As the new manager at Balhousie Antiquary care home in Arbroath, Cheryl Roy is using her wealth of management experience to create a supportive environment for staff and residents.

Having worked across Balhousie Care Group in various roles, from PA to the Chairman, Tony Banks, to project-based roles supporting the operations team, Cheryl Roy has been appointed manager at Balhousie Antiquary, in her first permanent home manger position in the business.

Having been a manager for Bank of Scotland, first in Dundee’s Marketgait branch and then in the corporate banking team for 10 years prior to joining Balhousie, Cheryl has accumulated a wealth of management experience which, along with her time working across Balhousie in a number of project-based roles, has enabled her to be a highly effective home manager.

“I left Bank of Scotland to join Balhousie Care Group in 2010 to be Tony’s PA,” Cheryl said. “In this role, I gained a knowledge of every department in the business, from board meetings to working with the finance team and pulling together data and budgets. I was always really interested in the operations side of the company so, in 2017 I moved into a project role in the operations team.

“From there, I spent a year working at Alastrean, our home in Aboyne. There, I deputised for another manager and learned about the day-to-day running of the home, the admin, carrying out audits, developing the staff and building up my knowledge. I then decided to get my SVQ in Leadership and Management in the care sector.”

After a year at Alastrean, Cheryl continued to work in project roles across other care homes in the company, including opening a new low-dependency facility in Aberdeenshire. Then she joined Balhousie Antiquary. “I knew, after three years working in the operations team, that home management was the route I wanted to go down.” Cheryl was appointed Balhousie Antiquary’s home manager  in April, just as she marked 10 years with Balhousie.

Anne-Marie Edwards, a senior carer at Antiquary, who has worked at the home for over 11 years, says: “Cheryl has been very supportive of the staff and keeping us up to date with everything that’s going on and changes around the home. Staff feel that they’re supported in everything they do. Especially during COVID-19 which has been a bit more of a strain on everybody. Staff have pulled together more and are working really well together, supporting each other and Cheryl’s supporting us all through that too.”

Having closed their doors to non-essential visits to protect their residents from the threat of COVID-19 back in March, Cheryl is proud of how the staff have pulled together in such a challenging time. “The residents’ health and safety is our number one priority,” Cheryl said. “The staff all feel like that because they’re really passionate about their residents and their home. They take pride in their home. I’m just so proud of the staff and how they’ve kept the residents’ spirits high, which is something I try and encourage all the time.”

After a successful first few months on her new role, Cheryl plans to continue the good work, taking her team with her for the ride. “We are heading in a great direction. Once we are able start welcoming relatives back into the home, we will organise more fun events for them to enjoy so we can keep building that bond with them. Also, building links with the local community to spread the word about the great things happening here and build links with care managers to show them that this is a great place for those looking for a home providing this level of care.”

One of Balhousie Care’s core corporate values is ‘passion’ and that is something Cheryl has endless amounts of. “I’ve always been really passionate about Balhousie. It’s such a supportive company and there’s never anything that’s any bother to anybody. I just love the values of the company  – a very passionate, open and caring company to work for.”