The owner of the Twickenham franchise of Right at Home, Michelle Apostol, can rightly say that she has spent her entire career caring for other people.
Michelle has over 28 years experience in the care sector and when the opportunity arose to take over the Right at Home franchise in Twickenham in May this year she grasped it with both hands. Michelle now employs a team of 17 carers and covers a large area North and South of the Thames in Twickenham.
“I am passionate about giving good quality care. I started off as a caregiver in the Isle of Man working with adults and the elderly with mental health issues and dementia in a residential home setting. I then became a senior carer, then deputy manager and branch manager. I joined Right at Home in October 2013 as a registered manager and was immediately impressed with their high standards of care and commitment to customers,” said Michelle.
She added: “I was attracted to the franchise because there is a successful model already in place and there is a solid safety net as you know the support is there at head office. The company has a real family feel to it and the managing director Ken Deary has an excellent track record in the home care sector. In addition, we are encouraged to share knowledge and ideas throughout the network with regular meetings and conference calls.”
“I love working for myself and feeling that I am making a difference in the community. I am a natural carer and my family has always been involved in the nursing and caring professions. Joining Right at Home has been a great decision as they share my commitment to the highest standards of care and ethics for their clients. Over the next few years I would like to expand by opening a satellite office south of the river. However, what is uppermost in my mind is recruiting the right people with the right attitude to be carers. It takes a special kind of person to be a carer with the right levels of compassion. Not everyone is cut out to do this job but I am pleased to say that recent feedback from our clients has been wonderful and this is very satisfying.”