Home Instead (Taunton & West Somerset)

Mark has worked as a GP in Somerset for 30 years. During this time, he also worked for the government as an advisor on health policies and worked in industry-leading hospitals, diagnostic units, pathology and social care services such as home care.

Working in Home Care is what Mark is most passionate about. Ensuring that everyone has the best care, support and independent life where they are happiest can make such a positive impact on families. It has always been his motivation to get to know people and try and enable them to have the best life in their own homes for as long as they would like to continue to be supported.

Mark feels that Home Instead Taunton & South West Somerset have an amazing team and the reason they are OUTSTANDING providers as rated by CQC and therefore are seen as being in the top 3% of home care providers in the country.

Despite his impressive background, one of Marks's fondest memories is of being in a pub 10 years after he left his practice in Frome, Somerset. One of his previous patients came up to him to thank him for all the support and kindness that he had shown during tough times all those years ago. The impact of his support had stayed with him all those years.

Mark is an avid sports lover, even if on the sidelines now, but sometimes he can be tempted to join in! He enjoys spending time at home with his wonderful family, dogs, cat and garden. Most of all, Mark loves people and likes spending time socialising whenever the opportunity arises.

Rebecca is a local GP signposting you for your care needs whenever you need it. She believes care should always be in your own home wherever it is safe to do so.

Before joining the Home Instead family, Jo had experience in running her own furniture company and being a Senior Sales Negotiator before settling in HR and Finance for Debenhams. Whilst working for Debenhams head office, the COVID-19 epidemic hit and Jo couldn’t sit back and do nothing. She became a Care Assistant and soon found her calling. It didn’t feel like work to her.

Jo is very proactive and hands-on in her role. She loves knowing that she is helping those who wish to stay home – after all, home is where the heart is!

Jo is mindful that it can be a daunting time when that special someone needs a helping hand, and she takes great pride in being a part of that journey.

She thrives on being able to make a positive difference to those in the community and when she’s not out with her clients, she’ll be busy with her friends and family exploring Somerset!

Debbie brings a wealth of experience. She was a Registered Nurse for many years working in medical wards, in research, and as a Stroke Coordinator who supported people in their homes following stroke. She was also part of a team setting up several services, Thrombolysis following a stroke at YDH, and Telehealth supporting people in the community across Somerset to better manage long-term conditions. Not to mention Complex Care South Somerset and a Senior Ward Sister.

After this impressive career, Debbie joined Home Instead as she truly believes in the ethos of the company. Home Instead allows time to support our clients and build relationships. Nothing is too much trouble from the Directors to the office team as they are dedicated to supporting clients.

Her passion will always be supporting people in their own homes, to stay well, understand their care needs, and provide them with support and options on how best to remain independent and keep out of hospital.

Debbie considers her career as a Registered Nurse to have given her lots of privileges which have made her the person she is today. She is honoured that she can share her knowledge and experiences with the team to ensure that all clients receive 'OUTSTANDING' care.

When not busy trailblazing the industry, Debbie enjoys exploring in her caravan. She loves travelling around England and is looking forward to venturing to Europe.

Debbie is all about family and loves looking after her three grandchildren and supporting her three children and husband, Ian.

Clare started working for Home Instead in January 2020. Her role is to support the Business Owners and ensure the efficient running of the business on a day-to-day basis.

Her background is a qualified counsellor and has worked in education supporting young people academically and personally. Health and Wellbeing background and organising and managing events. Her experience makes her a fantastic Office Manager

Clare is passionate about the high-quality, person-centred approach to care that Home Instead provides is so reassuring. Her career has always been based on her commitment to providing excellent tailor-made support to individuals.

She loves working with the team! She finds that they are the most amazing, caring, supportive people she has ever had the pleasure to work with and manage the team to work from home and in the community through COVID-19. We continued to provide our high-quality service, supporting; the team, clients, family and friends without compromising quality or service is one of her proudest achievements.

Clare is very active around Somerset. Spending time walking her dog, horse riding, playing tennis and dancing. You will find her spending time with my favourite people relaxing!

Following in her family’s footsteps, Emma’s career has always been focused on elderly care. She has worked in both nursing and residential care homes. When the COVID-19 Pandemic hit she joined the front lines at Musgrove Park Hospital where she worked as a Senior Health Care Assistant on an elderly care unit. This experience made her want to support the ageing community in staying at home safely and she discovered Home Instead.

Emma is both caring and empathic to both clients and Care Professionals. Her favourite thing about her role is supporting individuals to remain safe and well at home, support or adaptations are implemented to ensure they can stay where they want to.

