Lagan's Foundation

Spit-spot award for Bolton’s Mary Poppins

nominated for a major award

Super nanny turned carer for sickly children Janet Melling has been nominated for a major award.

The warm-hearted Westhoughton woman (pictured) has spent a lifetime looking after others including toddlers with severe heart conditions, struggling single mums and a woman who has a husband with heart problems and a quadriplegic child.

No wonder bosses at Bolton based charity Lagan’s Foundation nominated her for a Great British Care Award – and she now faces a Dragon’s Den type grilling before attending a glitzy hotel ceremony on October 26th.

Janet is the Care Coordinator at the Manchester Road good concern, using her vast experience to organise the carers who go into the homes of families caring for sick children offering parents a much-needed break. Her role is to train those carers, organise their shifts and rotas and make first contact with the parents often mired in the stress of looking after a child who might have heart defects or severe feeding problems.

But even though that is a busy and highly responsible job, Janet goes still further in her quest to help some of Britain’s most vulnerable families.

“Janet will often muck in and cover shifts, at one time doing a night-time shift in Liverpool and then driving over to Bolton to care for a sickly child there in the morning” said Carren Bell, Chief Executive of Lagan’s Foundation. “She really is a marvel, full of energy and compassion and the epitome of what a Lagan’s carer should be.”

But even though that is a busy and highly responsible job, Janet goes still further in her quest to help some of Britain’s most vulnerable families.

“Janet will often muck in and cover shifts, at one time doing a night-time shift in Liverpool and then driving over to Bolton to care for a sickly child there in the morning” said Carren Bell, Chief Executive of Lagan’s Foundation. “She really is a marvel, full of energy and compassion and the epitome of what a Lagan’s carer should be.”

The eldest of four children, Janet’s desire to look after young ones began when she babysat her sister – fifteen years her junior. Her first roles were in adult care though, when she looked after brain injury survivors. Following a spell bringing up her own family and training as a midwife, Janet became one of Lagan’s Care first-ever carers in 2017.

“I have seen a lot of changes in my career” said Janet, “previously, parents were still able to do things because they had a network of support. Now I see families in crisis, where they have hit rock bottom and have no one to support them.”

Janet’s mother worked with deaf children and at 70, is still a lollipop lady. Janet believes caring is something she was “brought up with.”

Revealed Janet: “No two days are the same when you are a carer but I would remind anyone thinking about going into the profession that it can be hard and they must always ask themselves why they are doing it.

Lagan’s is different from care agencies, because they are able to take time and build-up relationships with the children and their families. I love giving a child a chance. One of the children I care for was in hospital recently and when I walked in to visit them the smiles were wonderful and they would not let go of my hand! That’s what makes it all worthwhile.”

Getting children ready for the day, taking them to activities and readying them for bed are all part of the tasks Lagan’s home-care workers perform.

If you would like to join them, take a look at our Become a Home Support Worker page.