Avon Valley Care Home in Bristol | Kingswood

Meet Alyson, our Care Home Manager

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 that is where I stayed.

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.

Working for Avery and commissioning Avon Valley retirement 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. To be able to develop staff into good ways of working, have staff that are there for the right reasons, build a team that are proud and respectful of what they do.

My passion for this Bristol care home comes not only from my own experience and the knowledge I have gained but also from my own personal life. I’ve had a very personal experience of a loved one needing dementia care, I know the emotional turmoil, the difficulty in letting go or trusting someone else to care for that person. I believe that all individuals should naturally have the right to choose. Why should any person have to change just to be in care?

Meal Times, a Coming Together.

Meal time is the highlight of our day. Eating is both enjoyable and sociable. Our chef team is trained on delivering choice, quality, seasonality and nutrition in all our meals and we often enjoy themed culinary events too. Chef likes to keep everyone happy and if there is nothing on the menu that you fancy then the team will happily get you something else. Our Chefs ‘follow the food’ and chat with residents about what they like or don’t like and our gardening club see to it that we are nearly self sufficient when it comes to herbs and spices. Much of our food is locally sourced from Bristol and Gloucestershire suppliers or growers, a fact we are very proud of. We even have producers visit the home and present their produce so that residents can see the people behind their ingredients.

Snacks are the perfect accompaniment to the day. There is a procession of cakes and biscuits made available throughout the day, and our frequent guests are most appreciative when they visit loved ones in our cafe. Afternoon tea is something of a regular fixture at our Bristol retirement home, again it is a time to gather and share in the days news or just make some new acquaintances.