Dedicated Newark carer Michelle Wells, owner of Weldon Home Care Services, celebrates 60th birthday
A woman who has dedicated more than three decades to caring — helping hundreds of people along the way — has celebrated her 60th birthday.
Michelle Wells, who now runs Newark-based Weldon Home Care Services with partner Scott Gordon, has been caring for the people for 35 years.
Her interest in care and medicine first began when she was learning to inject an orange to help her dad, who had diabetes.
Then, after a car accident in her 20s left her wheelchair bound for a few years due to serious injuries to her legs and feet, Michelle faced difficulties around the house taking care of her young children.
Scott said: “Her worst day was when she was pulling herself up stairs on her bottom, with a child needing her attention inside the home and the family dog barking outside the home.
“She couldn’t get to the back door to stop the dog barking, she got to her youngest child to deal with that, but she just felt so vulnerable.
“These were the things that have made her so determined to do what she has done since so others wouldn’t suffer this way.”
After learning to walk again Michelle dedicated herself to night school to learn to be a paramedic while juggling a factory job to support her family.
She spent five years working as a paramedic in Grantham, before retraining as a carer — where her skills saw her quickly offered the role of care manager with a franchise in Newark.
She built the franchise up to more than 100 staff and “many happy customers”, until the franchisee retired and sold the business.
Michelle repeated this at a second franchise in Newark, which Scott explained she built from scratch in an empty office with just a phone and a laptop.
He added: “Her prior reputation really led to her building, for the family who owned the franchise, a humongous business.”
After feeling the franchises became too focused on numbers and targets, Michelle decided to branch out and form her own business Weldon Home Care Services in 2021, which continues to serve the community today.
She used time during the pandemic to set up the family-feel care service, which is co-directed by Scott and has now reached its target of about 40 staff.
They deliver care services within 15miles of Newark.
Scott added: “I’m incredibly proud of her, but she really doesn’t like anyone being proud of her.
“I genuinely think she is incredibly good, and she just thinks that everyone else is either as good as she is or certainly should be.”
Michelle celebrated her birthday, on May 27, with an afternoon tea party with family and friends over the bank holiday weekend.