Meet the Thistle Hill Care Home Team

I trained as an adult nurse in India. I worked as a critical care nurse in the Middle East for 18 years before joined Thistle Hill in 2018.

Hi my name is Jino and I am the clinical lead at Thistle Hill.

I have had the good fortune of working at Thistle Hill for eleven years and I have been a nurse for twenty four years.

I became a nurse because I have a passion for helping people and I want to enrich the lives of my resident, that feeling is as strong today as when I first went into nursing.

When I’m not caring for others I love to be with my wife and children.

I moved from Romania in 2016 to work for Barchester Healthcare as a registered Nurse and I’ve loved every moment of my time with the company.

I find my role incredibly fulfilling and I take great satisfaction in helping to enrich the lives of my residents who have a different variety of neurological conditions.

I see my residents and colleagues as my extended family.   I love to learn and better myself professionally and personally.  I like to push myself to the limits and recently I have enjoyed new hobbies which include skydiving and snowboarding.

Mark has been a part of the Barchester family since 2014 and began his career at Thistle Hill

Having come into the company as a Care Assistant, later a Senior Carer, he then moved onto Activities, becoming Senior Activities for the North Yorkshire area and now as a Customer Relationship Manager.

Marks passion has always been found in wanting to better the lives our residents and to help them find and enjoy new experiences. taking great pride in supporting our homes and being there for our residents and families.

Within his role Mark supports our home with Community Engagement, building relationships with groups and charities in the area and supporting our wonderful activities teams with their home events.

Hi, my name is Debbie and I have been working at Thistle Hill for two years, and started as a part time admin assistant which I loved, however the chance to become administrator has recently arisen and I was appointed and started this position which is full time in June.  I am really enjoying my new position.

I like to spend my spare time with my family I have two grown up daughters both of whom are nurses.

One of my daughters works here at Thistle Hill.   I am a proud grandmother to two lovely granddaughters who are nine and two. 

I like to travel when this is permitted and love Corfu in Greece where I have been on holiday for 15 years.  I recently went to Las Vegas with my younger daughter, where we spend time exploring, and visited the Grand Canyon via helicopter flying over the Hoover Dam.

I like walking, reading and socialising.

Hi, my name is Ursula and I am activities coordinator here at Thistle Hill. I have worked at Thistle Hill since 2009, working as an activities coordinator before joining the care team where I have spent the last few years.  

The team have created a lovely culture within the home, we all work together to give our residents the best possible experience, we provide a stimulating and socially active environment, we have an awareness of our residents preferences, so we can deliver a person centred programme to each and every resident, it is this knowledge and experience of the home which is helping me know what they like to do now.  I have known some of the residents for many years!

I love to get to know our residents, creating wonderful wholesome dishes for them to enjoy. Understanding their individual nutrition and dietary needs is very important, and we take great pride in knowing the food we serve helps to improve residents' well-being here at the home. 

Stephen is responsible for maintaining the environment and equipment within Thistle Hill, thereby ensuring the comfort, safety and well being of our residents.

Hi my name is Leslie and I’m proud to have the role of Head Housekeeper at Thistle Hill.  ’m proud to lead a hard working team of housekeepers and laundry staff.  We aim to make the home clean and, of course, homely and comfortable for our residents.

We take great pride in helping to prepare rooms for new residents and will take into account individual preferences for colour schemes whenever possible. On a daily basis, the housekeepers will clean all bedrooms and communal areas. We have a large amount of laundry to wash, iron and return to residents, but our dedicated staff will do this as quickly as possible and to a high standard.

I really enjoy spending time with the residents at Thistle Hill, giving them company and hearing about their life stories.

Emma joined the Thistle Hill family in the spring of 2024 and quickly became a much valued member of the team as our homes Administration Assistant. 

She enjoys being the first port of call that families and visitors meet when they come into the home and enjoys making people feel welcome. 

Emma speaks warmly about how much she enjoys interacting with our residents and spending time with them, joining in with activities where she is able. 

Away from the home Emma enjoys spending time with her family and going for walks with her dog.

My name is Jean and I have lived at Thistle Hill since 2014. The carers are so good to me and they feel like a second family.

The care team are always there for me and no ask for help is ever too big or small.

I take great pride in being the Resident Ambassador. Everyday i like to say good morning to everyone and make everybody a cup of tea or coffee.

I really enjoy helping Mandy in the office and welcoming guests as they come into the reception.

I was so proud to reach the final of the Barchester care awards for the resident ambassador of the year in 2022.

My interests are helping people, sewing, being creative and I have two beautiful budgies called Ernie and Bingo.

I also enjoy going shopping and going to the pub

My name is Jan Cooper and I am proud to be a Care Assistant here at Thistle Hill. 

I have been with Thistle Hill since 2003. I take great pride in my work, and I strive to improve the quality of life for our residents, giving them a great lived experience and plenty of comfort.

I have attended many dementia training courses and seen our Memory Lane community receive great write-ups and awards over the years, and I am proud to pass my skills and knowledge on to my team.

I’m always here for the relatives and extended family members to help support them in any way I can.

I am proud to be the second chef at Thistle Hill and I take great satisfaction in preparing high quality meals for our residents. I am passionate about cooking and I bring this passion in to my role.

I enjoy spending time with the residents and listening to their experiences.

I like to take on feedback from our residents and ideas about tailored dishes and meals I can prepare for them individually.

Mahek joined the Thistle Hill family in 2024 and quickly became a much valued member of the team between our residents and colleagues.

She speaks warmly about how much she is enjoying getting to know the residents and taking pride in her role, making the home as comfortable and homely as she can.

Away from the home Mahek represents England in Taekwondo competitions, she began taking part in Karate at the age of 3. 

She also plays for a womens football team and enjoys competitive sports.

Bob has been a part of the Thistle Hill family since 2016 and in his time with the home has been a much valued care assistant and housekeeper. 

He speaks about how much he enjoys speaking with the residents and making them smile.

Bob takes great pride in his role, wishing the home to look at it's very best for our residents. 

Away from the home, Bob enjoys playing snooker, watching football and spending time with his family.

Darren has been a part of the Thistle Hill family since 2020 and is proud to be the gardener for the home.

He takes immense pride in our grounds, wishing for them to always look it's best for our residents and their loved ones enjoyment. 

Darren loves to spend time with our residents and enjoys getting to know them. 

Away from the home, Darren loves to spend time with his family and grandchildren and visiting Whitby for his holidays.

Hello, my name is Carol and I’m a volunteer on Memory Lane.  I’ve started visiting Thistle Hill in 2012 when looking after family member who was one of the residents here.

As I’m retired now I have more time to give back to the community and regular visits are helping with my own routine. I enjoy spending time with residents singing, playing games or have a friendly chat. 

My name is Chris and I’m the physiotherapist at Thistle Hill.  Since qualifying in 2006 I have worked in several care homes around the UK specialising in elderly rehabilitation. I have worked for Thistle Hill since January 2018.

Working as a physiotherapist at Thistle Hill,  I have seen first hand  residents, who have previously been through a rehabilitation programme in hospital, make significant improvements in their flexibility, mobility, strength and agility which in turn improves their quality of life within the home.

My role involves running a weakly baking club and also a chair based exercise class for residents who enjoy exercising to music.

Ursula and Katie make up our fantastic Activities Team here at Thistle Hill.

They develop and oversee an active living programme for each resident, which encourages mobility, social contact, independence and fun. Each and every person can thrive and live to their full potential with no day ever being the same. They bring great enthusiasm and spark to the home and have one passion, which is to deliver an amazing and vibrant activities programme to cater to all tastes and abilities.