Coppice Lodge care home chef, Gillian Poole, is celebrating after winning a prestigious Great British Care Awards regional title within the ‘The Care Home Cook/Chef’ category.
Gillian has almost a decade of service under her belt at the Arnold care home after joining the team in 2012. Gillian is passionate about creating healthy, filling and delicious meals that make her residents rush to the dinner table! Gillian also enjoys baking and takes pride in creating beautifully decorated cakes to celebrate her resident and co-workers birthdays, anniversaries and other celebrations.
The Great British Care Awards is an annual event to pay tribute to those individuals who have demonstrated excellence within the care industry. Regional finalists were invited to an awards evening held at (?) where Gillian was announced as the winner out of (?) finalists. She will now go on to battle it out against other regional finalists to take home the overall national title in September.
Following the winning announcement, judges on the night said, ‘Gillian showed great passion and knowledge on how to meet the nutritional needs of residents. She also recognises the crucial role that mealtimes play in promoting wellbeing’.
Gillian said, ‘I am honoured to receive the ‘The Care Home Cook/Chef’ award, I really pride myself on my work and ability to help people come together over delicious food. I always try to incorporate new ingredients and flavours to my menu to keep things interesting and give people the chance to try something new. I am truly honoured to be crowned the regional winner, there were so many excellent finalists. I have an incredibly rewarding job and I can’t wait to bring my award back home to display for everyone to see in the dining area!’.
The win comes just weeks after Gillian and her kitchen team celebrated upholding their five star rating for the (NUMBER) year in a row, following an inspection from Environmental Health Officers.
Home Manager, Alex Field, said, ‘We are extremely proud of Gillian’s achievement. Gillian is a hugely valued member of the team, and she always goes above and beyond. Her win is testament to the sheer hard work and commitment she puts in every day to give our residents the best possible diet that they deserve. A huge congratulations from everyone at Coppice Lodge’.
Coppice Lodge, operated by Ideal Carehomes, is a residential and dementia care home boasting a hair salon, cinema room and spacious lounges overlooking landscaped sensory gardens. All 64 bedrooms are en-suite, enabling staff to deliver person-centred care in a dignified manner, promoting independence as far as possible. For more information about Coppice Lodge, contact Home Manager Alex on 0115 920 5906 or click https://www.idealcarehomes.co.uk/.