Skylark House

I’d previously worked in a smaller care home in Shoreham as Deputy Manager. Care UK had a good reputation as a respected care provider that prioritises its people’s development and the wellbeing and happiness of all residents.

I’m in my element when I’m with residents and learning more about their lives – that’s the best part of what I do. Interacting with them and knowing I’m making a difference to their day is a great feeling. I also enjoy the compliance and governance part of my role. I start and finish every day with a smile, and that’s what makes me happy. 

They work hard to deliver the relevant training to the team, complete audits and keep on top of the legislation and guidelines.

I joined Skylark House because it felt like it was time to come and work in a care home! My role involves welcoming potential new residents and their families into the home and showing them the difference we can make to their lives.

I love the variety of this job: going from doing a show-round to organising the paperwork for a new resident’s admission, and then having a chat and a giggle with some of the residents. How many jobs enable you to do that?

I joined the Skylark House team because I was keen to find a new challenge that was more meaningful and less desk-based! Many of the skills I’ve acquired are useful in this role, including the ability to multi-task. Empathy, energy and lots of positivity come in handy too.

I love to see residents smiling and laughing and really enjoying an activity. They’re the best moments in any day. It’s very rewarding to see my actions creating positive outcomes for individual residents and Skylark House as a whole.

The pandemic highlighted the importance of supporting residents to stay connected to their loved ones every day, and we continue to make that a priority. I’m looking forward to supporting residents to create many more lovely memories at Skylark House, as well as organising memorable events for residents, their loved ones and our friends in the community.

I then spent 12 years training on the job under head chefs in the UK before becoming a head chef myself. I’ve worked at some superb hotels as well as at Panacea, one of Manchester’s greatest bars. I also worked for a short time at Wimbledon but was sadly too busy to watch any tennis!

I wanted to move into care home catering because the hours are much more sociable and I wanted to explore new challenges. Care UK is a progressive company and its ‘Dining with dignity’ approach continues to drive excellence in care catering.

My father is in a care home, and thats shown me what amazing places they can be. When the chance came up to work in a Care UK care home, I jumped at the chance. It was an indoor job in a sector that does important, worthwhile work.

In this role you need to be able to multitask, to be flexible, and having a fast drying paint helps! I enjoy the daily health and safety checks – I get around the home having a chat with the residents. I also take pride in helping new residents to settle in. Getting their room set up, with photos and favourite pictures on the wall, helps them to feel valued and can make all the difference to their moving in experience.

I love cleaning, so working in housekeeping really appealed to me. I was delighted to be appointed to my current role after less than a year at Skylark House.

I use many of the skills from running my own business in this role too. I need to plan and organise my team and our jobs for the day, and it’s important to be able to adapt to whatever comes up. 

One of the best parts of the day is returning clean clothes to residents and having a chat with them while I put their things away. I love having a job that enables me to support some amazing people, and it’s very satisfying to maintain the high standards of cleanliness in the home.