Brendoncare Stildon

I am a registered nurse with over 34 years of experience across a wide range of healthcare settings. My career began in acute and emergency nursing, followed by cardiac nursing, before moving into the care home sector, where I have spent the last eight years in a variety of leadership roles.

During this time, I have worked as a Dementia Manager, Deputy Manager of a large care home, and Home Manager in four different services, including several successful turnaround homes. Throughout my career, I have remained passionate about delivering high-quality, person-centred care and creating environments where residents can live with dignity, comfort, and purpose.

One of the most rewarding experiences of my career was working in Kosovo following the war, where I helped establish children's shelters and spent six years supporting vulnerable communities. This experience reinforced my commitment to caring for others and making a positive difference in people's lives.

I have a particular passion for dementia care and end-of-life care. I firmly believe that when we care for a resident, we also care for their family and loved ones. Supporting people through some of life's most important moments is both a privilege and a responsibility that I take very seriously.

As a manager, I believe in being visible, approachable, and hands-on. Building meaningful relationships with residents, families, and colleagues is at the heart of everything I do, and I take great pride in knowing our residents as individuals, understanding their histories, and helping them continue to live fulfilling lives.

I am proud to still maintain my nursing registration and feel incredibly fortunate to work in a profession that I genuinely love. Looking ahead, I am excited about my future at Stildon. To me, it is a very special home with a truly big heart, and I hope it will be my forever home.

I joined Stildon in June 2022 as the Receptionist and moved to the Administrator role in 2023. This is my first experience of working in a nursing home, and I love the relationships that we have as a team with both the residents and relatives.

Working for a charity and answering to trustees rather than shareholders means that decisions are made with the residents’ best interests at heart. Sharing our Care for Life promise with prospective residents and families puts them at ease, and they can relax knowing that their loved one will get the best of care for the rest of their life.

Outside work, I enjoy reading, paper crafts, listening to music, art and spending time with my family, including my two grown-up daughters.

I joined Brendoncare Stildon in 2023. It was a total change to my working career as I’d only known the inside of an office before, so to be put at the forefront of the home meeting and greeting all our visitors has been a great change. If I’d have known what a positive step this was going to be, I would have done it sooner.

I’ve been married for 45 years and have two grown-up children and 5 grandchildren. We love spending time as a family creating memories - going on beach outings, holidays abroad, cinema and bowling, to name but a few. My husband and I also enjoy going to the theatre and football, be it premiership or supporting the local town team.

Prior to joining Brendoncare, I worked as a legal PA for several years in London. I later worked in a similar Activities role in Tonbridge Wells but wanted to work closer to home. I joined Brendoncare in August 2023. I can honestly say that, compared to the office-based roles I’ve had (as interesting as they were), this is the best job I’ve had as it’s more person-centred and I much prefer to be working with people rather than paper!

In my spare time, I get involved in amateur dramatics including doing panto. I also enjoy dancing and practice yoga and Pilates.