Roy Langstaffe has joined the training team headed by Lesley Blower, our Group Head of Learning and Development, and is working alongside fellow regional trainers Sandra Rogers and Sarita Baxter. The team of three delivers face-to-face and virtual group training as well as 1:1 coaching to staff across our 11 homes.
Before coming to Canford Healthcare, Roy has so far had in interesting and varied career. At both school and college, writing and playing music formed an important part of his life but, unfortunately, just missed out on securing a potentially life-changing record deal…
So, instead he joined a holiday company as a rep, and spent a couple of years living in Portugal and Majorca helping people get the most out of their holidays. From there he went into telesales, where he had his first taste of training others, then became a financial/mortgage adviser and will writer. The dawning recession of 2008 forced him to leave the industry and he joined an estate agency as a sales manager, later leaving when the owner died.
It was around this time that Roy decided on a complete change of direction. Walking down the high street in Eastbourne one day, he found himself outside a nursing agency and, on the spur of the moment, went in. He got a job as a carer, quickly rising to become team leader (where he had coaching responsibility for staff) and, later, field supervisor. The people he supported were adults of mixed ages with multiple sclerosis, brain injuries, dementia or autism.
“This was hugely interesting work and I learned so much,” he says. “To this day, a large part of my trainer’s toolbox is what I was taught at this time, as well as my experience, which was incredibly valuable.”
By this time moving more and more in the direction of coaching and training, Roy became an NVQ assessor. He is hugely proud that all his clients achieved either merit or distinction in their qualifications! He has since done a lot of training in care, as well, working for Community Integrated Care, one of the UK’s largest social care charities, before coming to Canford Healthcare.
“I love training,” he says. “I want to make a real difference to the lives of residents and staff. My philosophy is simple: if people aren’t smiling then I’m not doing my job. Training should be fun and people should be able to learn in an engaging and entertaining way.” He certainly took that philosophy seriously. During lockdown when training virtually, he had a selection of amusing hats on standby, in case people’s children interrupted the sessions!
He’s passionate about the opportunities available in the industry. “There are so many avenues of care – nursing, administration, training, as well as being a carer. Someone coming into care can have a really good career,” he adds.
Outside work Roy keeps very busy. He started writing music again during the first lockdown, as a “sanity check”, recording an album that year with a friend and a solo album in 2021 under the name of the Papa Roy Foundation. This features “pop to dance to” as well as guitar music. He’s hoping to do some live gigs and has already achieved 20,000 plays on Spotify.
Roy is also a keen fan of amateur dramatics, especially panto, and acted for several years with the Hailsham Theatre. Highlights included playing the ever-late white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland and hamming it up as a pirate in Treasure Island. He also directed a run of Jack & the Beanstalk.
Originally from Brighton, Roy is a devoted follower of Brighton & Hove Albion FC. He’s also father to two boys – 20-year-old Jake, a barber, and Laurie, 15 – as well as daughter Charley who’s 17.
Roy has never really got the travel bug out of his system and has recently bought both a caravan and a house in Italy with his wife, Angela, who’s originally from Timișoara, Romania’s second largest city. The couple, who enjoyed a traditional Romanian wedding five years ago, met when Roy was directing Jack & the Beanstalk.
Determined to learn Italian, Roy still has some way to catch up with Angela who is proficient in several languages, including English and Italian!
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