Having worked in adult care since graduating, in 2014 Mala founded Athena Care Homes.

While the business has grown, she's passionate that family values are still at the centre of everything we do.

With the four values for the company being Delivering Authentic Care, Making Moments Together, Celebrating Every Individual and Being There for Each Other, you can be confident knowing that our family will care for yours.

In the last few years, we have won awards across our industry and, in 2020, Athena Care Homes was named as one of the London Stock Exchanges’ 1000 companies to inspire. We’re members of the Care Workers’ Charity and work hard to make sure our staff and homes are key parts of our local communities.

It's important to all of us at Athena that each of our homes have a warm, welcoming environment and that we provide an outstanding standard of care.

Chief Operating Officer Mandy Cockram has a career in care spanning almost 30 years. She started as an administrator with Bupa and eventually took on the Home Manager role of the 163 bedded nursing home. She went on to become a Regional Manager for the company, before leaving to become the Operations Director of another care group.

Mandy helped to form Athena Care Homes and first worked for Athena from 2015 – 2021, she says coming back as Chief Operating Officer feels like coming home. She started with the group when it was formed of two homes and Mandy managed one of them for a short period of time – for Mandy it’s an honour to have seen the company grow and now be involved with all seven homes.

Mandy backs the Athena values and loves the family feel there is in all of our homes. To work in care you really have to care, says Mandy, whether that is delivering authentic hands-on care or behind the scenes, you have to want to make a difference.

Outside of work Mandy, who is based in Lincolnshire, loves to spend time with her family, which includes her three grown up children and five grandchildren. When she has time Mandy enjoys reading, quizzes, puzzles and getting creative with calligraphy.

I have been involved in providing, managing or auditing healthcare for over 40 years. It is my passion, I am a humanitarian and I can’t imagine a more rewarding and worthwhile career for me than to be involved in helping people to live their best lives.

My role here at Athena Care Homes is as Clinical and Quality Director which gives me great responsibility and with that a great opportunity to do the best I can to support our residents to live well and happy lives.

I have worked in human resources for 25 years and the majority of that experience is with the care sector.

I consider it a privilege to be leading the HR team here at Athena. I feel I can support people that do an extremely important job, and that gives me a huge amount of satisfaction.

I have worked in health and social Care for around 15 years in both finance and operational roles.

I enjoy being part of organisations that have a true focus on care, for both residents and for colleagues – hence why I am here at Athena.

During my time in the sector I have helped companies grow successfully via acquisition, redevelopment and new builds, always keeping internal and external stakeholders well informed.

I have been using this experience to help Athena maintain high standards, whilst ensuring we have the financial resources, processes and reporting to help us grow as an organisation and as a team.

In tune with Athena’s ethos, I place a lot of value in family and I am proud of being a dad to three daughters and a husband to my wife, Angela.

I enjoy going to the gym (most) mornings and towing our tin tent around the country for memorable holidays with family and friends.

Sharon has joined Athena Care Homes as Director of Continuous Improvement and to lead the ACE (Athena Creating Excellence) team. She aims to quickly become a familiar and trusted face throughout our seven homes.

A registered nurse since 1990, with experience in acute, clinical and social care settings, Sharon has also been a care home manager, quality advisor for a care home group and has undertaken a variety of consultancy work for many different care providers.

Having already got to know a little about Athena through her consultancy work Sharon jumped at the chance to come on board as a director, saying she loves the way our company thinks outside the box and is willing to do things a little differently.

There’s always room for improvement, she says and heading up the ACE team means she will be able to concentrate on proactive support across the group as well as recovery using robust action plans where needed.

Outside of work Sharon is based in Felixstowe with her husband, a musician who runs an entertainment Agency. She has three children and a grandson, loves spending time with family as well as dog walking on the beach or working on a tapestry project.

Emma has 15 years’ experience in the healthcare sector before joining Athena Care Homes and started as a care home receptionist, then Lifestyles Co-ordinator working her was up to Home Manager and Regional Manager.

Her passion lies in making moments matter for our residents and for making sure team members have a clear career path, heading in the direction they want.

She firmly believes that care home life should be personalised to each individual and that we are there to make a positive difference I to each of our residents, achieving this through quality care and combined team effort.

Emma was attracted to Athena Care Homes by the company values and the environmental pledges which the company makes.

