My name is Meryl Pickstone-Blundell and I am the Registered Manager at Griffin House Residential Children’s Home and short break unit. Thirty two years ago I started my working life as a qualified Nursery Nurse. I then began working with older children. I have worked in a variety of residential settings including a large school for hearing impaired children.  I hold an NNEB, NVQ 4 in both care and management, and an Assessors Award. My basic counselling certificate has been one of the most useful and interesting qualifications I have achieved, (apart from my driving licence!) During my working life I have worked with a wide range of children and young people aged from 3 months upwards. My experience covers challenging behaviour, ADHD, Autistic Spectrum, Sensory and physical impairments and Learning Disability. For some strange reason my nick name is Myrtle! I suppose it could be worse!

When I am not at Griffin House I enjoy, reading, shopping, walking, and eating out. I enjoy tap dancing and have been going to tap classes for the last 15 years.

My name is Kathy Dutton and I am one of the Team Leaders at Griffin House. I have the NVQ 3 in Caring for Children and Young People and am due to start my NVQ 4 in Management next year. I have worked in health and social care for over 17 years, six of which were with children and young people in a residential setting. I have worked with children with severe learning disabilities, children in specialist units for those with autism and mental health difficulties and children in secure units.

When I am not at Griffin House I enjoy cooking, spending time on my computer and going to concerts with my friends. I also love my bed and enjoy having long lies in. I like my privacy and can often be hard to track down, that’s why Meryl calls me the Scarlet Pimpernel.

My name is Lisa Jackson and I am one of the Team Leaders at Griffin House. I have the NVQ 3 Social Care, NVQ 3 Promoting Independence and am an NVQ assessor. I am due to start my NVQ 4 in Management next year. I am an accredited Sign a Long trainer and one of my responsibilities in Griffin is to ensure that the staff can all communicate with the young people who do not communicate verbally. I have worked with children and young people with a wide range of needs from learning difficulties through to challenging behaviours for over 7 years

When I’m not at Griffin House I enjoy walking my two dogs, going out for meals and socialising with my friends and family.

My name is Pam Cowley and I am a support worker at Griffin House. I have the NVQ 2 in Social Care and am due to begin my NVQ 3 Health and Social Care within the next few weeks. I have worked in social care for over 30 years, which has included palliative care and mental health. I enjoy working at Griffin House and try to be as flexible as I can to help out the day staff.

When I am not at Griffin House I enjoy archery, arranging local children’s parties and walking my dog.

My name is Maureen Bullimore and I am a support worker at Griffin House. I have had both surgical and medical training and have worked in the field of nursing and Social Care for over 35 years. I have worked with both adults and children with learning and physical disabilities.

In my personal life, myself and my family have always supported children with disabilities and Looked After Children.

My name is Richard Bullimore and I am the driver for Griffin House, I take the children to school, collect them at the end of the day and am also involved in  the day trips and outings. Over the years I have worked as a fire fighter and am qualified to drive Fire Appliances, a Police Constable and a long distance truck driver. I have held a full clean driving license for 47 years.

Whilst living in Ireland I did some voluntary work with ‘Western Care Association’ who specialise in caring for mentally and physically disabled teenagers and adults. Socially I have enjoyed playing Rugby Union and Cricket and latterly golf.

My name is Karen McGee and I have been a child support worker at Griffin House for the last 6 months and I am really enjoying it. There is a lot to learn and I am finding it really interesting. I get on really well with the staff team who are always willing to support and advise me, and I love working with the young people. I have undertaken the Parents as Educators Certificate which enabled me to support my own son. This gave me valuable training and insight which I put to good use in Griffin House. Soon I will be undertaking my NVQ 3 in Social Care which will underpin all the new experience I am gaining.

When I am not in Griffin House I like to relax with my family, I am something of a Karaoke queen! A skill which is useful at children’s parties and Christmas. Meryl has dubbed me the ‘entertainments manager’. Because I am not very tall my nick name at work is ‘Tich’, I am a bundle of energy and Meryl says I can talk the hind leg off a donkey.

My name is Christina Cooper – or Tina to most people. Some people would think you couldn’t shorten such a short name, but Karen can shorten anything, Maureen is ‘Mo’ Meryl is ‘Mel’ and my name is now ‘T’ couldn’t get much shorter than that! Maybe it is something to do with Karen’s 4ft 10 ¾ stature that forces her into shortening everything!
I am a new member of staff at Griffin but I have lots of residential experience which includes, advocacy, assessments, and working with children and young people with a range of needs, including emotional and behavioural difficulties. I enjoy learning and have achieved a BTEC in childhood studies, a HND in Social Care and a Degree in Social Studies. (I’ll be after Meryl’s job soon!!)

When I am not at Griffin House I enjoy going to the gym and the cinema. I enjoy spending time with friends and family.

My name is Dave Griffin - My name is Dave Griffin and I am a Director of Griffin Care. Val and I have thought for some time that we wanted to provide quality residential services and support to children with disabilities and their families because we realised that the need was so great, We planned the business over many years and in 2005 the ages of our own children meant that we had the necessary time and commitment to implement our ideas properly. I have worked in social care for 30 years initially as a disabled transport driver but for the past 25+ years as a qualified social worker both in practitioner and managerial roles. Most of my work has been with children and young people and I still work as a social worker in this field.

My name is Val Griffin and I am the Director of Griffin Care. My husband Dave and I opened Griffin House in April 2005 as we wanted to provide quality residential services to disabled children and young people whilst also offering family support to parents and siblings. Griffin House has proven to be a huge success and we have now opened our short breaks service for children and adults. I am a qualified social worker with over 25 years experience of working with children and families. I was, until recently a children’s service manager for a neighbouring local authority and am now a trainer and consultant to local authorities who are keen to strengthen their family support services.