Care home marks 25th anniversary

Staff at Alexandra House were invited to an awards ceremony in Nottingham where a handful of them were honoured with long service awards.

Laundary assistant Celia Hatton has worked there for 16 years and was described as ‘great’ and someone who did a ‘fantastic job’.

She said: “I really enjoy my job and I get a lot of job satisfaction with it.

“I know I’m doing a good service for people who can’t cope on their own.

“People are in here because they can’t manage on their own and I find helping people very rewarding,” she added.

Domestic assistant Gill Hooton who retired in June this year after working at the home for 23 years, was also at the event and received a long service award.

She said: “I have met so many wonderful caring people, residents, relatives and staff during my working years at the home. I’ve made many life-long friends.”

Gill started off as a kitchen assistant.

Sally Barry, who has been there for eight years, was also honoured with an award.

She said: “It was lovely to get some recognition.

“It’s a lovely home and everybody supports each other. It’s a great place to work.”

Other workers who received awards included care worker Nicola Taylor, domestic assistant Patricia Paerk, nurse Michelle Whyley and laundary assistant Maxine Thawley.

The special evening was held at County Hall in Nottingham.

The festivity was assisted by a cocktail reception and a string quartet accompaniment, easing into a dinner, gift awards and speeches.

The parent company of Alexandra House, Eastgate Care, now has five homes across the midlands, including one in Ilkeston.

They provide a home today for around 200 residents and jobs and training for 1000 staff.

Eastgate has provided homes for over a quarter of a million people over a quarter of a century.

Alexandra house was the first home Eastgate Care built back in 1990, firmly marking their anniversary.

Over 100 staff and personnel from the other care homes attended the awards evening at County Hall.

Eastgate Care managing director, James Day said: “It has been my pleasure to work with the great teams of people employed by Eastgate over the 25 years, with their hard work and dedication to the residents and the running of the homes.”