In her spare time Emma enjoys spending time with her son, walking her dog and running, having completed several marathons as well as obstacle course races.

After an extensive career working in Executive Support and Operations functions, in both the recruitment and investment banking sectors, I joined Athena Care Homes in June 2020 at the peak of the pandemic. This proved to be a baptism by fire, fast tracking my respect and passion for this sector, and revealing to me how hugely rewarding and satisfying it is to work in a sector that is rooted in enhancing the lives of others.

Athena Care Homes is a collaborative, respectful and fun place to work, where ideas are met with ears at all levels. There is a united pursuit to create the optimum living experience for our residents, offering the very highest standard of care. There is a real sense that team members are extended family to residents, which make Athena’s homes so comfortable, special and inviting.

As Head of Operational Support I help to take ideas to execution and support functions across the entirety of the business. It is a wide and varied role with no day being the same as the next, but as a solution orientated individual I thoroughly enjoy a challenge, making it a very rewarding role.

I have worked in a range of industries from tech to leisure, but I really enjoy knowing that my work makes a difference to people’s lives.

Having had my own experience of finding a care home for a loved one, I know how daunting it is investigating care and I'm extremely passionate that we explain our care clearly and with a personal touch.

I was attracted to Athena by our pledge that it’s ‘Our family caring for yours’. As part of that I am committed to ensuring our homes are an integral part of our local community. We pride ourselves on having a broad range of partnerships, offering support meetings, interesting and informative events and much more to people living in our local areas.

With a passion for all things digital, I am working on exciting new innovations to Athena Care Homes and ensuring that we keep our residents, loved ones and community up to date with all the fantastic work we’re doing.

With a nursing career that began in 1992, Becky brings a wealth of experience from both the NHS and private sectors, including roles in clinical practice and general practice settings. Her extensive background includes providing at-home ventilation support for patients and working with various care companies, including a decade of service with Anchor Hanover.

In her previous role as a Care Quality Manager, Becky led a team of 11 Care Quality Advisors, focusing on driving best practice, medication management, care plan improvements, upskilling care colleagues through coaching and hands on support and policy development. Most recently, she served as Head of Governance, where she played a pivotal role in ensuring high standards of care.

Becky was drawn to Athena Care Homes for its smaller, family-oriented atmosphere and outstanding reputation in the care sector. She appreciates the company’s welcoming and collaborative environment and is excited to get to know everyone while supporting nurses and care teams throughout the Athena family

I have worked within Health and Social Care for the past 25 years. I am a very sociable person and I love to work in such a people focussed environment. Getting to know our residents and their extended families and being able to deliver a high standard of care is both a privilege and an honour.

In my role as a Quality Manager, I have a passion and continuous drive to ensure there are sustained healthcare processes and our staff are empowered to achieve their goal of continuously providing effective, safe and person-centred care.

I love working within the Athena Care Family and the company values are something that everyone believes in and works hard each day to ensure are fulfilled.

I love the outdoors and in my free time, myself and my husband, love walking and exploring new places. We are currently have a project to convert a camper van which will help with future exploration.

I've worked in a variety of industries; from building management to leisure. While I started off in customer service, more recently I've started specialising in technical and maintenance. I really enjoy getting involved with the engineering specifics of projects and using this knowledge to improve our service for our residents. Although most of my work is on 'behind the scenes' parts of the business, knowing that I'm making a difference is a big motivator for me.

I moved to the Care industry in 2021 and haven't looked back. It's broadened my horizons, and has given me the chance to make a difference to people's lives in their homes.

One of the things that attracted me to Athena was their willingness to strive for better and to progress and advance. We say it's 'Our family caring for yours' and I'm proud to be part of our growing family

Michael Coleman has a dynamic career and a passion for technology. He is poised to lead our IT initiatives and ensure seamless operations across our business.

Michael will be leading on several exciting projects, including the development of an intranet system for all teams, migrating our server from the V drive to the cloud, and implementing new phone systems. His goal is to enhance our technological infrastructure, enabling us to work both efficiently and effectively.

Michael's journey to IT management is diverse. He has degree in film production, and after university, he travelled and worked for the Daily Mirror. His career then took a turn towards telecoms engineering with a seven-year tenure at Open Reach. During this period, he gained valuable experience and expertise in the field. Through home study and a growing passion for IT, Michael decided to pivot his career towards information technology.