Oct 2020
International Chef's Day - meet Sarah Staples Chef at OSJCT Digby Court, Bourne, Lincolnshire
“I enjoy doing all kinds of crafts and being creative. My job gives me plenty of opportunity to use my creativity. It really is a wonderful job and place to work.”
OSJCT is marking International Chef’s day (20 October) by highlighting and recognising its hard-working chefs. Meet Sarah Staples, Chef at Digby Court in Bourne, Lincolnshire.
Sarah joined the Trust in 2005 as a part-time carer, whilst her daughter was young. Fifteen years later Sarah is delighted to be chef at Digby Court, part of a team of three providing all the food for residents at the care home.
Sarah said: “I really enjoy my job as chef. I had no idea, all those years ago when I started at the Trust, that I would become a chef but I enjoy a challenge and I’ve been ready to take the next step when opportunities arose. Everyone is very supportive. It’s all one big family here, a great place to work.”
Earlier this year, Sarah earned a distinction in her in Senior Production Chef Level 3 Apprenticeship sponsored by OSJCT. She said: “It was a challenge, as face to face observations were suspended so there was more written work to complete. I learned a lot about supervising in the kitchen, the role of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and budgeting.”
OSJCT Digby Court regularly puts on themed events for residents. Sarah explained: “I love to be creative when it comes to themed cooking. I collaborate with our Activities Coordinator, Emma, to support special days and come up with decorative and tasty food.
“We’ve run a Heroes and Villains Day where I produced biscuits iced with logos of famous characters like superman; I’ve decorated a cake with a Flower Fairy garden for a Fairies and Unicorns day, and just last month I made soft pretzels and German sausages for our Oktoberfest day. It went down a storm with residents.”
All residents receive a bespoke birthday cake for their special day. Sarah recalls a pyramid cake, covered in demerara sugar to look like sand and decorated in hieroglyphics spelling out ‘Happy Birthday’ made for a lady who had lived in Egypt and was celebrating her 100th birthday.
Sarah often speaks to residents whilst taking around a dessert trolly at lunchtime to get feedback and food requests. She said: “I enjoy finding out what our residents like. Many people, including visitors eating in our lounges prior to Covid restrictions, were complimentary. Now that visitors are restricted and we are staggering mealtimes to keep residents in social bubbles, it’s even more important to take the time to make food extra special. It’s incredibly rewarding to see residents enjoying their food and getting involved in our themed events.”
With Christmas fast approaching, Sarah is looking forward to making mince pies, Christmas puddings, gingerbread decorations and as well as cuisine from other traditions such as stollen cake and levenkusen cakes.
Even at home, Sarah enjoys cooking for scratch, especially for her daughter who is pescatarian. She also enjoys drawing, writing and crafting at home. Sarah said: “I enjoy doing all kinds of crafts and being creative. My job gives me plenty of opportunity to use my creativity. It really is a wonderful job and place to work.”