Chris Taverner, Daleside Manager, is shortlisted for the Great British Care Awards

This weekend, Christine will be attending the Great British Care Awards – North West Ceremony as a finalist for the category of Frontline Leader. As a group, we are delighted to have a dedicated individual like Christine on our team.

Meet Christine:
Christine’s journey to becoming the leader and home manager that she is today started many years ago.

Christine has always felt that her calling was towards helping others. When she was 7 years old, Christine thought of working as a missionary for drought-affected countries. Eventually, at 16 years old, Christine became a cadet nurse and trained at the local hospital staying in the same department for over 30 years. Christine often says she was able to pursue her dream thanks to her family’s support.

In 1985, Christine got married and within 3 years, she became the mother of three kids. Christine is well known for her resilience and multitasking ability. A great example of this was the arrival of her first child before she qualified as a nurse. This did not stop Christine but instead gave her the courage and strength to continue her passion for helping others within her career.

Christine’s mother and father were her inspiration. Her parents always put her and her sisters first giving them the best opportunities that they could. Her family always taught her that nothing is out of reach if she works hard. Christine said that her family values of hard work, dedication and love have inspired her to be the best mother, manager, friend and leader figure in life.

Initially, Christine joined Daleside Nursing Home as a Registered General Nurse, covering one day a week and then progressing to become a Deputy Manager for several years. This year she officially got promoted to Home Manager of Daleside Nursing Home. Christine has been working at this home for over 13 years, growing the culture of the home and taking good care of the residents. She has expressed how much Daleside Nursing Home means to her and how much she loves her job and the team at the home.

Since acquiring the home, We Care Group has invested massively into renovating the environment of Daleside Nursing Home to improve the residents’ quality of life. With the new changes, Christine is hoping to be able to provide long-term care in a home where they feel well cared for and treated with dignity and respect.

When asked, Christine always mentions how blessed she feels to have her team who are caring, supportive and friendly with everyone. They ensure that the residents are always at the heart of everything they do while providing all the support that they can to give the residents as much independence as possible. We encourage residents to continue their hobbies and interests and assist with this in our care planning programme as much as possible. The key to Christine’s success is her deep connection with her community. Daleside has strong links with local churches and schools who visit as well as our local traders’ butchers and farms to source local produce.

Now as a manager, Christine thinks her biggest achievement in her career is seeing some of her junior nurses and care team members who she nurtured and supported, now become registered nurses. For her, the biggest satisfaction and achievement is changing someone’s life for the better. That is her legacy. Recently, she had the pleasure to provide care for a nurse who helped her in her youth to become the nurse she is today. She mentioned that it was an honour to care for her mentor and a small price to pay for the impact that this individual made in her life.
Christine’s life is filled with love and care that she shares at work as well as in her personal life. Besides caring for people at work, she has also opened her heart and home to foster children. Christine has fostered a teenage mum and her baby as well as a sibling group of six, aged 4 to 12.
Christine’s family means a lot to her between her birth kids and foster kids, she always says she is the proud mom of 9 gifts from God. Besides her children, Christine is also a sweet and loving grandma of four.

What does Christine enjoy in her free time?
Besides helping and supporting her community, Christine enjoys reading, knitting, crocheting, sewing and a lot of other crafts. Our craft queen has also used her skills to create beautiful additions to the home’s showrooms.
Three years ago, Christine joined a local charity and became one of the main members of the team. The charity is called Wirral Wings in Wirral. This is where she began making gowns for angel babies from donated wedding dresses and made keepsake boxes with tangible items for grieving families. The charity has appeared twice on TV at their local news station.
What is the best present Christine has ever received?
Christine is a very sentimental person, her best presents are always homemade and come from the heart. She keeps boxes of all the presents that her children and grandchildren had made for her when they were little, as these are the gifts which mean the most to Christine.
After meeting Christine and getting to know her, we all can agree that she is a great human being, filled with love and care. That is why she always puts residents, their families and her team at the heart of everything she does within Daleside Nursing Home.