More Greensleeves News

Three further homes are successful in their assessment.

The Investors in People award is one of the main national awards which recognises high standards in management and employment. An independent assessor compares an employer against defined national standards in management practice, leadership, teamwork, training, development and continuous improvement to determine whether they reach the required standard. We reported last year that three Greensleeves Homes - The Briars, Broadlands and St Cross Grange - had this award.

Congratulations now go to Queen Elizabeth House (Bromley, Kent), Mount Ephraim House (Tunbridge Wells, Kent), and Kingston House (Calne, Wiltshire) who have now been accredited with Investors in People.

Holders of the award have to be re-assessed every three years. Broadlands (Oulton Broad, Suffolk) were the first Greensleeves home to gain Investors in People in 2003 and are now the first to have had their award renewed. We continue to make progress towards our objective of all our Homes gaining Investors in People status in the future.

Staff Member Feature – Debbie Andrews – Gardener – Broadlands

Debbie has been a professional gardener now for 15 years and Broadlands has enjoyed having her taking care and developing their gardens and grounds since June 2004. She used to work in many different places but now Broadlands takes up all her time.

Debbie gets the most satisfaction from asking our Residents for ideas on the gardens. This has led to one of her largest pieces of work – creating a cottage garden flowerbed with many of their favourite flowers and woodland plants – it is a riot of colour and variety. Most notable is the Arbutus "The Strawberry Plant" which is going to be a major attraction.

Other excellent developments have been the new arbour, flowering arch, new paths, seating and a new vegetable garden which is flourishing with delicious new potatoes, peas, cabbages, broad and runner beans and more all appearing as "Home Grown" on the menus on the dining tables regularly. Next year Debbie hopes to be able to extend the vegetable section, redevelop the side areas and refresh the rose border with lots of new fuchsias.