Emma loves spending time with her family and friends. She and her fiancé are quite competitive and love playing a good card game! When not battling it out, they will often visit new places and try new foods.

A natural empath, Sarah started her career as well-being lead for a children’s foster care company, her main role was supporting children who were victims of abuse, managing their day-to-day life and supporting them through their trauma. During covid, she then began being the primary carer for her Grandma and a few other clients which led her to her Home Instead journey.

She was impressed that everyone at Home Instead from the Owners to the Care Professionals genuinely cares for their clients and Care Professionals, which means providing above and beyond care comes naturally to them all.

Sarah is passionate about supporting end-of-life clients in their own homes. Something she feels is a great privilege to be able to make their finals days, weeks and months as comfortable as possible.

When not looking after her clients, Sarah loves spending time with family and friends.

With over 13 years of experience in the care industry, Brittany brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to her role as a Client Care Consultant at Home Instead. Before joining Home Instead, she worked as a D2A (Discharge to Assess) Senior Reablement Assistant in Taunton, where she gained extensive experience in helping clients transition from hospital to home.

Throughout her career, Brittany has worked in various areas of care, including residential care, dementia support, and working with young adults with learning disabilities and complex needs. While she enjoyed her time as a Reablement Assistant, Brittany was eager to expand her knowledge and take on new challenges. Hearing nothing but positive feedback about Home Instead, she was inspired to join the supportive team and continue her journey in the care sector.

Although she’s only been in her new role for a short time, Brittany has already learned a great deal and is excited to grow and develop alongside the amazing team at Home Instead.

In her spare time, Brittany enjoys reading, cross-stitching, and spending quality time with her family. She looks forward to continuing her mission of providing exceptional care and making a positive impact on the lives of her clients.

Natasha began her health and social care career 14 years ago in domiciliary care as a Home Care Assistant, a role she thoroughly enjoyed. Wanting to develop her skills while remaining in the health and social care sector, she embraced an opportunity to work within an office setting. Over the past 10 years, Natasha managed and supported a small team of coordinators and contributed to other departments within the company.

She is deeply passionate about making a positive difference in people’s lives, regardless of their circumstances or backgrounds, enabling independence, and supporting individuals to stay in their own homes for as long as possible. Home Instead provided Natasha with the opportunity to continue pursuing this passion while also learning new skills to support her personal development. She finds the team at Home Instead fantastic—approachable, welcoming, and friendly—and has already learned so much from each of them.

Although Natasha doesn’t consider herself to have particularly exciting hobbies, she enjoys taking long walks in Wales with her dad and their many Springer Spaniels whenever possible. She is also an enthusiastic Formula 1 fan.

Tom became a Senior Care Professional in 2022. His previous experience of care was in an orthopaedic hospital working with young adults and children. After Covid-19 forced a career change from photography, he began working for Home Instead in April 2020 as a Care Professional.

He quickly realized that Home Instead was where he was supposed to be. He enjoyed the daily interactions with the clients and the rapport which he built over time. He also relishes working with like-minded individuals who want to provide OUTSTANDING care and support to their clients.

Tom is incredibly patient, caring and understanding. All strengths that have contributed towards his career with Home Instead. When the post of Senior Care Professional was advertised, he saw it as the perfect opportunity to develop new skills and challenge himself while still maintaining interactions with our amazing clients.

When not spending time with family or pursuing some event photography work, Tom enjoys walks in the Quantocks, spending time with family, avoiding cutting the grass and playing touch rugby.

Toby’s career started in a local Care Home and then he moved on to a Special Needs School as a Teaching Assistant for 7 years. This then led him to work in Adult Social Care with adults who had Profound Multiple Learning difficulties (PMLD).

Following in his Mum’s footsteps, he worked as a Care Professional with Home Instead during the evenings, it’s here where he fell in love with the team behind Home Instead and when the opportunity arose to work in the office and take an internal promotion, he took it.

Because Toby has also worked as a Care Professional in the field, he has a great understanding of the role and loves the relationships that are built with their clients.

One of Toby’s proudest moments is recently visiting Ukraine and working with children and young adults with PMLD who are living in institutions, one of the best experiences of his life.

When Toby isn’t busy changing the world, he loves to be with his family and have adventures. He particularly a trip to the evolving and vibrant capital, London.

Originally from Portugal, Paula arrived in Taunton in 2013 and has been working in care ever since. First as a full-time Care Professional and then joining the Home Instead office team to plan visits.

Paula’s background of working as a Care Professional in the field enables her to build lasting relationships between Care Professionals, clients and their families.

