Dynamic and caring duo qualify as nurses

We are celebrating the success of two of our team, having supported them to become fully qualified registered nurses.

Sarah Chilton and Sarah Stott both started working for Czajka Care Group in care roles, and they have always been keen to progress in their careers, which is why they both joined the Saltaire headquartered company, which places a huge emphasis on training and development.

Sarah Stott, who is from Shipley, said: “Care is something I have always been interested in and I started at a company that trained me up and then I also worked in home care for three years. I then decided to apply to Czajka Care Group, as working with younger adultsreally appealed to me. Czajka Care Group operates Staveley Birkleas Nursing Home, which is the specialist nursing home of the North of England for young adults with disabilities. It cares for people from the age of 18 through to 64, who have a variety of specialist needs.

“I started there in 2016 as a carer and was promoted to a care practitioner in 2019. After that promotion I was keen to keep progressing and before I knew it I had signed up to a university course with my colleague Sarah! It has been extremely hard work, I was a single parent, working full time and doing a degree, but I don’t regret any of it! Czajka Care Group funded the course and provided me with a mentor at work and the other nurses in the team supported my learning, so I had a brilliant support network and I feel very proud of what I have achieved.”

Sarah Chilton, who is from Bingley, said: “I have been in the care industry nearly 40 years working with young disabled people initially at the Leonard Cheshire Foundation. After having my children, I returned to caring and started at Czajka Care Group in 2013 looking after a young lady on a one to one basis. Later I was promoted to senior carer and then care practitioner. After three years I wanted to develop further, and I started the nurse training in 2020.

“Applying to Leeds Beckett University, Sarah and I were two of 200 applicants for the course and only seven of us were accepted! The last time I was in education was back in 1984, so it was a big step, but my motto is ‘never say never’ and I believe you can always achieve your goals.

“Czajka Care Group has been fantastic – having already supported me through three NVQ’s before paying for this four-year course too. Having already achieved the NVQ Level 4, it stood me in good stead for the first year of the university course, and as we get so much training and on the job experience at Czajka Care Group, Sarah and I felt really well prepared and lucky to have that solid base to work from. Czajka Care Group also gave us a day a week to study which was invaluable, with a day a week in university and then two full shifts – it was a pretty busy time! With lots of assignments and a dissertation too, we couldn’t have done it without those study days.”

Both Sarah and Sarah graduated this summer at a ceremony at the O2 Academy in Leeds. They are now nurses at Czajka Care Group’s Currergate Nursing Home in Steeton, which recently opened a three-storey extension with 15 new en-suite rooms, following a £1.5 million investment. The home cares for up to 47 people aged over 65.

Sarah Chilton added: “We were welcomed with open arms at Currergate, and the team there are amazing. They are all very caring people, and we all believe good care can’t be manufactured, it’s something within you. I’m a stickler for good care and after graduating to become a nurse at 55 – I feel the same now as I did when I started aged 17 - I want to help people and there is no better place to do that then in the care industry where you feel like you make a real difference.”

The duo will now take a vaccinators course followed by a prescribers course. Sarah Stott added: “Once you start learning more it whets your appetite, and you want to keep going, and we are lucky to work for a company that supports you every step of the way.”

Managing director of Czajka Care Group, Konrad Czajka, said: “We are so proud of Sarah and Sarah – they are a dynamic duo, and both are wholeheartedly committed to their careers and our residents.

“Over the years we have supported the training of hundreds of nurses through our partnerships with universities and having been at the forefront of the local care industry for more than 40 years, we understand that much of our success is based on our ability to train our team to an exceptionally high standard. With our own training centre which is managed by a team of highly experienced care professionals who are qualified to deliver an extensive range of courses, we are committed to addressing the frightening short-fall of carers and nurses and doing our best to encourage as many people into the industry as possible.”