FILTER BY:
Guisborough Manor
Alison Corner,
Registered Manager
Alison's career started as a student nurse at Scarborough General Hospital before moving into adult social care after leaving college. Alison explains "I think care was always a part of my childhood, I don’t think I can remember a time when it wasn’t . My nana lived with my family and my mum cared for her throughout the latter stages of her life. I completed my school work experience at the Stead Memorial Hospital and I continued as a volunteer when my placement finished . The staff there were fantastic and allowed me to participate in lots of duties. This was what I wanted, this was what I needed to do. I wanted to make people smile when they felt sad, laugh when they felt like crying, comfort them when they were in pain, listen when they needed to speak and speak for them when they no longer could. This was and still is my purpose." Alison has been the registered manager at Guisborough Manor since February 2019. She is proud of attaining her NVQ 5 In Leadership and Management for Health and Social Care which enables her to support and mentor current and future care staff to enrich the lives of the residents in our care. When asked about her vision for Guisborough Manor, Alison says "Guisborough Manor is not just a care home, it is “Your home” as soon as you walk through the door. From the subtle décor to the panoramic views, the fabulous care staff to the tasty delights that come from our kitchen. This is how I want our home to continue, making our ladies and gentlemen feel valued, supported, safe, loved and cared for to the highest level."
Guisborough Manor
Alishia Coates,
Deputy Manager
Alishia has gained over 15 years’ experience in providing care and support to older people, helping to enrich their lives in every stage of her career. She is a knowledgeable and dedicated leader who is passionate about delivering the highest standards in care and quality of life for residents. Alishia has gained her level 5 in health and social care management, previously being a care home manager herself. Alishia has been deputy manager at Guisborough Manor since October 2020 although she says it feels like she has been a part of the home forever. Alishia extends her caring approach to her colleagues and works closely with them to deliver care and support to residents in a way that they gain the most benefit, in a warm and welcoming home. She also works hard to arrange events and activities and is always keen to include the local community in life at St Martins Care. When asked what she enjoys most about her role, Alishia remarked, “I love seeing the residents and their loved one smile, laugh, feel confident and cared for. I'm very proud to be leading a team from strength to strength and seeing them flourish and grow. I believe that the best care involves giving the greatest of yourself to each and every resident, and ensuring our staff feel valued and appreciated."
Park View
Lisa Parry,
Registered Manager
Lisa started work in social care at the age of 16 and has worked in several different areas over the years. Well over 20 years later this is still her passion. Lisa joined St Martins Care in 2011 and is another example of the potential to progress a successful career within the Company. Lisa has served St Martins Care in several roles, progressing to registered manager in 2019. On her time with St Martins Care, Lisa rightly says "I am very proud of progressing to home manager. Care has always been what I wanted for my career as I rule with my heart and placing a smile on someone's face and knowing they are safe and content is so rewarding." Lisa has big plans for developing Park View care home even further, explaining, "At Park View the residents are always at the forefront of what we do. We are a home from home and have made great changes to achieve this such as our bar, train simulator and shop. Our aim is to bring as much fulfilment and independence to those we have the pleasure to care for and support. I am looking forward to what the future can bring."
Park View
Amy Dowell,
Deputy Manager
Amy began working in care in 2015. From a beginning with no care experience, she spent a year out in the community and realised that caring for those in need had quickly become a passion and something that she wanted to do as a career. Amy made the decision to move into a residential setting and joined St Martins Care at its Park View care home and she has not looked back since. Amy’s first role was as a care assistant. Staring with no qualifications, she was supported by St Martins Care and soon obtained her NVQ Level 2. Straight away, Amy began studying for her NVQ Level 3, which has enabled her to progress her career quickly. Amy says: “I always knew that I wanted to achieve more. I’m so pleased that my skills and ambitions were recognised and that I was able to progress, firstly as an acting senior before being promoted to senior care assistant. Being able to make a difference in the lives of those who require 24-hour support and even re-enabling those to return home is one of the most rewarding parts of what we do”. Amy is now the deputy manager of Park View and she is grateful to have been given this opportunity. Amy adds: “The whole team at Park View is fantastic and we are one big family, with the residents being at the heart of it. I am proud to be part of St Martins Care and look forward to what the future brings for us at Park View”.
