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Our team at
Ambleside

Trusted to care in
Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire

Trusted to care in
Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire|With 40 years’ experience,
Care UK are experts in delivering award winning care|Care UK is the most awarded care home provider for the last three years|Discover why Care UK is trusted to care by over 9,000 families

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Meet our friendly care team

We’re a large and diverse team at Ambleside, but we’re all passionate about your loved one’s care, health and wellbeing. Take a look at our colleague profiles to find out more about some of the care home team.

Susan Kelly

Home Manager

Susan Kelly

I have been a registered nurse for over 30 years.

I have also previously held a variety of roles in care, including Clinical Lead, Service Manager and Deputy Manager. Becoming Home Manager at Ambleside is a real career highlight for me. I feel proud that in my role I get to support and guide colleagues and provide a happy home for residents.

In this role, you have to be organised and be a good listener. We work with people, so you need to like being around others and be understanding. A good manager should support and help colleagues. Working in care means we do face challenges, and every day is different, so we need to be prepared.

To me, it is really important that both residents and colleagues feel safe, are shown respect and have dignity at all times.

I can honestly say I love the whole day, and I can’t pinpoint one particular favourite time. Although I do particularly enjoy chatting with residents and their families.

In my spare time, I like to keep fit and active, so I go swimming at the weekends. I like to go walking and do aquafit sessions too. I also love the theatre and eating out. I am a keen knitter as well.

Kirsty Jones
Kirsty Jones
Deputy Manager

I’ve worked at Ambleside for nearly ten years. Before joining the team, I was a Team Leader at another local care home, but I was keen to have a change and work in a bigger care home. I’m so pleased I made the move to Care UK, and becoming Deputy Manager at Ambleside has been a highlight of my career so far. 

Residents are at the heart of everything we do at the home. I’m passionate about making their life enjoyable and rewarding, and supporting them to maintain their independence. The highlight of any day is speaking with residents and finding out about the activities they have been enjoying, and learning more about their life.

Being positive, a good listener, honest and fair are all-important as Deputy Manager. I’m here to support the team, the residents and their loved ones in any way I can. 

In my free time it’s my children who keep me busy, I have three boys! I enjoy walking and watching films too. 

Staci Reeson
Staci Reeson
Customer Relations Manager

I spent 16 years in the UV Printing Industry, then ran my own marketing consultancy. It was another CRM who gave me a push to apply, I am so glad I did. Everyday is different, you start to build some wonderful relationships from the very first point of contact. I see it as a real privilege to help families, friends and future residents make that sometimes very difficult decision to make a move into a home. We have many who come for respite stays, it's amazing that the families always stay in touch afterwards.

Outside of work I love to go sailing or spending time away racing with Europe’s most successful off road race team.

Dawn Brown
Dawn Brown
Lifestyle Lead

I was promoted to Lifestyle Lead at Ambleside after working as a Lifestyle Coordinator for 10 months. I joined Care UK because I had worked here previously and found it to be a great care provider to work for.

Before this, I was working a trained chef and manager of a restaurant, and I also have my wings as an air hostess.

As Lifestyle Lead, you need to be organised, self-motivated and proactive, as well as happy and friendly with a bubbly personality. My favourite part of the day is having one-to-one time with residents for a coffee and a chat. I love hearing about residents’ lives and experiences.

My team make me proud – we all work hard to keep residents active and help them to lead fulfilling lives.

Outside of work, I volunteer at my mum’s assisted living home, helping residents with cleaning and washing. I also like to exercise, socialise and spend time with my three children.

Carl Fox
Carl Fox
Head Chef

Before joining Care UK, I was the Head Chef and Director of my own company, Carl’s Kitchens. Owning my own business was a big career highlight, but I decided to work at Ambleside because it offered a good work-life balance.

My role is to ensure the kitchen runs smoothly and that we serve quality food. In this role, you need to be caring, dedicated and empathetic. Cooking quality food and seeing the residents’ happy faces makes me proud of what I do.

Chris Ellis
Chris Ellis
Unit Manager

I joined Care UK in 2021 and have since progressed from Team Leader to Unit Manager at Ambleside. I am proud of my achievements in leading my team to effectively provide high standards of care, liaising with healthcare professionals in the community. My favourite part of this role is helping to provide residents of Ambleside with fulfilling lives every day. In my spare time, I enjoy eating out, socialising, horse riding and holidaying abroad.

Penny Smout
Penny Smout
Suite Manager

I have a level three NVQ in health and social care. Previously, I was a team lead so being able to progress and be promoted to unit manager has been a real career highlight. I would say you need quite a strong character in this role, as well as good organisational skills.

For me, it’s really important that residents feel safe and relaxed. Every day should be enjoyed, and everyone (residents and colleagues) should feel valued and treated equally with respect.

When I’m not working, I like to spend time with my family.

Samantha Parkins
Samantha Parkins
Business Administrator

I have years of administrative experience, including finance and management. I also achieved a distinction in Level 4 in Human Resource Management.

I decided to join Care UK because I like its values of caring, passionate and teamwork, and I had worked in the healthcare industry before.

As a Business Administrator, I think you need to be friendly and firm but fair. You also need to be organised because the role includes so much, and you must be good at time management to ensure everything gets done in a timely manner.

My favourite part of my working day is talking to residents and finding out all about them and the interesting things that they have done in their lives. I am very proud to lead an amazing team who are always willing to help and are very good at what they do.

I’m a big foodie, so I love to eat out with friends and family and socialise when I’m not working.

Deborah Stanley
Deborah Stanley
Head Housekeeper

I joined Ambleside care home in 2017 as it was close to where I lived, and I had a history in private housekeeping. To be a good housekeeper, you need to be organised, have an eye for detail and not be afraid of hard work!

I enjoy caring for staff and residents, so this is an ideal work atmosphere for me. I enjoy chatting to residents about their life history and seeing a lovely smile on their faces!

In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my family, taking long walks, reading and visiting the theatre!

Lukasz Rogowski
Lukasz Rogowski
Maintenance

Having come from the automotive industry into the care industry looking for new challenges and career development, I enjoy my Maintenance role at Ambleside as I love that every day is different. As a Maintenance Manager, it’s important that everybody living and working at Ambleside is and feels safe on the premises, and I like this feeling of responsibility. In my spare time, I enjoy photography, travelling and naturally – DIY!

Our experienced teams

Every day Care UK colleagues live our values of passionate, caring and teamwork to empower residents to enjoy fulfilling lives.

Carers

Our hardworking teams always keep individuals and their families at the heart of the care they provide. We work with you to shape the care your loved one receives, the food they’re served, the activities and experiences they want to do – even the ways they prefer to keep in touch with their friends and family. 

Nurses

The nurses at Care UK are highly skilled and receive sector-leading training, which enables them to keep developing expertise in different clinical fields from dementia to palliative care.

Lifestyle

Our dedicated lifestyle teams work hard to organise a range of activities and events at our home. From gardening and baking to quizzes, music sessions and even live entertainment. Above all, we get to know your loved one to make sure our activities are tailored to suit their interests and hobbies.

Home support roles

From catering to maintenance, housekeeping to administration, our home support teams play a crucial part in ensuring individuals enjoy an exceptional and safe service every day.

All our teams get to know each person they care for to ensure they provide a service that’s designed around their unique needs and tastes. 

Infection control

Each of our homes have a trained Infection Control and Prevention Champion – they are responsible for carrying out daily infection control audit and ensuring cleaning protocols are meticulously applied.