Welcome to Bluebird Care Careers in Cheltenham

Gillian Manning is a franchisee and Co-Director of the business. She and John are life partners as well as business partners.

Gillian is a qualified solicitor with many years experience in social welfare law, including employment, discrimination and welfare benefits. It was her background in working with people with disabilities which led her into the care business.

She also sits as a Judge on the Disability Appeal Tribunal, deciding appeals in relation to disability benefits.

She has achieved the NVQ level 4 Registered Managers Award, enabling her to perform the Care Manager's role if the need should arise.

Gareth is a franchisee and Co-Director of the business, and the eldest son of Gillian.

Starting his career as a software engineer for civilian and military applications, he gained a solid grounding in process design which has been invaluable in identifying efficient business practices.

Deciding in 1997 that he was more of a 'people person', Gareth made his hobby a full-time occupation and became a professional martial arts instructor, teaching Karate and Aikido in Bristol, Swindon and Cheltenham. He still teaches classes in Cheltenham.

The diagnosis of a close family member with Vascular Dementia brought the Care Industry to Gareth's attention in 2007, and in 2008 he joined the family business. Since then he has worked within Bluebird Care as a Care Worker, Care Coordinator, Manual Handling Trainer, and most recently Director.

He sees his role as having responsibilty for Customers and Care Workers alike, and devotes a significant portion of his time to improving the welfare of everyone involved with Bluebird Care.

John’s career spanned 32 years in the pharmaceutical industry, culminating in a position as Director of Production for a well-known multinational. Gained while working in the UK, Europe and India, John's pharmaceutical background is extremely useful in understanding the medication being taken by our customers, and in professional discussions with healthcare professionals.

 John also has a strong interest in health and safety, and has the Diploma in Safety Management. His expertise feeds into our health and safety and risk assessment processes and training, and contributes to the safety of staff and customers. He also has primary responsibility for the business finances.

 John says everything we do from care assessment and planning through to staff recruitment, training and management is underpinned by the simple vision “all of our customers should be looked after with the same care and concern that we would want for our own loved ones”.

Dominique trained and qualified as a Social Worker, gaining a university degree in Health and Social Care. She worked for several years in the N.H.S. engaging and supporting patients throughout their stay.

In order to fit in with her family commitments, she re-trained as an accountant, achieving the highest possible standard in her A.A.T. qualifications.

She says, "It is gratifying to be able to use both of my professional skills within one company. I enjoy working as part of a close, effective team. We all pull together to ensure the business runs as smoothly as possible, delivering the highest quality of care."

Dominique sees her role as vital to the success of Bluebird Care, ensuring customers' accounts are accurate and easy to understand, and that carers and suppliers are paid correctly and in a timely fashion. She believes that it is important to be accessible to everybody, and is always happy to help with any enquiries.

Poppy has always been passionate about health and social care, with previous experience including working as a domiciliary carer, and also as an NVQ trainer. Poppy has also worked in quality assurance within work-based learning, supporting assessors to deliver high quality training. As well as teaching on the BTEC health and social care course at a local college, leading a team of lecturers and ensuring consistency across all teaching.
 
Living locally to the Gloucester office, Poppy heard positive feedback about Bluebird care and is looking forward to her new challenge, supporting the team in delivering outstanding care.

Shannon joined Bluebird Care in 2017 as an Administrator. Shannon’s main responsibilities include, recruitment, marketing and administration tasks.

Shannon works closely with everyone in the office, ensuring things are running smoothly. Shannon is highly creative and has a keen eye for detail and keeps our customers and carers up to date with any news through social media and regularly updates all of our websites.