Luxurious Living

What I do;
I am the General Manager at Burcot Grange & Lodge and I am passionate about providing outstanding care for all our residents and creating a luxurious atmosphere in which the team can give their best. I believe Burcot provides a home from home to enable residents to feel comfortable with their surroundings. I love the fact that every day is different, with a new challenge to be met in the most open and professional manner.

I believe that the team and I go the extra mile for the residents and relatives to make them feel part of the ‘Burcot’ family.

I take time to get to know all our residents and for us to share our life experiences with each other. I took time out on my wedding day to pop in, so that the residents could see my dress and share part of my special day.

My experience;
I joined Burcot Grange in 1999, working through all the different departments from Administration, to Housekeeping, to Kitchen and then to Care. I am a qualified adult nurse; I have gained my Registered Manager’s award and I have completed the Leadership in Management programme.

About me;
I live in the village only a minute’s drive from Burcot Grange with my husband and our two children, Charlie and Nancy. It’s a beautiful place to live with a very close community. In my spare time, I enjoy dining out with friends, pampering myself at spas and going on countryside walks with my family.

My grandfather, George, worked at Burcot Grange as a gardener in 1935 when it was a private home owned by Mr and Mrs Rushbrooke. In 1937 the Rushbrookes made the magnanimous gesture of giving Burcot Grange to Birmingham Eye Hospital, where my grandmother worked as a nurse. Burcot Grange was where my grandparents first met in 1938 and went on to marry, so Burcot Grange has played a huge part in my families lives and will continue to play a big part in my life too.

What I do:
I am here to support the home manager and our team to ensure our residents receive outstanding person-centred care in our beautiful care home, also that our residents feel supported and safe in their new home by the people who are caring for them. I am also here to support our loyal team who on a daily basis endeavour to give the best care they can to the residents who call Burcot Grange home.
I feel that myself and our team always go the extra mile to try and ensure our residents and relatives feel part of the Burcot family.
I feel very lucky to be able to look after residents who have had such life experiences and are willing to share them with myself and the team.

My experience:
I have over 25 years’ experience in the care profession and in that time have worked in several places and gained lots of experience from nurses and other health care professionals I have been lucky to work with. I am also a qualified NVQ assessor which enables me to pass on my knowledge to new members of our care team who are looking to forward their career. I have also completed the level 4 in leadership and management programme.

About me:
I live locally to Burcot with my husband Dean and my dog snoopy who is like my baby. In my spare time I have lots of crafting hobbies that I enjoy doing. I am also mad on Disney and regularly enjoy trips to Florida where I can indulge in my passion.

What I do:
My main focus is to ensure an extremely high standard of care is provided at all times. I oversee and support the care team. I am very passionate about Burcot Lodge and have enjoyed seeing it grow over the last few years into the successful home it is today.

My experience:
I have worked in the Care Sector for many years and have a real passion for Dementia Care. I have previously worked as a Senior Carer, Team Leader, Deputy Manager, and a Care Manager for a Homecare Company. These roles have all taught me invaluable lessons and given me a great depth of knowledge.

About me:
I grew up in Co Donegal Ireland and moved to England in 2009. I live locally to Burcot with my Husband Steve, My two children, Oisin & Abigail, and Ozzy the dog. In my spare time, you will find me at various clubs with the children, walking the dog, and enjoying meals with my friends and family.

What I Do:
The main part of my role within the homes is to meet families who are making enquiries for loved ones. A very sensitive time for most families and friends when choosing the right care home. I take time to understand why we are looking for a care home and to find out about the person, what they are like and their history, where they came from. It’s so interesting to hear about people and what they have gone through in their lives. I also go through managing the assessments with our teams and the paperwork before I hand over to our amazing care team and your new family.
I also look after the marketing for the home, arrange events and network within the local community.

My Experience:
I came into care by accident back in 2015, however it’s the best thing that has happened. I love being in care. Although I’m not directly supporting our resident with their care needs, I can do other things like having a coffee and a chat or supporting a resident with a bit of shopping or going for a walk within our beautiful grounds.

