Seabourne House, a specialist dementia care home in Bournemouth run by Luxurycare Group, has welcomed a new care home manager, Beverly Harris, to the team.
Harris has worked in care across the Bournemouth area for over 22 years, working her way up from healthcare assistant to care home manager.
After studying to become a welfare officer at Bournemouth College, her first job in care came in 1997, working in a challenging dementia home whilst raising a young daughter. Over the course of her career, Harris has worked her way up the ladder and first became a care home manager in 2001. Following her 22 years' experience in care, she was offered a position as care home manager at Seabourne House.
Seabourne House is a specialist dementia care home based in Southbourne and is part of the Luxurycare Group, which runs four care homes across Bournemouth and Poole. Harris is responsible for the care and welfare of all 48 residents at the home, taking over from Seabourne House temporary manager, Rosanne Buckingham.
As well as helping residents, Harris is also very keen to increase the home's community ties in Southbourne.
She says: "During my time at Seabourne House, I am very keen to work with the Southbourne community and improve the home's community ties. We already have links with the local church café, and the residents love taking trips there. In the past, we have opened up the home for the local community to pop-in and enjoy an afternoon tea, which we will definitely do again."
Her passion for care stems from her childhood, as her grandmother owned Poole Day Centre, an adult social care facility, and she remembers spending summer holidays as a child in the grounds of the home. Her mother was also a care home manager at a number of homes across the Bournemouth area.
Harris adds: "I remember each summer holiday when I was a child, my siblings and I would visit the care centre that my grandmother ran. As well as playing in the gardens, we would help out around the centre, which is something I've always enjoyed. It was a natural path for me to take - following in my grandmother's and mother's footsteps."
Kevin Gunputh, founder of Luxurycare Group, says: "All of us at Luxurycare Group are thrilled to have such an experienced and professional care home manager on board. The carers at Seabourne House offer residents an amazing standard of care and this is bound to continue with Bev's guidance."
