Meet the Tennyson Wharf Care Home Team

Tracie began her career within the care industry around 13 years ago when she began working in the community where she worked as a Senior Carer, then a Team Leader for Age UK.

Tracie decided she would like a change in her career and work in a care home where she joined the team at Tennyson Wharf in 2015, just 2 months after it opened. She really enjoys her role as Deputy Manager, working alongside Sarah to support our magnificent team and residents.

Jess Payne is one of our Team Leaders and also a Dementia Champion. She supports the management team, drives improvements and has lots of dementia experience.

Jess is very patient and kind and when she is not working she enjoys spending time with her family.

Nicola Hodson is a team leader here at Tennyson Wharf, her main role is to look after the health and wellbeing of our residents. Nicola’s journey in caring started in 2007.

When Nicola is not at work, she enjoys walking her dog Millie, spending time with her husband and being creative doing lots of different craft projects.

Karen joined Tennyson Wharf in April 2022 as the home`s Administrator. Previously Karen worked for another care provider for 20 years so comes with tons of experience.

Karen enjoys being able to help and support people and am pleased to be able to do this as part of her job role at Tennyson Wharf and gets satisfaction from being able to offer help to the lovely residents and their families with anything relating to finances or administration as well as interacting with our residents on a daily basis to make their lives more enjoyable.

In her spare time, Karen enjoys spending time with her family going for long walks with her dog. Karen also likes travelling and holidays especially to the Greek Islands, Skiathos and Zakynthos being 2 of her favourite destinations to date.

Hi my name is Rebecca, I started working at Tennyson Wharf in July 2024. 

Previous to starting at Tennyson Wharf I have lived in many countries and worked as a supply teacher and administrator in Bahrain in the Middle East - I have also worked in scouting programme groups in both the USA and UK. 

Whilst I have worked with children for a lot of my life, working with the elderly is always been something I have been passionate about. I believe that everybody has a story to tell and our residents life stories all add value to Tennyson Wharf. 

Outside of work I enjoy walking, gardening and going to the cinema. 

Dawn is our Head Chef who joins the team here at Tennyson Wharf with a wealth of catering experience.

Dawn was military trained and latterly worked in the RAF as a Chef. She is passionate about delivering freshly prepared, nutritious meals with a person centred approach.

In her spare time Dawn enjoys keeping fit by running and visiting the gym, and she also has a young family to keep her busy.

Andrew joined the Tennyson Wharf Family in February 2023.

Andrew has over 30+ years experience working in Maintenance within the Hotel industry, but decided he wanted a change. 

Andrew is settling into his role at Tennyson Wharf very well and nothing is too much trouble. He has a passion for helping others and loves engaging with our residents and staff. 

In his spare time Andrew is a lover out the outdoors and walking.

Michelle has over 15 years experience in the cleaning industry before coming to join the Tennyson Wharf team as a care assistant for 3 years before taking on the role as head of housekeeping in July 2021. Michelle loves to ensure the home is kept clean for our residents and their relatives to enjoy when they come to visit. Her favourite part of her job is working alongside a great team and spending time with the residents, learning about their lives and what is important to them.

I have worked for Barchester nearly 6 years.  I worked in the kitchen for 5 years but changed my position within the company and now am an Admin Assistant and love my job.

I love the residents and staff at Tennyson, we are like one big family. 

I am a Mum of 2 plus 2 step children and 14 gran children and 1 great gran child.

Claire is an new Admin Assistant at Tennyson Wharf. She loves working with our elderly residents and helping them with all their daily needs and has previously worked as an experienced Care Assistant. 

Claire takes great enjoyment from spending time with our residents and talking to them about life in the home and in and around community of Burton Waters. 

Hello, I am Peter and I am the resident representative at Tennyson Wharf.

I was head of geography at a secondary school in Leicestershire and then I moved into finance. I initially moved into Tennyson Wharf in 2022 after a knee operation for some respite care but enjoyed it so much I decided to stay.

My main role as resident representative is being a voice for my fellow residents, I have regular meetings with our general manager where we discuss feedback and events or activities residents would like to see on the calendar. I enjoy my role as resident representative as I really feel I am making a difference to life at Tennyson Wharf for staff and residents.

Donna joined the team here at Tennyson Wharf over 3 years ago with great experience in front facing hospitality roles. Donna is a lively person who spreads happiness within the home with her naturally caring nature. Donna always ensures she takes time to get to know each resident and their loved ones and is always happy to stop for a friendly chat.

I have been working for Tennyson Wharf since June 2023. I love working here as we are a very good team we always help each other if need be.

I enjoy joining in with the activities, singing, dancing, going down memory lane, puzzles, colouring and trips out on our minibus. 

I currently support our residents who have dementia which is such a rewarding job. 

Meet Diane, our Activities Coordinator.

Diane originally joined Tennyson Wharf as a Care Assistant but decided for a change where she became part of our Activities Team.

Diane does a fantastic job at supporting our residents with engaging, stimulating activities and thrives off making others happy.

Joan is our newest addition to our activities team, she bring a wealth of creativity and has so many skills that enrich our activity program.

In her spare time Joan enjoys keeping busy, making cakes, crocheting and crafting. Joan enjoys learning new crafts to show us all.

My name is Derrick, I am the head Gardner here at Tennyson.  I take pride in the beautiful gardens here and love there to be plants of interest and lots of colour all year round.  I enjoy getting involved with our residents and often they help me with the planting and watering.  My job here is a joy not a job.

I enjoy holidays and visiting gardens of interest with my partner.

Rosie is our hairdresser who has been with us since we opened 9 years ago. Rosie comes into our home every Tuesday to provide a private hairdressing service. Whether it is a wash cut and blow dry or a perm. Residents always look wonderful when they come out of the salon.

In her spare time Rosie enjoys riding her horse and walking her dog. She loves to be outside in the fresh air.