When Ramona first walked through the doors of Meadowcroft Care Home in 2018, she was working as an agency care assistant. Almost a decade later, she is Deputy Manager of the home. Her journey is one of the clearest examples of what a career in care with SDR can look like when people are given the support to grow.

From her first shifts, Ramona found something at Meadowcroft that agency work rarely offers: a place she wanted to keep coming back to. She connected with the residents, valued her colleagues, and quickly felt at home.

“It never really felt like a care home to me,” she says. “It’s more like a big home with a big family. I got to know all the residents and the staff, and it became somewhere I actually wanted to be every day.”

That commitment did not go unnoticed. In 2019, SDR offered Ramona a permanent position – the first step in what would become a long and progressive career with us.

Over the following years, Ramona continued to provide high-quality, compassionate care to residents while steadily building her professional skills, with SDR backing her development along the way.

Ramona was supported through her Level 3 Diploma in Health and Social Care, which she completed in 2023. With that foundation in place, she stepped into a Shift Leader role, taking on greater responsibility for resident outcomes and becoming a steady, reliable presence for the team around her.

“I’ve had so many opportunities to grow here,” she says. “SDR put me through my Level 3, my skills in supporting residents came on massively, and I’m now just a few observations away from finishing my Level 5.”

Elderly care brings challenging situations, and they arise often. Time and again, Ramona showed she could keep a clear head, find practical solutions, and bring out the best in the people working alongside her – exactly the qualities that mark out a future leader.

In November 2024, Ramona was appointed Deputy Manager at Meadowcroft. It is a role that carries more administration and far greater accountability for the running of the home – but it has not taken her away from the work she loves. Ramona has no intention of stepping back from the floor, and remains a hands-on presence for both residents and staff.

She is now close to completing her Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Adult Care, with only a few observations remaining.

Almost a decade on from that first agency shift, Ramona’s progression from care assistant to Deputy Manager reflects what we set out to do for everyone who joins us: recognise potential, invest in development, and open up a genuine path to progress.

We are incredibly proud to have Ramona as part of the SDR team, and proud of everything she brings to Meadowcroft every day.

If you are looking for a career in care – not just a job – with an employer that funds your qualifications and supports your progression, we would like to hear from you.

Explore current opportunities at SDR.