Martyn reflects on 12 years working at Sussex Housing & Care | Meet the team
Meet the team
We employ around 170 staff across our care homes, housing schemes and support office. With so many diverse roles, we would like to introduce you to some of our team. Just click on the roles below to find out more.
Care Assistant
Care Home Administrator
I support the Care Home Manager with all the administration at the home. This includes for example completing forms for new residents and staff, collating the residents’ activity calendar, paying invoices, helping to manage the budget, completing and submitting payroll and liaising with support services in Seaford.
I’m the first point of contact for everyone who walks through the door so I welcome friends and families of residents, doctors, nurses, tradesmen and I take care of all the telephone calls. Some of my colleagues say “I’m the glue that holds the home together!”
This is a very busy role and I have the freedom to complete my work, be with the residents and interact with staff. We’re a good team here.
Jessica at Oakwood Court care home, Haywards Heath.
Maintenance
I take care of the day to day maintenance of the building making sure all the checks have been done, including fire and gas safety and electrical testing. My role also includes tasks such as unblocking shower wells, checking light bulbs and cleaning the bins. There is generally a lot of cleaning involved and ensuring everything is in working order. I also decorate rooms when they become vacant.
I enjoy spending time talking to residents when I’m working in their rooms and supporting the care team. I may have my week planned out but sometimes my work can be very reactive, you never really know what you’re going to walk into in the morning, this is why I love working here.
I have enjoy the opportunity to do activities with residents such as gardening, indoor play and dancing. Outside of work, DIY is my main hobby.
Allan Manalo at Oakwood Court care home, Haywards Heath.
Scheme Manager
I love working with older people and hearing their life’s experiences. I enjoy enriching their golden years - making them easier and more pleasurable.
I've worked in a variety of care settings for many years. Care in the Community with profoundly physically disabled people and some with brain acquired injuries, before I started at Sussex Housing & Care.
Since working here I have been a manager at Saxonwood Care Home and then moved to become a Scheme Manager.
I enjoy providing a high standard of service to residents."
Fiona, Scheme Manager for Ashleigh Glegg House and Falfield in Seaford.
Martyn reflects on 12 years working at Sussex Housing & Care
Martyn is our IT and Data Protection lead and he shares his story and personal development with Sussex Housing & Care, as he has taken on more responsibility and progressed his career over the last 12 years.
“I started as a temp in the Support Services office in Seaford in 2011 when I was 25, helping in the finance team on Purchase Ledger.
A few months later I became a permanent member of staff and moved to a Housing and Estates coordinator role, where I supported the housing and property team with their admin and allocations. Even at this time I was helping out, fixing IT equipment and issues, and grew into being the IT guru!
I’ve always had an interest in IT and built my first computer when I was 11. I have a natural flair for problem solving and in 2015 I was offered the role as IT leader here. I was pleased to get this role and promotion and enjoy focusing on work that is of great interest to me.
I received training to boost my knowledge
The role involved managing all of SHC’s computer equipment, phone lines, software packages, managing our IT contracts and supporting staff internally with any IT issues. I received server management training to boost my knowledge in this area.
Two years later my role grew to encompass data protection, following the new GDPR regulations, making sure that we are compliant. This area of work was new to me so I was supported with in-depth training which meant I felt knowledgeable about this responsibility.
Having worked for Sussex Housing & Care for 12 years, I’m pleased to have progressed and grown into a role I enjoy. This year I led a project to mover the company to Microsoft 365 – allowing us to be fully cloud based and modernising our systems.
Thank you for giving me these opportunities
I particularly enjoy the more technical aspects of my role and using my problem solving skills. Thank you Sussex Housing & Care for giving me these opportunities. Also, since starting I’ve become a home owner and got two kittens!”