Washington Manor
Karen Lowden,
Registered Manager
Karen has worked in the social care sector for 13 years. She joined St Martins Care in September 2020 as Deputy Manager at Washington Manor care home. Karen commenced her career in the social care sector late in life as she was living in Germany with her husband who was serving with the armed forces. On her return from Germany, and after bringing up her two children, she started her career as a care assistant, gaining promotion to senior care assistant after two years. Following that, she was quickly promoted to Deputy Manager, following success in achieving her NVQ levels 2 and 3. Karen is living proof that it's never too late to start a successful career in adult social care. When asked about what she enjoys in her role, Karen says, "I enjoy working with the elderly as I feel here at Washington Manor we work as a team helping to make a difference to all the individuals in our care. We strive to ensure the home is a friendly, welcoming place to live and visit. We are aiming to achieve an outstanding rating with the CQC in the near future." In January 2024, Karen took over the role of Registered Manager from Wendy McIntyre who progressed within the company to an operational role.
Washington Manor
Helen Clark,
Deputy Manager
From a young age, Helen cared for her dad. This gave her a real passion for caring, so much so that she knew straight away that she wanted to work in care. Helen completed her NVQ level 2 and 3 in school in 2013 and, after that, she worked in several jobs before going to college. In 2016 she had her daughter who is now 7 years old. Helen then returned to work and undertook roles in the community as a carer, something that she really enjoyed. During COVID, Helen chose to take some time out to look after her daughter before deciding to get back into work and joined the team at Washington Manor as a part-time care assistant. She soon realised that she absolutely loved working at Washington Manor and after a few months was promoted into a full-time senior care assistant role. After excelling in that role, Helen has now been promoted to Deputy Manager and is really looking forward to taking on the role and new responsibilities. Helen is the perfect example of how someone with the right skills, attitude and determination can progress and develop their career at St Martins Care and she is committed to make a difference to the lives of all the residents of Washington Manor.
Willow Green
Thomas Horn,
Registered Manager
Tom has worked within various elements of health/social care and adult social care over the past 20 years. He has considerable experience of Learning Disability within treatment and assessments hospitals, mental health, domiciliary care and elderly care. Prior to this Tom worked within secure units for young offenders. Like many, Tom "fell into the care sector" as a career when he left the military. He was at a cross roads, not knowing what he should do next when he was offered a position within children’s services. From there he hasn't looked back, working in many roles and differing environments. Tom has continually developed new skills for each role and has always been able to bring that "something else", sharing the knowledge that he has developed along his career journey. When asked about his passion for care, Tom Says, "working within care is what I do, I can't imagine myself doing anything else. The friendships and bonds that we build with the individuals we care for are fantastic and the rewards are seeing someone thrive, witnessing someone recover from illness and being able to return home or just sharing a moment and seeing someone smile." Tom has worked for St Martins Care since April 2020, which Tom says has been great. "I’ve found that we all share the same vision which is the provision of outstanding care, this isn’t just a management ethos but the belief of all staff from the ground up. We believe that we do indeed provide excellent care but there is always room for improvement, our goal is to provide care which is perfectly person centred to each individual, care where we have full involvement of that person but care that includes families and friends and the local communities."
Willow Green
Kirsty Chapman,
Deputy Manager
Kirsty began her career at North Park residential care home in 2008 and had no care experience prior to that. Her first role was as a Care Assistant within North Park looking after both general residential and dementia residents. She was supported to gain relevant qualifications and soon after was promoted to Senior Care Assistant. In 2019 Kirsty applied for and was promoted to a lead senior role and by 2020 became the Deputy Manager. In 2021 Kirsty decided she needed more experience to develop her career and joined Willow Green and St Martins Care as a Senior Care Assistant. Kirsty says “I haven’t looked back since joining St Martins Care, I am now the Deputy Manager of Willow Green and I am very grateful for this opportunity. The entire team are fantastic, this includes care staff all the way to senior management. We are just one big team, we all care deeply about the roles we hold and work in partnership with families, friends and outside professionals to ensure we meet the varied needs of our residents. To nurse someone back to health, re-enable someone with mobility and to help people through some of the most trying times, is a privilege. I am very grateful to St Martins Care for this opportunity and look forward to a bright future.”