About Me:
I love life and am always meeting family and friends when I can. They are my everything, I am very grateful for the family I was born into. I love to travel as much as I can and aim for at least 5 holidays a year. My husband and I have Bella, who I call a puppy but she is a rather large husky!

What to do:
My responsibility with my team at Burcot Grange is to ensure our residents have a clean, tidy home to live in and enjoy. To ensure their laundry is done to a high standard and back with them in a timely manner. I am passionate about my role and want to make a difference to our resident’s lives.

Experience:
I joined Burcot Grange 8 years ago as a member of the Housekeeper team. For the last couple of years, I’ve been helping and supporting different departments because I really enjoy being here and part of our residents’ lives.
I had the opportunity to apply for Head Housekeeper at the end of 2018, and it has been such a rewarding role. It gives me such a good feeling when our residents are smiling and happy.

About me:
I am married and have been for 9 years now. I have 5 children and 5 grandchildren, they are the joys of my live. Socialising with family and friends is how I enjoy spending my days off, making everyone happy around me.

What I do:
I joined Burcot Lodge as the receptionist as it opened in December 2017 and promoted to the home administrator in 2019. My role is very varied with tasked such as HR, Payroll, Finances and resident invoicing.

My experience:
I have a diverse administrative background across a range of work sectors. I speak 3 languages and have been a Freelance Interpreter providing a face-to-face consecutive interpreting services for HMRC, DWP, HM Prisons, NHS, National Probation Services, Police and other government agencies.

About me:
I am a busy working mum of 2 children and treasure my spare time with my family. I like keeping active and going outdoors. Being married to a keen walker, I quickly fell in love with the English countryside.

What I do;
I am the Hospitality Services Manager. My main role is to lead the Catering and Housekeeping teams. I am passionate about high quality food and service and, with the support of the Head Chefs along with feedback from our residents, we strive to create a five-star dining experience that exceeds our residents’ expectations. Using only the freshest ingredients we create menus which are both homemade and nutritious. I work closely with the Head of Housekeeping to ensure a high standard of cleanliness. We work hard together to uphold high infection control measures.

My experience;
I started my journey at Westminster Catering College in London, and then spent the next 28 years working for various 4- and 5-star Hotels in London, Manchester, and Worcestershire working both front and back of house. Through these opportunities, I gained a wealth of experience in cooking, food service, and housekeeping. This is my first care home position and have been part of the Burcot family since 2018; I love the interaction with the residents and the challenge of providing a service that can really make a difference to their wellbeing and happiness of all at Burcot.

About me;
Family is important to me; I love spending as much time as I can with them. I also love my horses and being outside. With the time I have left in my day, I am currently learning Spanish (with a glass of Rioja on the side to get the full experience, of course).

What I Do:
I see my role as making people smile, laugh and have fun! I fully believe that positive, physical and mental well-being comes from feeling content within yourself and your surroundings. laughter, feeling happy & secure’ is the best medicine there is. I passionately believe that the whole team has the remit of empowering our residents to feel this way & be part of the Burcot family’. We ensure our residents’ needs are met by carrying out ‘Life History’ assessments, enabling us to fully plan each resident’s individual needs; intellectual, self-esteem, creative, social and spiritual to name a few. From these histories, we can organise and facilitate the many varied activities we have on offer here at Burcot and within our local community, with whom we have very close links.

My experience:
I started my working life as a WPC in the Metropolitan Police Force before changing career and going into Nursing (Learning Disabilities). This led me, in turn, to complementary therapies within the NHS. I was the first full-time complementary therapist in the country, and I was privileged to work within peoples’ homes, inpatients units, day centres, hospices and, latterly, chemotherapy units to reduce stress and anxiety for patients. I am an honorary member of a National Complementary Therapy association on whose committee I served. This involved setting national standards, writing more policies and organising national conferences. I achieved my long service medal of 20 years within the NHS.

About me:
I enjoy travelling adventures with my family & sport too. My son enjoys & plays American Football, my daughter’s hobby revolves around horses & show jumping, & my stepdaughter is a keen trampolinist! We’ve had a few visits to A&E over the years, as you can imagine with hobbies like these! We all ski or snowboard too, when we get the opportunity. My husband & I enjoy Ballroom and Latin dance lessons, walking with our dogs, socialising with friends. I try to work out regularly & I enjoy Yoga & spin classes too.

