Kingswell Support Service (BSL)

Kingswell Support Service is a Derbyshire-based CQC registered care agency with contracts across the East Midlands that has received extremely positive reviews across the deaf community. Intrigued by these testimonials, I met up with Managing Director, Corvette Silo, to find out more about the business.

A deaf BSL-user, Corvette founded Kingswell Support Service Ltd.  more than nine years ago after experiencing discontent working in the care industry. It was Corvette’s intention to create a compassionate support service with the needs of deaf and deafblind clients right at the heart of it.

Although Kingswell Support Service has both male and female support workers, one thing that is unique about the business is how it is led by an all deaf, all female management team.

Chatting to Corvette it is easy to see the influence of strong females in her life as we delved into her background. Corvette was fostered by three different families from the age of two and her final foster family eventually adopted her. Her Mum is a retired deaf Teacher, qualified to teach both hearing and deaf children and her Dad was a BSL Interpreter and Teacher.

Corvette’s Mum adopted her when she was 12, which fulfilled both her foster parent’s wishes, although sadly her Dad was no longer alive to enjoy this, having passed away when Corvette was 10 years old. Corvette also gained a sister and a brother. When Corvette’s Dad passed away, she found herself, her sister and brother being raised singlehandedly by their Mum.

Corvette still maintains close contact with her second foster mother as they share a special bond.

Originally training in Fashion and Textiles and gaining a degree in the subject, Corvette struggled to obtain regular work in this field. Instead she used her artistic skills and her eye for detail to open a shop in Bakewell, which friends refer to as an ‘Aladdin’s Cave.’ Known locally as the Pink House, due to the exterior colour, it displayed and sold ribbons, craft items, Christmas decorations and carefully selected vintage treasures.

However, with rising overhead costs, Corvette realised she needed a more sustainable career, so she closed the shop to move into work in the care industry.  Working in the retail business as well as a side job supporting vulnerable deaf and deaf/blind people, meant that Corvette was multi-tasking and gaining valuable experience in both business and care.

Towards the end of the retail business, Corvette was approached by a deaf individual who asked her if she would provide support to them for daily living purposes. Due to having previous experience with working one to one with vulnerable deaf and deaf/blind individuals, it seemed a natural progression to turn to support work again.

Although she enjoyed her time as a support worker working within care agencies, she felt frustrated by her lack of professional progress, compared with her hearing colleagues.  With nothing to lose, Corvette tentatively set up Kingswell Support Service Ltd.

Alongside Carolyn Platt – who is Kingswell’s Manager and has a wealth of experience in support work – and another deaf female support worker, the three of them worked together to establish the agency.

Corvette describes how difficult it was to begin with, due to many challenges as a deaf female business owner, yet as time went on the agency gained more contracts from the council and their reputation as a compassionate, reliable agency has gained recognition.

Asking Corvette how she persevered during the most challenging times, Corvette smiles patiently and explains that she and her team have a great relationship and they always work together to prioritise the needs of their clients. If there was ever a shortage of staff, Corvette would ensure the deaf client was never left without support.

With such commitment to client care, it is not surprising that I received this glowing testimonial from one of their clients, Hamza Shaikh.

“I am really lucky to have the support from Kingswell’s Personal Assistants. They have been absolutely fantastic. Corvette works so hard to make sure all of my needs are met.

The team help me reach my goals, for example helping me move house from Birmingham to Derby. They also make sure I have support with me through my educational studies, supporting me as I travel to London to complete my two courses which I now have certificates for.

The support workers are so professional, always ensuring I have everything I need for life, working long hours. The staff in the office are so good at communicating and work really hard too. They are such a tightly knit team, they work together so well, and it shows.

I’ve had support from other agencies previously but they couldn’t meet my needs, or respect what I wanted.

Kingswell are hugely successful, and I am so proud to be under their service. This July will mark two years of their support for me, it’s been beautiful.

Kingswell even enabled me to achieve my dream of being able to fly to France, wow! They made sure I had everything ready for the flight, all of my medical things ready, all care was organised, paperwork, passport etc. I was so happy to get to France, it all went so smoothly!

If I ever have any problems, they are always there for me. Last year I was very poorly and ended up in hospital. Kingswell ensured support workers visited me every day and night to ensure I returned back to good health, which I am so grateful for. Without them, I don’t know what I would do.

They’re just the best support service I’ve ever had. Their level of professionalism, their compassion and empathy, is just brilliant and I’d like to say a big thank you to them all.”

Kingswell Support Service has recently obtained their CQC- Care Quality Commission award – an achievement Corvette is particularly proud of, which means that as an agency, they are able to provide personal care as well as domestic care to their service users. The CQC is a validation of the high-quality care that Kingswell provide.

Corvette tells me there are more exciting developments for the support service in the pipeline which will enhance the lives of many deaf and deafblind people, but these will be announced in due course.

The team at Kingswell speak very highly of Corvette, namely for her attitude towards working together as a team and her care philosophy. They mention her to me as a ‘compassionate leader’ and someone who is very ‘conscious of other people’s needs.’

Meeting Corvette, I am not surprised to receive such high praise about her and her work. She comes across as someone who is unfazed by the challenges her early life brought, instead they seem to have instilled within her a fire to create a better life for others as well as herself.

Corvette is a proud Mum to two young boys, and she has been raising them singlehandedly whilst setting up a successful business. She tells me how incredibly challenging it was to work throughout the pandemic alone with two small children and mentions sometimes having to work 70 hours a week around childcare.

At the same time, Corvette is proud to be on the committee of Deaf-initely Women, a deaf, female- led charity which works to improve the lives of deaf women.

Corvette also describes the difficulties of being a BSL-user. She utilises various modes of communication support, which is funded by Access to Work, a government scheme which allocates budgets for equipment and communication support for deaf and disabled people in work.

Corvettes’ life may have been challenging; however, her experiences have shaped the person she is today. She has moved forwards to establish a business which is highly respected, well-run, carefully considered and moving into a period of exciting development.

I am in awe of how calmly and composed Corvette works and how her determination has enabled her to follow her dreams despite all the obstacles life has put in her way.

Too often in life we tend to view deaf role models as the ones who are on television or stage, forgetting those – like Corvette – who are working hard behind the scenes to forge new paths and make a tangible difference to the lives of deaf and deafblind people nationwide.

As an unassuming deaf role model and pioneer, Corvette is leading the way for her support service and I would like to congratulate her and her team on their continuing success.

You can find out more about Kingswell Support Service here.