I provide strategic guidance and direction to the board of directors to ensure M&D achieves its mission and objectives. Prior to this role, I worked as M&D Care’s Director of Operations. I have worked within the care sector for 13 years; working consistently within the field of complex needs and learning disabilities care, but also within some more secure settings.

I am thankful to be able to say that I have worked across all departments within the organisation. I work closely with the Finance and Commercial departments, and regularly liaise with the HR and Operations teams promoting a joined-up approach. As M&D Care’s Managing Director, I feel the way to ensure your business is working most efficiently, is to understand each department and spend time providing support and guidance when moving forward.

I am extremely proud of the accomplishments of M&D Care; growing from one small care home to the organisation it is today. Although we have grown quickly, we have stayed true to our core values.

The success of this company is deeply personal to me. I am very lucky to have worked alongside my mother and fellow Company Director – Michelle Martin for a number of years. Her skills and knowledge have been invaluable to us as an organisation and certainly aided my own development.

We are very fortunate to have many family members, and friends across the organisation who help us share the strong core values the organisation has. We are also very grateful to the staff team who have joined us along the way who helped and continue to develop the organisation.

As a Board of Directors we are really proud that the organisation can offer such a wide range of support options to the people we support.

My goal as Managing Director is to push for further success and quality, ensuring we are providing the best care possible for the people we support. I truly believe that having high support needs should not be a barrier to living independently and this is one of our core values as an organisation.

One of many objectives going forward for the organisation is to continue developing. Whether it’s improving the care we currently provide by consistently looking at our practice and looking at innovative ways to improve further, or by developing our services with further homes and to provide care to more people in need.

When I come into work each day, I feel extremely proud. I can truly say that we have a fantastic staff team, whose skills and commitment to us as an organisation have been invaluable in the organisations progress.

I began my career in 1978, at the age of 16. I completed a qualification in social work; however, my passion lay within mental health and learning disability and I became a student working within mental a large psychiatric unit in Carmarthen, where I worked for 14 years.

At the time, St David’s hospital had 1300 beds and was your traditional psychiatric unit of its time. It `housed` people with mental illness, some learning disability and many other conditions. I was privileged to be part of the beginning of community care and the move from traditional hospital to community living.

I qualified as a psychiatric nurse and worked as an enrolled nurse, staff nurse and ward manager, progressing to working within the community.

I progressed my working life in Swansea, where I worked within mental health, learning disability, addiction and forensic services. After five years, I went to work within the medium secure service of the Caswell Clinic, Bridgend working within addictions, inpatient, prison, courts and community. My role was assessing, treating and providing a link to the high secure services of Ashworth, Broadmoor and Bristol women’s prison.

In 2005, I was offered an opportunity to commission two 24-hour nursing services within social care and I left the NHS to work for an Independent service called ALKARE Therapeutics service, based within the area of Swansea.

From this, I learnt a great deal around the setting up of services and with two other shareholders, I set up M&D Care Ltd in 2007; commissioning our first home in 2008.

I am a standing member of Care Forum Wales, representing care home owners on a national level with the Welsh government and regularly advise to independent services around the process of commissioning and project development.

I stand as member of the Learning Disability Ministerial Advisory Group, advising within this as to the needs of the care services within wales.

I have worked as an independent hospital inspector directly responsible to Health Inspectorate Wales.

My role within the company is the Company Developments Director. At M&D Care, we take our responsibility seriously when we talk about our workforce being well trained, fit for purpose and happy in their roles.

All of my roles have been around working with individuals whose behaviour is a challenge through their diagnosis and life experience. I have a passion for making a difference and maintaining care as a progressive process rather than a barrier to `ordinary life`.

I am proud of the work of the M&D Care Ltd team.

I joined M&D Care in October 2018. I am a qualified Chartered Accountant having trained in the audit practice of Coopers & Lybrand, a predecessor firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers where I gained experience working with a broad range of companies in a variety of sectors. Before joining M&D Care, I held the position of Finance Director with International Greetings UK Limited, a world leader in the design, manufacture, and distribution of gift packing products. In 2010, I joined Sogefi Filtration Limited, the UK manufacturing subsidiary of Sogefi SpA an Italian listed business supplying the global automotive sector. Whilst at Sogefi, I was involved in the successful restructure of the UK business.

As Finance Director at M&D Care, I manage the finance team, and am responsible for all aspects of the company’s financial health, combining operational and strategic roles to establish a financial strategy delivering sustainable long-term growth of the business.

I have been a company Director since August 2017. Prior to this role, I worked at a Head of Service capacity. In my role, I oversee care and quality in the Residential and Domiciliary Care aspects of the business.

I have worked in the Health and Social Care sector for 14 years. In that time frame, I have managed Community Mental Health Projects, Residential Care Homes, and Domiciliary Care Agencies. I have a passion for PBS, Solution Focused approaches and Active Support. I have experience working in Private and Third Sectors working with Mental Health Diagnoses, Complex Learning Disabilities & Physical Disabilities.

I have worked in the Health and Social Care sector for the past 30 years specialising in Marketing and Communications, I was drawn to M&D Care by their passion for people and focus for providing exceptional care and support. Since joining M&D Care in 2020 as the Marketing and Communications Manager, alongside my team we have worked to transform this critical area of the business, championing employee engagement and helping to shape and promote our company’s core values, as well as delivering innovative talent acquisition.

Towards the end of 2021 we re-aligned the company structure to better fit our long term vision, and it made perfect sense for us to expand the remit of the People and Culture team to enhance performance in other key areas, most notably within recruitment and retention and promoting us as the employer of choice within the communities in which we operate.

For me one of the greatest assets of M&D Care is its people. An integral part of our people-first culture is treating people with respect and ensuring everyone has a sense of belonging. Placing people at the heart of everything we do is essential but also listening and hearing their voices is vital. It’s imperative that we are passionate about the culture of our business and remain positive because it’s this passion that will inspire others.

I report directly to the board on the operations and quality standards in the residential services and supported living aspects of M&D Care.

Within my time at M&D Care, I have been a Registered Manager in several homes and worked in the M&D Care Domiciliary Care Agency.

In my time with M&D Care, I have worked with complex learning disability, mental health and worked in the PBS department.

I am a BILD (British Institute of Learning Disability) member. I have responsibility for ensuring that standards are maintained and the organisation. I regularly spend time in the services with the workers focusing on best practices.