What I Do:
I am the Activities Lead at Burcot Lodge, I am privileged to lead our activities team. The team and I plan all the activities across the home. We make sure that there is a wide variety of activities to suit all residents needs by making sure we know all our residents and their families well. Throughout the week we ensure there is activities that stimulate the mind, body and soul including poetry classes, Knit & Natter groups, Zing Exercise Classes, Film Nights, Themed days, Parties, Religious Services, Pet Therapy, Outings and trips to numerous places, Crafts, Cooking and relaxation/mindfulness sessions to name a few.

Me, and the team, believe in a ‘can do’ approach so if we can make something happen, we will. Along with all the other wonderful teams at the Lodge we all work together to provide a loving, exciting and homely place that our residents enjoying calling home.

My Experience:
I started out many moons ago as a Nursery Nurse, after this I then become a Special Support Assistant in a local school to a child with Down Syndrome and Autism. During this time, I learnt the importance of individuality and knowing the holistic needs of children. This has really helped me in my current role in developing a varied and person-centred activities programme.

After my years as a Support Assistant, I then trained as a Primary School Teacher through University. Once qualified, I worked at a school in Solihull for 6 years. During this time my Mum was diagnosed with Vascular Dementia and Alzheimer’s. This was a turning point in my life. I then gave up my full-time teaching job to spend more time with her as a daughter and carer.

The challenges that my Mum and I faced throughout her illness are what has led me to my career in Elderly Dementia Care. Having had my Mum living with Dementia this has given me an empathetic approach whilst having a great insight into how this can affect residents and their loved ones.

I only accept the best and always think ‘Would this be good enough for my Mum?’

About Me:
I live locally to Burcot and have done for many years. I have a wonderful family down south in (hopefully) Sunny Devon and Cornwall, this means I have some lovely breaks by the seaside. One of my favourite things to do is walk on the beach and costal paths.

When I’m at home I enjoy reading, gardening, and entertaining friends as well as visiting National Trust houses & gardens.

My role:
My role at Burcot Grange covers a variety of tasks, including Health & Safety, making sure all the equipment and the building requirements are kept up to date with the correct regulations in place. My team and I respond quickly to any problems or queries that arise: no job is too big or too small.

My experience:
I have worked at Burcot for eleven years, I started part-time and was made to feel welcome straight away by the residents and staff. When the position of Maintenance Manager became available, I had no hesitation in applying for the role. Before working at Burcot Grange, I worked self-employed fitting kitchens and bathrooms.

About me:
I have two grown-up lads and we enjoy going to watch the football together. We all support Liverpool FC, and we go to Anfield whenever we manage to get tickets. I also enjoy listening to live music and I try and go to a gig as often as I can. I play Crown Green bowls a few times a week for Kings Norton Ex-service Men’s Club. Saturday being the main league, which our team are playing to a high standard.

What I do:
I am the Maintenance Manager at Burcot Lodge, I am responsible for maintaining a safe and secure environment for all of our residents, team members and visitors. I feel privileged to be part of a team that have very high standards and a team that are incredibly passionate, friendly, fun and welcoming. I joined the team in 2021.

My experience:
For the last 14 years I’ve worked in a family run business fitting kitchens and bathrooms, this taught me my carpentry and joinery as well as plumbing, tiling and many other skills . These will be valuable attributes in the smooth running of the home. Prior to this I worked as a manager in a catering role where I was responsible for the staffing, standards and health and safety of the kitchen. I’ve always been caring person and love working with likeminded carers & managers. I also love being with the residents and find this a rewarding part of my role.

About me:
Recently I started up my old hobby of running to keep fit. When I was 18 I ran both Birmingham and London Marathons in under 3 hours each. I’ve enjoyed playing pool for many years, playing for a local team, league and also county. My family is very important to me and I enjoy spending quality time with my wife two children and dog Bella. We enjoy weekends away in our caravan.