Amanda Owen has dedicated the last 40 years of her professional life to caring for children and young people – formerly as Children’s Matron at Colchester General Hospital, and head of nursing in the children’s A&E department at Whipps Cross University Hospital, before opening Seaside Care Homes with co-founder, Sarah Crow in 2008.
Her love for the job is palpable; she doesn’t hesitate when asked about what she enjoys most about it. “I love the young people we care for,” she says. “Our home is their forever home and I love that we give them that chance. I also love that my team feels exactly the same way.
“The young people who live with us have a very fulfilled life and the team acts as a huge advocate in making sure that happens.”
Many of the residents who live at Seaside Care Homes in Clacton-on-Sea have been there for more than 10 years. Amanda fondly refers to them as ‘my kids’, even though she admits that they’re now young adults. To her, they are family.
It’s little wonder that when we talk about purpose and what drives the business, it comes straight from the heart. “I am a nurse first and foremost, not a business person,” she admits. “We care for young people with complex needs, so when they come to us our aim is to make their life better. I want to make sure they’re cared for in a way that every single person would want to be cared for. I want the best for everyone.”
For Amanda, “work’s not really work”. However, she still recognises the importance of providing a positive and fulfilling working environment for her staff. “I am nothing without my staff,” she says. “I want them to feel valued and looked after.”
In March 2022, Seaside Care Homes was acquired by Tristone, with Owen remaining in the business as managing director. Owen admits that the team at Tristone have allowed her to continue to run the business independently – remaining faithful to the corporate parent model that exists across the business community. But, with it, Tristone has added layers of added value that have helped the business to prosper.
“Before Tristone came onboard, it was just me and Sarah,” explains Amanda. “Being part of a bigger group means we get a different kind of support and the opportunity to offer our staff benefits and rewards that we couldn’t offer before.”
In May, Seaside opened a new home – it’s second in Clacton-on-Sea. The brand new £500,000 facility, Marella Lodge, has been designed and developed to the highest standard, offering a fully accessible, home-from-home environment for four individuals with complex health needs. After having to close two respite homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, this is a significant milestone for the business and one that will hopefully be followed by another opening in the near future.
Despite more than 100 people turning up to a recruitment open day at Marella Lodge, the workforce issue still remains a challenge for Amanda and the sector as a whole.
“You can fill a home up with staff,” admits Amanda. “The problem is, they have to be the right staff. I don’t just want bums on seats; I’d rather work short than have the wrong people working with our young people.”
Together with the logistical challenges of opening a new home in a post-COVID, post-Brexit world – a world where “everything is a bit more difficult”, as Amanda puts it – engaging with the local authority on placements and prices remains another hurdle to try and overcome.
However, Amanda is not one to dwell on the negatives – in fact, she is the complete opposite. “If you don’t love your job, then you should go and get another one,” she says. The passion and dedication she has for her job, for Seaside, her residents, and her staff, means Amanda is not going anywhere any time soon.
