AN AWARD winning care home manager has taken the top job at a care setting in North Yorkshire.
Mark Culley has taken over as home manager at Briarwood Care Home, on Normanby Road, in Eston, near Middlesbrough.
Mark has previously won the North East manager of the year award at the Great North East Care Awards 2017, which saw him nominated for a national award the following year.
Born and raised in Darlington, his start in the care sector came after encouragement from his sister, having originally considered a career in architecture and design.
He started as care assistant, in January 2000, and was a key worker for a resident who had served in the RAF in Egypt during the Second World War.
Mark said: “I became good friends with Fred and working with him had a profound effect on me. He was such an interesting man.
“I realised I couldn’t see myself doing anything else except working with elderly people – that was the point in my career where I knew it had become my vocation.”
In 2005, he rose to the position of senior care assistant, when he achieved an NVQ Level 3. After gaining a Level 4 qualification, he became deputy manager of a care home in Darlington, where he worked for nine years.
Then in 2015, Mark took his first home manager position, working at care homes in Newcastle and Gateshead, before joining Briarwood Care Home in 2019.
Mark, a married father of three, said: “When I started working in care, I challenged concepts of set menus and an institutional approach to care, and that inspired me to push the boundaries of elderly care.
“I want to empower residents to be actively involved in activities and still be part of the community. My ongoing motivation is to improve the experience residents have while in our care.
“Training is also a passion of mine, not just for myself but for my staff also, and I am qualified for all mandatory and legislative training necessary for the care sector.
“I’m delighted to take the home manager position at Briarwood Care Home and I’m already enjoying working with the staff and residents who reside with us.”