Care Home Kitchen Manager ‘Overwhelmed with Joy’ to Win MasterChef Award

Josh Murray, the Kitchen Manager at Hambleton Grange care home, operated by Ideal Carehomes, has been awarded the ‘MasterChef of the Year’ award at the Ideal Care Awards 2022.

The Ideal Care Awards were created in 2019 to recognise, reward and pay tribute to staff at Ideal Carehomes who constantly go above and beyond in their roles.

After receiving over 1000 nominations across 14 categories, including Resident Outstanding Contribution, Care Team Member of the Year, and Beyond the Call of Duty, a panel of judges chose a group of finalists for each category.

Those finalists were invited to a ‘dress to impress’ gala dinner at the Casa Hotel in Chesterfield, where the judges announced the winners of each award. The announcements were live streamed on the Ideal Care Awards Facebook page for the finalists’ friends, families, colleagues, and residents to watch.

After revealing that Josh had won the ‘MasterChef of the Year’ award, the Ideal Care Awards judges praised Josh for ‘providing a fantastic dining experience for the residents’ at Hambleton Grange.

Josh joined the Hambleton Grange team in 2020 as a Cook, progressing to Kitchen Manager in 2021. Josh was named a runner-up in Ideal Carehomes’ MasterChef competition earlier this year, where Kitchen Managers from across Ideal Carehomes demonstrated their culinary skills for a panel of judges. Josh said,

‘To have won such a prestigious award tells me that my hard work and dedication doesn’t go unnoticed. I felt overwhelmed with joy and happiness when they called my name from the stage – I couldn’t believe it!

‘My job means so much to me, and knowing that I’ve made a difference at Hambleton Grange, not just through cooking but by being the best version of myself, is the cherry on top of the cake. I try to be positive all the time, and I have such a great relationship with everyone within the home.’

Stacey Linn, the Managing Director at Ideal Carehomes, said, ‘Josh has such a positive influence in the home and has lovely relationships with the residents, taking the time to get to know them and their likes and dislikes. He runs a great kitchen and sets high standards for their team, preparing nutritious and wholesome meals that residents enjoy and look forward to.

‘Josh always considers nutritional needs and will often prepare individual meals for residents where necessary. He has a true flair for cooking and gives everything to his role.’

Hambleton Grange care home, on Station Road in Thirsk, is a purpose-built luxury care home operated by Ideal Carehomes. Close to local services and amenities, it is rated good by the Care Quality Commission.

For more information, call 01845 523 837, email hambleton.grange@idealcarehomes.co.uk.