Our team at
Larkland House

In 2016, I achieved my Level 5 qualification in leadership and management, and in 2017 I started working at Care UK.

To be a good Deputy Manager, you must be a good listener. You need to be passionate about the job and caring towards residents and team members. You also need to be a leader.

Making residents and colleagues smile is my favourite part of the working day. I love knowing that I’m making a difference in their lives.

Outside of work, I enjoy spending time away with my family to relax and unwind.

I started working for Care UK when my children were small and I worked as a carer on night shifts. As my children got older I was able to progress and take on more work.

The greatest buzz I get from this job is when an activity goes really well and residents ask to do it again. Christmas is always a busy time, with lots to organise, and we do lots of themed days and have plenty of parties. The fun residents have makes all the work worthwhile. If you like a role where you never know what each day is going to bring, this is the perfect job!

I have various strings to my bow: I co-host a music show on TV each Monday evening, I perform in an Irish music band and I work in a West End theatre box office part time. I also love Country and Western music, and a little while ago I got to tour and sing in Alabama and Nashville.

I love so much of my role as Lifestyle Coordinator at Larkland House, including chatting and reminiscing with residents, and singing with them. Music is a great healer and can bring people together in a unique way. I look forward to making a difference to residents’ day every day here at the home. It’s amazing to receive a ‘thank you’ from a person when you’ve spent time with them, getting to know them.

I love adventure, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have travelled the world. However, there’s always more to see, so I still try to visit new places when I can.

Cooking is something that helps me unwind, and I’m also a keen dancer – I do salsa and belly dancing! One of my career highlights was opening my very own arts and crafts shop, and it’s great to see residents sharing my creativity and getting involved in all the different activities.

You need to have plenty of patience, kindness, and a happy demeanour to be brilliant at my job. Each morning I wake up looking forward to the day, to making a small difference, and to seeing residents smile.

My aim is always to get to know residents, their likes and dislikes, and to gain their feedback so I can create varied, high quality dishes that they’ll love. The more information they can give me, the better.

I’m often out on the floor at mealtimes, chatting to residents, and I’m involved in each resident’s regular care review. That’s my opportunity to find out what they’d like to see more of on the menu. I always act quickly to make changes, so residents can enjoy healthy home-cooked meals tailored to their needs and tastes.

In my spare time I enjoy playing football with my sons. I also have a green belt in karate!

In my latter role I support the team to reduce the risks of infection to residents, relatives, visitors and colleagues by helping to create and maintain an environment that supports safe and clean care.

I’ve had specialist training in IPC so that I can act as a role model for best IPC practice at all times, ensuring regulatory, legal and standards requirements are being met. I work closely with the management team at Larkland House as well as the Care UK IPC leads.

I’ve worked for Care UK since 2015. I took on this IPC champion role in addition to my team leader duties as I wanted to stretch myself, learn new things and support residents, colleagues, the home and Care UK to help combat Covid-19. I’ve been able to start studying for an NVQ level 5 and to work alongside the management team, which have both been great opportunities.