Windermere Grange
Donna Jones,
Registered Manager
Donna has been employed by St Martins Care since January 2018, initially on a temporary basis to support the manager at the time and she is still with us but now as the home manager. Donna's career path has always been in care. After leaving school she joined a youth training scheme which involved “calling in” on the elderly. It may have been a call to have a cuppa and a chat or take an elderly person to the local shop for bits and bobs and she really enjoyed it. College and studies in health and social care followed. Donna's career in social care proper started in 2009 as a care assistant. After her children grew up, Donna was proud to continue her studies and completed Access to Nursing Course, NVQ level 2, 3 and 5 which provided her with the qualifications to be where and who she is today. Donna is living proof that care assistants can, with the right support, progress to a registered managers position. When asked about her plans for Windermere Grange, Donna says "Windermere Grange has that homely feel as soon as you walk in. I want that to continue whilst delivering the kindest care possible."
Windermere Grange
Nicola Fox,
Deputy Manager
Nicola has worked in adult social care for over 20 years and has worked for St Martins Care for over 10 years. She did leave to try a different career path but found that it was not for her and she quickly returned to Windermere Grange because, she says, "this is my home". Nicola is the perfect example of the career progression that is possible in adult social care and at St Martins Care. Nicola started her career in care as a Care Assistant with no qualifications, obtained her NVQ 2 and NVQ 3 which enabled her to progress initially to Acting Senior for a year before being promoted to Senior Carer with her own team. After that, Nicola moved into the role of Deputy Manager in 2018 and still continuing to progress further. When asked why she wants to work in adult social care, Nicola explains, "I first started my care worker position in 2000 as I felt I could make some changes to the lives of those who required 24 hour support, and implement continuity and structure for those we support." Commenting on her career aspirations, Nicola says. "I have recently completed my NVQ 5 (Management and Leadership) as there is always room to progress your career with St Martins Care. I feel I can improve the quality of care for those we support at Windermere Grange care home, and that we can maintain and develop a comfortable homely setting for those who reside here. We want to create a real "home from home" experience. I feel good structure and support for those who reside at Windermere Grange is vitally important so that we are able to stimulate and motivate those we support, encouraging them to remain as independent as possible."
Windermere Grange
Joanne McIntyre,
LD Manager
Joanne has worked in social care for 14 years most of that time with adults with learning disabilities. When Joanne first applied to work in social care she felt that she had the skills to support and help people. Time has proven her right and this soon became her passion and she has never looked back. Joanne joined St Martins Care in June 2015 and has been the manager of the Learning Disabilities unit at Windermere Grange since then. When asked about her role at St Martins Care, Joanne says, "My job is my passion and every day I learn something new. We laugh, we cry and, where we can, we laugh some more. Every individual we support is just that, an individual, and supported to live a full and meaningful life and always encouraged to reach for the sky. The look of joy at a new achievement, however big or small, and the feeling that gives is why I come to work each day." When asked about her vision for the Windermere Grange LD Unit, Joanne is clear, "To always put people first and share their vision for their home."
Woodside Grange
Barbara Parker,
Registered Manager
Barbara joined St Martins Care in June 2022 as The Deputy Manager but has progressed and taken over the role of the Registered Manager at the beginning of 2023. Barbara says that she sort of fell into care after returning from overseas when her husband was in the armed forces. She started as a domiciliary carer with a small domiciliary company and progressed to a supervisor not knowing if she would like care. However, she stopped with the company for 7 years and fell in love with caring for the elderly. Barbara decided that she wanted to progress into the management side of social care so she went to work for another domiciliary company as a case manager. This entailed doing preassessments with the service user before the care package started whilst retaining some contact with the services user. Barbara stayed with the company and progressed her career as a deputy manager and then a registered manager. However, she missed day-to-day contact with service users so applied for a role in a residential care home so she could continue within a management role but also have more contact with the residents. Although Woodside Grange is the biggest of St Martins Care’s homes, Barbara says, “it still has that homely feel which comes from the great team of staff and the care they deliver is second to none. We have a new management team in place, who are very passionate, caring and dedicated and I look forward to working with them ensuring Woodside Grange continues to deliver the best care we possibly can.”
