I was born in South Wales, so some would say that I am “almost English”. I grew up with my parents and two sisters. Both parents were from large families and so I grew up surrounded by grandparents, aunts, uncles and many cousins. I stumbled into care work aged 17, while waiting to start a career in the police force, I enjoyed care so much that I decided to make it my career.
In the years following that, I got married, had two children and continued to work as a carer in a hospital and then a nursing home. Aged 35 and both children in high school, I ventured into managing a large service of care in the community. Although it gave me good foundations in a manager’s role, I dearly missed the atmosphere and belonging of a care home team and so went into managing what became a very successful care home, offering respite care and a day service. I happily remained there until 2015, when I went to work in Somerset to manage a large new development. I was able to embed it into the community, increase its occupancy and build its reputation.
Read more Working for Avery and commissioning Avon Valley Care Home has been a dream come true, a blank canvas. The chance to develop best practices or routines from the outset as well as recruit my very own team. I have been able to develop staff into good ways of working, have staff that are there for the right reasons and build a team that are proud and respectful of what they do.
