Welcome to Bluebird Care Careers in Shropshire

I started Bluebird Care Shropshire in 2009 having left my employment as Managing Director of a successful chain of Garden Centres shortly before.  At that time I felt that my commercial skills and experience was well suited to the Bluebird Care franchise model and decided to be my own boss for the first time.  It was a big step for me and a bit scary,  but I was confident that I could make a difference in the Care Sector and wanted us to be the best in the county. 

I had recently been very poorly myself having had kidney failure over a number of years  and  then needed a kidney transplant in 2007. My sister very kindly gave me one of hers, it is still going strong so must have been a good one!!  I will always be very grateful to her for giving me such a precious gift, but also to the numerous people in the NHS and the care sector who helped me when I needed it. To be honest that care has never stopped and continues today. 

So in starting Bluebird Care Shropshire I had an opportunity to repay some of the help and kindness that I was shown and set out to provide a high standard of care to the people of Shropshire who needed it.  It was my chance to give something back.  Through Bluebird Care I am passionate about providing excellent care and that passion has not diminished over the years.  

The culture of my business is about delivering excellent care to people in their own homes and to go the extra mile for the people we support.  A culture that is shared by the senior team in Shrewsbury and Oswestry and filters down to all of our care staff.  That has enabled us to grow our service rapidly over the last 10 years. We have established a good reputation and work hard to maintain it.  We are not perfect and things do go wrong from time to time, but we try hard to improve and learn.  I am proud of what we have achieved together and look forwards to the next 10 years.

I have lived in Shropshire with my wife Rosanna for the last 37 years, raising our 2 young children here. They are both grown  now:  Gemma is a qualified Social Worker and manager with Action for Children and is mum to my two granddaughters Mia & Evie;  Chris works in Bluebird Care managing our payroll and has recently started his own property development business. 

I am a keen golfer and play at Church Stretton most weeks weather permitting and I enjoy spending time with my two granddaughters.  

My journey in social care began in 1989 when I started working evenings in a local care home after my first child was born. My love for working in the care sector took off from there.
I found that I really enjoyed working with people who had an acquired brain injury and in 2009 I became an outreach worker for Headway Shropshire and progressed to Care Coordinator (Care Manager) whilst completing my level 5 in health and social care. In July 2013 I joined Bluebird Care Shropshire as the Registered Manager and whilst here I completed my level 7 in management. 
I love my job as Registered Manager. As a team we strive to find solutions and make things work, adapting to the needs of our customers and the organisation. I have such a fantastic team around me and that makes a world of difference – understanding each other and having a good working relationship is key to our growth and development. 
In my spare time, I love running and I have completed a few half marathons and several 10k’s. I also enjoy mountain biking and climbing mountains. I met my husband in 1987 and we have two grown-up children and 3 wonderful granddaughters. We also have a rescue dog called Molly and love long weekends away in our campervan exploring our beautiful countryside with her.

I have been working in the care sector since 2010. My journey stared in domiciliary care and continued into residential and nursing homes, hospitals and one to one support packages working with challenging behaviour and brain injury.

 My passion continued to be in domiciliary care so in August 2014 I applied for a position as a care worker for Bluebird Care. In December 2014 I was promoted to a care supervisor and completed my NVQ level 3 in Health and Social care. 

My role is mainly customer focussed however I do also support new staff in their 12 week probation period. I complete supervisions and observations weekly to support them to complete their care certificate. The areas I supervise include Church Stretton, Bayston Hill, Meole Brace, Hanwood and Ford. I complete reviews and reassessments of current customers. I also support customers with daily challenges they face such as ordering their medication or being unwell and needing a doctors visit. I working closely with other health professionals to ensure that customers have care suited to their needs and to the highest standard.

I keep active by going to the gym and also enjoy walking in the Shropshire countryside and hills. I am very close to my family and spend a lot of time with friends. I love to see different parts of the world and like to have a couple of holidays each year if I can. 

I started with Bluebird Care in October 2018. I moved to Shrewsbury in 2008 and have worked in care for the past 6 years working with a wide range of people with learning disabilities, mental health, old age, to palliative care. I have obtained a level 3 health and social care diploma and a level 5 NVQ in leadership and management in health and social care.  I am always looking to help people and make myself approachable at all times by fellow colleagues, customers, and others from the community. 

I started in the care industry in 2013  working for Bluebird Care Shropshire as a Care Assistant, then became a Supervisor for the Shrewsbury area. Within my supervisory role, I did some training for other staff and decided that this was something I was passionate about.  In April 2016, I got promoted to Training Officer and my role consists of induction and ongoing training for new and existing members of staff.  I have completed my Level 5 in Health and Social Care and continue to develop new skills.

I am the Finance Assistant for Bluebird Care, which involves maintaining the company sales and purchase ledger accounts.  I have 30 years of experience in accounts, working in a variety of industries. 

I am a mum to two boys and we also have a dog called Harrison.  In my spare time I enjoy walking my dog, music festivals and reading.

What I love most about working at Bluebird Care is being part of a team that all work and support each other every day to make someone else's life better in every way we can.