Woodside Grange
Debbie Walker,
Deputy Manager
Debbie’s career started as a care after losing both her parents which she felt left a large gap in her life. After a lot of soul searching, Debbie decided to become a care assistant. She says, “I remember people saying you may not have your mam and dad to look after but there's plenty of other mams and dad's out there that need looking after”. And with that, her career in care began, over 23 years ago. Debbie’s first role was in a nursing home, and she loved every minute of it but, after 3 years, she decided to gain further experience working in domiciliary care which enabled her to care for people with various illnesses and disabilities in their own homes. It was during this time that Debbie was encouraged by a district nurse to apply to train as a nurse: “I can see you have it in you” she said. So, that is exactly what Debbie did, and she hasn’t looked back since. Three years of study resulted in an advanced nursing diploma and Debbie qualified as a registered nurse in October 2009, gaining employment as a staff nurse. Debbie has worked within medical, surgical and emergency settings within hospitals. In the latter years of Debbie’s time in the NHS she cared for patients that were gravely ill and sometimes required intensive care admission or had already been patients in ITU. Debbie started at Woodside Grange in August 2021 as she wanted to return to social care where her career in began, albeit this time as a nurse. Debbie has thoroughly loved the last 18 months at Woodside Grange and has been able to use her previous experience as a care assistant to support care staff in their roles. Debbie says, “18 months on I feel privileged to have been offered the position of Deputy Manager and cannot wait to begin this new challenge working alongside the amazing management team within the St Martins Care group.”
Woodside Grange
Lisa Burkin,
LD Manager
Lisa joined St Martins Care in August 2012 as an Activities Co-Ordinator at the Windermere Grange home. She soon realised that care was in her blood and completed her NVQ level 2 in Health & Social Care. She transferred to Woodside Grange in June 2015 and worked across all units before becoming the first staff member of the Chestnut Suite Learning Disabilities Unit which opened in January 2016. Lisa's son has autism and learning disabilities and she cared for him for 18 years before he moved into residential care. Reflecting on this experience, Lisa says "at first I found life very difficult to deal with. I felt that I had failed him. I soon realised that my knowledge and patience around dealing with all the ups and downs bringing my son up could be put to good use. Working in the care sector made me feel worthwhile again." When asked about her vision for the future, Lisa says "Chestnut Suite is a lively and friendly place to live. I aim to ensure everyone feels safe and secure here and feel that this is their home. I am hoping that in the future Chestnut Suite becomes a stand alone unit and although I enjoy being part of Woodside Grange, I feel for myself and my staff, that this is the next step to developing and improving our support for adults with learning disabilities in our area."
Woodside Grange
Clare Whould,
Quality Lead
Clare began working in care within the community around 15 years ago and realised quite quickly that she had a passion for providing care for those who were in need. She worked within the community for around 2 years before taking a leap to work within a residential setting. Clare began working in a care home which had some sentimental meaning for her as her mother had previously been a deputy manager there and she wanted to make her proud. Clare knew she did not want to progress her career in a clinical role so decided, when offered, to accept a promotion to a senior care assistant. Clare joined St Martins Care at Woodside Grange in 2016 as a senior care assistant and she cannot see herself working anywhere else. Clare says, “my heart and soul is with Woodside Grange. I believe we offer the best care and always strive to ensure all residents are treated with the upmost respect, dignity and empathy”. In October Clare was offered a role as the quality lead within Woodside Grange. Clare says, “I was so proud of myself and overwhelmed that I had been offered this opportunity and want to work to achieve outstanding on our CQC report. I enjoy being hands on with care and I am not too proud to get stuck in where needed.”