For those visiting Cheriton Care Home in Dorchester, our teams are welcoming and warm.
For those running into Johanna Casemore, one of our Activities Coordinators, their day is guaranteed to become brighter. After being referred into our team by a friend, Johanna has now successfully used our referral scheme three times, and is expanding our community!
Jo grows community with our referral scheme
Johanna joined our team in April 2021, and hasn’t looked back. Clearly passionate about what she does, Jo lights up any room she’s in, and the residents feel it, too.
Jo is close to her roots; a Dorchester local of many years, it seems impossible to find a nearby family she doesn’t know of. As well as fitting right in with the team at Cheriton, Jo has now personally referred three new members. When sitting down to speak about our referral scheme, a resident named Maureen creeps up on her for a surprise embrace and a practical joke.
“We’re like family, I get called ‘Mama Jo’!” Jo laughs heartily while hugging her, “I know Maureen’s relatives – I know the families of lots of the people here! I’m a Dorset girl!”
“I’ve been in care since I was 19. I’ve gone through all the areas of being a care worker. I had a hip replacement at a young age and couldn’t lift anymore, but I still wanted to care. So… I went to activities! I learn every day. Any time I have time off I’m so excited to go back in to work. The connections you make are what’s so phenomenal about this.”
How referring friends is a win-win
The connections Jo already had, however, have made a huge impact. Her rapport with residents is noticeable, made stronger by the fact that she socialises with the younger generations of many!
Jo learned of our referral scheme early on, and suddenly, when speaking with friends who were unhappy at their own jobs, she had a mutually beneficial solution. For our care home jobs, referring a nurse will earn you £1,000, a care worker will earn you £500, and any other role will earn you £250 – and the person you’ve referred will receive a £500 welcome bonus!
Jo has now referred a member of the cleaning team, a care assistant, and a care team leader, all from her own network, and the payouts are already arriving.
“We’re all here to work as a team, and Agincare is here to support us. The scheme makes the team better, I think. We get to put people forward we know and love and trust to do a good job, and that’s all that matters! We’re honestly family, and being able to add to it with friends who care makes everyone get on that much better.”
It’s a referral Jo makes with absolute confidence. Knowing the culture at Cheriton, Jo says, “I’ve flourished here, I just feel valued.”
Residents couldn’t agree more. Des, one such, says “she’s always here when you need her, she’s a person you can rely on. I feel loved. I feel looked after.”
A team that feels like family
We want the best of the best in our care homes, and we trust our staff to recommend people who are up to the task. If successful at interview, training begins, followed by a probationary period, and finally recruits join our team fully.
“The training is fantastic,” Jo believes, “Agincare even put us forward for nail care courses – anything we want or suggest that will make residents happy, they find a way to make it happen.”
This is in part down to Denise Chrippes, our Cheriton Registered Manager. Having steered the home with a steady hand throughout the pandemic, according to Jo, she is incredible.
“She is the rock of the home and deserves recognition. She goes above and beyond, so we all follow.”
Our teams make everything we do possible, and as shown in Jo’s journey with us, each individual colleague makes a world of difference to the next.
We’re incredibly proud to bring caring not just to our clients’ communities, but to our own.
How to use our referral scheme
If you know someone who would be perfect for one of our vacancies, a big reward could be waiting for both of you. Find out how our scheme works and what the rates are across our different businesses here:
Join our teams
If you’re looking for a career with heart, join one of our fantastic teams today.