Home Manager, Dawn Wallburton, started her care career in 1988, working as a care assistant in the privately owned Shaw House in Melksham. When the owner closed the home in 2000 she joined the Miles Care agency in Melksham as a Carer. This career move fitted Dawn very well, as she was now also raising her young family. During the next two years whilst working for the agency, she worked in many care homes around Wiltshire.

Dawn returned to full time care work in 2002 by joining the disability nursing home, Cote House, in Chippenham. In 2005, she completed her City and Guilds NVQ Level 3 in Care. As she wished to continue learning and improving her care knowledge, Dawn was employed by the care company Community Access Network, as a Senior Support Worker. This was a new challenge for Dawn, as the job involved caring for and promoting independent living. 

Dawn has held various roles with the Trust, most recently Home Manager at Seymour House in Chippenham, before moving to Brookside in the summer of 2021.

Victoria Hawkes has been with the Trust for nearly ten years, she started as a Carer and worked her way up to Head of Care at Brookside. She has worked in three homes, and they have all left their mark on her as a person. She very much enjoyed and learned from her role as End-of-life Lead and Medication Lead, which she said also helped her in her personal life.

Vicky has accomplished her Level 2 and 3 in Health and Social Care and she is now working towards her Level 4. Vicky said: “I enjoy meeting new people and supporting our residents in their time of need. Brookside for me is not just a place of work as we are all a family here.”

Dawn Whiffen has worked in care for the past 25 years. She has had a variety of different jobs in the care sector, ranging from domiciliary care to a rehabilitation team member working alongside physiotherapists and occupational therapists. In this time, she has achieved NVQ 2 and NVQ 3 in Health and Social Care.

Dawn started her Brookside journey in 2017 as a Carer and, has recently worked her way up to Care Leader. Dawn said: “I was fortunate to be nominated for Carer of the Year 2021 and I was very lucky to have been presented with this Award, which I am very grateful for.”

Maria has been in the care industry for 14 years and have worked at Brookside for 13 of them. She started work in Brookside in 2008 and has been a Night Care Lead since 2014.

Jessica has been working with the Trust since Autumn 2022 and before this was a volunteer activities assistant at another OSJCT home. Jessica works with the rest of the Activities team to provide group and individual activities for all residents to enjoy. Jessica said that the best thing about being an Activities Co-ordinator at Brookside is making connections with the residents and getting to know everyone individually.

Meghan Hooper has worked in the care industry for over 5 years starting out as a Care Assistant working up to a Senior Care Assistant and then as a Senior Nursing assistant in a hospital setting. 

Meghan began her Care Leader journey in the Trust from April 2023 and will be undertaking her NVQ 3 in Health and Social Care to continue her Care Lead progress.

Sally joined the team at Brookside in February 2023. She has had a varied career, mainly in Customer Service roles. She worked as a carer in the community a few years ago and loved the opportunity to help keep the elderly and vulnerable living independent lives in their own homes.

She thoroughly enjoys interacting with our residents and coming up with new activities to keep them entertained and individually challenged.

Tiffany joined Brookside in July 2023. Tiffany has had a long career within the care sector, from working in healthcare recruitment to supporting adults with learning disabilities/complex care and working as a senior member of the team in residential homes.

Tiffany believes Brookside is a rewarding place to work by being part of a fantastic team who deliver person-centred care to all the residents. Tiffany enjoys being able to speak to the residents to find out more about them and their life and finds it a privilege to be able to assist them through their next stages of life.

Beatrice started working as a carer in June 2022 in Berkshire and a friend introduced her to OSJCT in December 2022. She did a little research about OSJCT and believed in her heart that it would be a great company to work with.

She joined the Trust in March 2023 as a carer and was promoted to care leader six months later.

Beatrice is passionate about what she does and is satisfied only when she is able to put a smile on someone's face at work.