A home manager from Sutton is celebrating 35 years’ service at a Banstead-based maritime charity, having dedicated her life to the care of former seafarers and mariners.
Home manager Anne Kasey from the Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society first joined the society as a nurse at the previous care home located in another area of Banstead in 1983. She worked her way up to become the home’s most senior nurse and manager in 2006.
Anne has been instrumental in the society’s continued success, ensuring the charity’s 152 years history of serving elderly and infirm former seafarers delivers its purpose. She has overseen the expansion of the care facilities at Belvedere House to include a dedicated dementia wing and ensured top results in its CQC inspections.
While rising through the ranks at the care home, Anne has gained numerous awards for her commitment. In 2014 she won the Care Home Registered Manager Award at the Nursing and Residential Care Awards followed by her Outstanding Contribution to Care Award from the Surrey Care Association. Anne was also involved in winning the prestigious Care Provider of the Year at the Surrey Care Awards in 2016 and Provider of the Year at the national Laing and Buisson Awards in 2017.
Anne’s personal loyalty to the society and home’s 68 residents shines through in all she does whether leading funeral services for residents with no family members to creating a sense of family and homeliness to those who have returned after spending their lives at sea. She has, throughout her service, proven a deep respect for the seafaring community by creating an atmosphere which indulges the story telling and camaraderie of residents; a fact which makes the home hugely popular with an ever ready waiting list.
On the milestone, Anne says: “I have always been proud of the work that the charity undertakes in caring for our residents. My achievements over the past 35 years are the charity’s successes and I am always happy to see how seafarers benefit from the service we provide. It has been a very happy three and a half decades; little did I know back in 1983 that I would still be here 35 years later. To have seen so many faces come through our doors and the joy we can bring to them is truly heart-warming, I now have the pleasure in looking to what the future brings for the society.”
Chief executive of the Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society, Commander Brian Boxall-Hunt, says: “It is humbling to see Anne’s unwavering support for the charity and the care of seafarers and their dependants over the years she has worked here. I can say without a doubt that Anne’s leadership has enabled us to continue to provide the best quality care into the 21st century. Her recent outstanding contribution award is a well-deserved symbol of all Anne has given to the health and social care sector. The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society is very proud and thankful to have Anne as part of its team. “
