Please tell us a bit about yourself and the service you manage?
I began working at Kidsgrove Care Solutions CIC (KCS) in September 2015. KCS was founded in 2013 by company directors Wendy and Mick and is a not-for-profit, community interest company. We provide support to young people and adults with a disability. The services that I manage are a four-bed short breaks bungalow and a three-bed long stay bungalow.
I have supported individuals in the care sector for 30 years in a variety of different settings and I feel that I have learnt a lot during this time. My previous experiences have certainly supported me to feel ready to take on the role of a registered manager.

What’s the best thing about your job?
The best thing about my job is that every day is so different, I am very privileged to be in a position to support some amazing people who make me smile every day. I am also incredibly lucky to work with an amazing team that supports me and the service to reach goals and meet targets on a daily basis. The team always has the individual’s choices and wishes at the forefront of their minds and will always go the extra mile to make sure individuals can achieve on a daily basis. This makes my role a lot easier. I feel incredibly proud to be in a position to support and lead a fantastic team.
Please tell us about your role - how has this changed since you first became a registered manager? What are the biggest challenges for you at the moment?
My role as a registered manager is a challenging one and it requires me to be very flexible and motivated to ensure I can fully support everyone on a daily basis. I am extremely proud to be a registered manager as this has always been my career goal. I am relatively new to the role and I am constantly learning every day. I am always looking for new ways to increase my knowledge to ensure I can continue to grow and become more confident in my role. Before I became a registered manager I ensured that I was fully aware of what the role entailed around the responsibilities that I would be taking on, especially the legal responsibilities. I was fully aware that I would be solely responsible for all aspects of the smooth running of the bungalows. I take my role very seriously but I also make sure that I still have a sense of humour!

Why is it important to you to be a member of Skills for Care?
It is important to me to be a member of Skills for Care as I can connect with other registered managers via the network. As well as this, there is always helpful and informative information that I can access through the Skills for Care website which can support me in improving my knowledge base as a registered manager and also support me in being better prepared for CQC inspections.

If you could offer one piece of advice to a new registered manager, what would it be?
Never lose sight of why you took on the role. You are the person that can make the differences to a service and you can make the changes that can make someone’s day a better one.

If I wasn’t a registered manager…
I would have become a social worker, I have always been interested in this role and would like to specialise in supporting people with mental health issues.

Great turnout for the "A-Team" dance show at Red Street community centre.

Thanks to Tesco and Aspire homes for the kind donation of Easter eggs.

Congratulations to Ann and Arthur Frost on receiving MBE's for services to children and families.

After working on her rug for over ten years , Julie finally finished it last week.

Everyone enjoyed the dance show at Red Street

Everyone had a great night at our Christmas party at Kidsgrove Town hall :)

Today with the help of Mark from NULBC we planted some flowers around Kidsgrove.

Today we moved to our new venue, everyone is really excited.

Receiving our cheque for our upcoming sensory garden project.