An incredible 90 years of service given by three team members has been celebrated at Avocet Court Care Home in Ipswich.
Housekeeper Beryl Heskett, Laundry Assistant Doreen Harding and General Manager Ruth Garnham have all worked at the home, in Monmouth Close, since 1994. They all started as housekeepers, being employed just a few months after the home opened as Monmouth Court in 1993.
Ruth, who started her career in care as a housekeeper said it was never her goal to go into management.
“I originally thought I might want to be a nurse and had worked at Ipswich Hospital before coming to Avocet,” she said. Ruth loved working at Avocet Court from day one and over the years has taken on a number of roles – housekeeping supervisor, admin assistant and hospitality manager before becoming deputy manager, home manager and starting her current role as general manager in 2021.
“This home is all I know but it certainly never gets dull,” said Ruth, “You never know what the day will hold and there is no other job like it.”
Both Doreen and Beryl live locally to the home and are familiar and well-loved faces to the residents, families and the team at Avocet Court.
Doreen said, “We have seen a few changes over the years with different parent companies, new rules and regulations, lots more learning about infection control and a lot more training for everyone now.
“It is always a really worthwhile job. I get to know a lot of the residents well as I am often in and out of their rooms with clean laundry and many love to have a chat.
“It’s a happy place to work ” added Beryl, whose daughter in law also works at the home as a carer, “Like an extended family really.”
“I am grateful for the dedicated and long-standing team I have here and it is incredible to have been working with Beryl and Doreen for 30 years,” said Ruth, “We have seen each others’ children grow up, and most of them have worked here at one point or another.”
