Keeping an eye on the ball: Balhousie Care staff feature in unique video to mark 30 years in business Corporate news

In a new birthday video celebrating staff and residents, leading Scottish care provider Balhousie Care Group is proving it doesn’t intend to take its eye off the ball after 30 years in business.

Balhousie’s 30^th anniversary video uses camera trickery to show staff across several homes passing a branded beachball to each other, in a nod to the fact that the company is not only ‘on the ball’ but leading the way as a care provider.

The film depicts 21^st Century care home life as Balhousie knows it: staff and residents bonding; residents playing pool and enjoying cocktails; and a range of ‘Everyday Heroes’, from care assistants to maintenance staff, demonstrating their long-term commitment to a sector still smarting from the COVID pandemic. It features staff and homes with particular significance to Balhousie: people who are both long serving and new recruits, who have found friendship and built impressive careers.

Kath Cargill and Pat Lawrie, both senior carers at Balhousie Monkbarns in Arbroath and also firm friends, have each chalked up 30 years in care, having joined the care home, formerly under another operator, in 1992. “It started as a way to earn extra money in a cleaning job, then I moved into care. This has been my career. I love it,” says Pat.

The video, produced by Mediaworks and shot across four care homes in Angus, ends with a party scene at Balhousie Lisden in Kirriemuir, Balhousie’s original home, which opened in 1991. An impressive sandstone building with expansive gardens, Lisden remains the company’s jewel in the crown.

Also featured in the video are:

Brenda Coutts and Kay Robertson, carers and long-time friends who work at Balhousie Lisden, the original Balhousie care home in Kirriemuir. The pair supported each other through a hard-hitting COVID outbreak they say they could not have got through without each other. Kay has worked for Balhousie for 22 years, Brenda for five.
Joan Clement, a long-time senior carer at Balhousie Willowbank in Carnoustie, who features alongside Reagan Paeth, familiar from some of Balhousie’s recruitment posters. Willowbank is run by one of Balhousie’s longest-serving staff members, Jan Robertson, who joined the company when it began 30 years ago.
Louise Clancy, who started as a carer at Balhousie Moyness in Broughty Ferry, never thinking she would make a career in care. Now she is Home Manager at Balhousie Monkbarns in Arbroath.
Terry Banks, sister of founder and Chairman Tony Banks. A nurse, Terry helped Tony out as he built his business, moving into Home Manager then Operations Support roles, which she still does.
Laura Nicol, new Activities Co-ordinator at Balhousie Lisden, and Lisden nurse Robyn Oliphant.
Tom Reynolds, Maintenance Operative who works in Balhousie’s two Carnoustie homes, Willowbank and Brookfield.
Recent Balhousie Brookfield recruits Cheryl Gray and Oliver Hunt; Holly Findlay from Balhousie Brookfield.
Laura Towner from Balhousie Monkbarns.

John Kirk, Deputy Chief Executive Officer with Balhousie Care Group, said: “This video sums up beautifully what Balhousie is all about. We are a company with people – residents, staff, relatives and our communities – at its heart and we work together to achieve success. Huge thanks to Mediaworks, our communications team and our participating staff and relatives for making it happen.”

Success this last week alone for Balhousie Care Group has included another awards accolade, national headlines and a flood of excellent customer reviews. Chairman Tony Banks, a former Para, who founded the company with a home in Kirriemuir in 1991, was highly commended in the Business Leader of the Year Category in the Scottish Ex-Forces in Business Awards. Liz Thomson, Activities Coordinator at Balhousie Huntly and at 81 believed to the oldest care worker in the country, was mentioned in Scottish Parliament thanks to two motions put forward by Alexander Burnett MSP. Meanwhile, the company reached a record 9/10 ranking on the reviews-based site carehome.co.uk.

The video, which features on the company website and social media channels, is just the latest in Balhousie’s year-long 30^th birthday celebrations, which began last Autumn. Other events have included care home parties, a monthly prize giveaway for staff, and a commemorative 40-page glossy magazine.