Family members and staff from Barchester’s Fairview House Care Home in Danestone attended the final of the Scottish Care Home Awards to collect an award on behalf of John Grover, who was tragically killed in a road accident just before Christmas. No stranger to the limelight, John won many awards over the years including the National Association of Care Catering’s Care Chef of the Year in 2018, he also won the Scottish final of the NACC competition in 2021 making him officially the best care home chef in Scotland.
Organised by Scottish Care, the Care Home Awards are designed to recognise the dedicated Scottish care home workforce and to celebrate the achievements of their residents. The awards are now in their 17th year and competition is fierce with each of the categories receiving hundreds of entries. The winners were announced at a ceremony at the Hilton Glasgow on 1st April 2022. John was the winner of the Nutrition and Eating Well category and his award was collected by his partner, Lilias Wright, and her son, Michael Wright.
John had been a chef in the care sector for seven years, he joined Fairview House in March 2020. Prior to that he worked as a chef in the military for 24 years spending time in two military hospitals where he also worked with special diets.
He was nominated by the staff, residents and relatives at Fairview House who were always full of praise for his delicious meals and for his caring manner with the residents. John worked hard to ensure his meals were exactly right for each of the residents at Fairview, catering for all their different nutritional needs.
John’s partner, Lilias, commented: “John absolutely loved his job, nothing gave him greater satisfaction than seeing the residents at Fairview House eating well and enjoying their food, he often talked about how motivating he found ensuring the residents had the tastiest and most nutritious meals possible. As a family, we know how much it would have meant to him to win this award and we’re so proud of him.”
Divisional Director for Barchester Healthcare, Fiona Fagan, says: “We couldn’t be prouder of John, he was the best of the best. He cared so much about putting together wonderful meals for our residents, he is much missed but we all learned a great deal from him and we are ensuring his legacy lives on at Fairview House.”
Dr Donald Macaskill, CEO of Scottish Care, comments: “The care home workforce has behaved with such dignity, compassion, professionalism and skill over the last few years, as they always do. The awards ceremony was a chance to say thank you and to recognise the particular skills of a few. We were delighted to award John the Nutrition and Eating Well Award. He was always considerate of residents and their individual needs, showing a caring approach to creating different menus and meal experiences that were nutritional, diverse, and well-received. He truly deserved to win this award.”
