On the 1st of July 2020, one of West Sussex’s leading care homes, The Shelley, was passed on to new owners.
The Shelley in Worthing is one of only a handful of care homes in the country which has not only received two ‘Outstanding’ ratings from CQC but latterly received outstanding in all five categories. Since opening in 2005, the owner Marlene Sanders has always received the highest accolades for the home, most recently being awarded a Top 20 award for the 5th consecutive year from carehome.co.uk, the industry’s largest website.
When she bought and redeveloped what was the Lantern Hotel in Shelley Road, Worthing in 2005, her vision was to make her new project the very best in residential care and experience for her residents, the very best locally.
She succeeded and her groundbreaking ideas and attention to detail created a catalyst for all homes in the area. It was often described as more a ‘luxury country hotel’.
Since The Shelley’s inception, it has gone from strength to strength but at the end of last year, Marlene decided that the time has come to hang up her boots and retire.
Marlene said:
After 15 years of building up and running The Shelley, I have finally decided to retire on 1st July. This process has been going on for more than 7 months and was initiated before Coronavirus arrived. It’s been an incredibly anxious time since March but the rigorous procedures that we put in place and continued to implement have protected each and every one of the residents and the fantastic team that has supported them and me. It has not been easy, particularly for the residents not being able to see their loved ones. We were one of the first homes in the country to go into lockdown, 14 days before others and we immediately cancelled all new residents and respite bookings. We had one aim, to get through these difficult times intact.
I cannot put into words the exceptional support and attitude of my staff who have always supported me not just recently but over the past 15 years. They are just an amazing team and the fact that we have never had to use agency care staff speaks volumes. I am immensely proud of them and what they have helped me accomplish. I can’t thank them enough.
I feel amazingly privileged that we have been able to make a huge difference to our residents lives at a time when they are at their most vulnerable providing them with a degree of independence, care, support but above all uniquely positive experiences and daily activities. We have even been called Worthing’s ‘live entertainment hub’.
I never envisaged that my departure would come at such a turbulent time but it has and I leave in the knowledge that Nada my manager for 14 years will continue to manage the home under the new owners.