Her commitment to her clients is admired by many, she loves that we always put our client’s needs and wishes first, to make a difference.

When Paula isn’t providing outstanding care to clients, you will find her exploring little villages, eating good food, walking by the sea and discovering the history of different countries with her son.

Louisa started working with Home Instead in August 2018. Her main responsibilities are recruiting high-quality Care Professionals and supporting them through the training and induction process.

Louisa loves being part of a care company that strives to go the extra mile and is very proud to be a part of the team. She says, 'the level of care and compassion given to all the Care Professionals and clients makes it a pleasure to come into work each day'.

Before joining Home Instead, she ran Leisure centres for many years and started as a receptionist then onto a lifeguard to running the centres and recruitment of staff.

Louisa recognises that it can be nerve-racking coming in for an interview so she can make that person feel relaxed and comfortable in her presence. This way they can get to know each other better and see if we will be a good fit. Louisa’s technique allows her to get to know Care Professionals, and now she trusts every single one of them with one of her loved ones.

When not training and recruiting OUTSTANDING Care Professionals, she’ll be spending time with her best friend, her 2-year-old nephew.

Vicky believes that age isn’t a barrier to adventure. Vicky has had a huge amount of success in helping older people start something new.

Jade had always been in a customer-facing role and really connected so Home Instead 'OUTSTANDING' high standards.

In 2021, whilst heavily pregnant, Jade discovered her breast cancer had returned for a second time. As time and treatment went on, she realised she wanted a new challenge in her working life and whilst spending months receiving care and finally getting those magical words, she wanted to give back to the community in whatever way she could.

As a mum to two boys under 2 (and a slightly nutty rescue dog!) life at can be home hectic! Working for Home Instead is busy too but gives her a great rewarding work/life balance and she loves being part of a team that has lasting relationships with clients and their families.

Jade loves spending time with her family and exploring different National Trust places which her boys love.

Susan loves that our visits are a minimum of one hour. This provides plenty of time for quality care whilst still leaving time left to chat and build a real relationship.

She has a great wealth of experience in customer-focused roles all over the world.

Prior to working for Home Instead, Hannah spent 11 years in a busy optical and audiology environment. She worked her way through the company, experiencing different avenues, challenging herself and eventually ended up as a Learning and Development Specialist across 3 busy high street stores in the South West.

Her role included training new recruits into the world of optics and audiology, whilst always leading by example.

Providing an excellent level of customer service is always at the heart of what she does.

When she had her first child, she became very poorly. It opened her eyes to the Health and Care sector, and how valuable good care is, and she knew it was something she wanted to pursue.

Hannah loves learning new skills and crafts and still can’t believe that she is able to embrace her artistic side by being surrounded by like-minded people and creating personal touches for her clients.

Hannah says that one of her proudest moments at Home Instead is making over 100 crochet poppies for all Home Instead’s clients on Remembrance Day, it will be a core memory she will keep forever.

In her spare time, Hannah thrives on being outdoors with her family and going to festivals. She loves any excuse to go camping and be with nature!

Jinson is the newly joined Marketing Coordinator at Home Instead, bringing over five years of experience in the health and social care industry. Before joining the home care company, Jinson honed his skills at a digital marketing agency in India, where he successfully managed a diverse portfolio of brands.

Outside of work, Jinson enjoys outdoor sports, particularly cricket and volleyball, spending time with his family, and exploring Indian restaurants in Yeovil and nearby towns. With his background in social care and digital marketing, Jinson is excited to contribute to the continued growth of Home Instead Taunton and take it to the next level.

Julie has a very varied background before joining Home Instead. She’s worked for NATO HQ in Brussell’s, managed a pub with her brother and been a carer for people with spinal injuries, but by far her favourite is Home Instead.

Her experience in care enables Julie to understand the difficulties our clients and their families face on a daily basis. Knowing what difference, it can make having someone there, is able to support everything including financial matters.

In her spare time, Julie loves Gardening, attending festivals, watching live bands and spending time with my family.

Morgan is our new Reception and Office Administrator at Home Instead Taunton. Before joining us, she spent 7 years at Musgrove Park Hospital working in various areas, including the Maxillofacial Department and the Day Surgery Centre as a Theatre Assistant. After having her first child, she decided to transition into a role where she could make a difference in the community and contribute to improving the quality of life for others.

In her free time, Morgan enjoys spending quality time with her family, exploring new places on long walks, and caring for her toddler. Recently, she adopted a kitten, adding to her lifelong love of animals, having grown up with horses, goats, dogs, and cats.