Our team at
Caledonian Court

I’d been a general nurse and worked in endoscopy before moving into working in care homes. When a permanent role came up, I applied and became a Suite Manager, and have progressed from there.

I’ve learnt so much here, including new clinical skills as well as leadership skills. I’ve learnt that, in order to develop, it’s important to be prepared to adapt and reflect on your practice. I love the way working in a care home enables you to get to know the residents. Having come from a surgical background where you don’t get to know patients, it was a refreshing change.

The residents always surprise you, when you talk to them, you’ll learn things about them and see things in them that you haven’t before. I’m looking forward to continue making a difference to their lives and driving the home forward with a great team committed to the highest standards.

I started cooking when I moved to Scotland. It’s become one of the biggest joys of my life.

Cooking brings me huge pleasure and I’m proud of the cheffing skills I’ve developed during my many years of working for Care UK. One of the highlights of my career was winning Care UK’s ‘Chef of the year’ competition a little while back.

I think that passion and a positive attitude is important in everything, and particularly working in a care home, where what we do has such a big influence on residents’ daily experience and quality of life. I aim to be positive and enjoy every moment and I take pride in giving the residents of Caledonian Court a positive experience with every tasty dish I make.

I was keen to continue working in care, so I applied to join Care UK. It has a great reputation for care and for supporting its people to learn and progress, which I’ve been able to do.

I enjoy the challenges of this role – energy, creativity, positivity and patience are important. It keeps you on your toes when you need to adapt quickly to residents’ mood, find new activities to do and keep things fresh and interesting for everyone. When you get it right, and residents love an activity, and they’re all smiling, it’s so rewarding.

I’m a big music and rugby fan, so away from work you can probably find me at a rugby game, a music gig or listening to music at home.

Over time I’ve moved into the Business Administrator role, taking on more responsibility. That’s the great thing about Care UK, the organisation supports its colleagues to learn and progress and experience different roles.

The best part of my day is interacting with the residents and their loved ones, that always brightens my day. Each day brings new challenges, which offer more opportunities to learn new things. In this role it’s important to have good tech skills, as well as communication and problem-solving ability. Looking ahead, I’m looking forward to continuing to develop my skills at Caledonian Court, progressing my career and meeting new people along the way.

I’d worked as a Head Housekeeper elsewhere, as well as a senior support worker. I’d heard Caledonian Court was a good place to work, with a great atmosphere, so I wanted to experience it for myself.

Teamwork is a vital part of work in a care home. Each of us has an important role to play in ensuring residents receive the best care and service, and that’s what I instil into each member of my team. Our work in ensuring the home, and residents’ rooms, are always clean and fresh, and that residents’ laundry is done well and returned promptly, directly affects the experience of residents, visitors and family members. We also have a key part to play in infection prevention and control.

Away from work I like to unwind with a glass of work and a good book. I enjoy walking and getting away from it all on holiday.

You also need to be friendly, helpful and unfazed by a challenge as you never know what each day will bring. That’s part of the fun though!

All of the team here strive to make Caledonian Court feel like a family home, everyone knows everyone else and will do anything for anyone. There’s a lovely atmosphere here which makes it a great place to work and live. I always remember that Caledonian Court is residents' home and we're here to serve them. My job is to ensure it’s well maintained and safe for residents to live in.