Angela Colina worked at Gordon House before following many of its elderly residents to Wintringham's new hostel in Williamstown.

All these years later, Angela still graces Williamstown with her diligence, her generosity and her warmth. Sweetness shines through in everything she does. All of us – staff and residents alike – love Angela. It is impossible not to!

Kelly Jackson's first job was at Gordon House, the notorious night shelter for Melbourne's homeless.

It made her head spin, but she was gripped! This was work where she knew she could make a difference. And make a difference she has - Kelly is now Regional Manager, Community Services, Southern Region. Her standards and her values are first rate: inclusive, unwavering, illuminating.

"I'm passionate about making a difference to the lives of our most vulnerable and Wintringham has and continues to provide the opportunity to do just that! We can do this," Kelly says.

Laureen Smith has worked across the organisation in many roles since December 1993 where she began as a carer at McLean Lodge, and is now working as our Volunteer Coordinator.

In this capacity, Laureen's infectious good humour, infinite patience and wild inventiveness are put to perfect use. She is known and loved by everyone at Wintringham and she is the keeper of many of our best stories! Laureen is a star.

Wendy Palmer has worked at McLean Lodge in Flemington since she started at Wintringham more than twenty years ago.

She has been a friend and a shoulder to cry on to more people than even she can remember, although she remembers a lot! Wendy's stories are legendary. She cries with laughter when she tells some of them! Wendy is a gem.

Bryan Lipmann, AM, started Wintringham in 1989 and remains our CEO and treasured leader.

In how many companies our size does the CEO know everyone's name? Where else does the CEO send every resident and client a personal card each December? What other CEO visits sites so often, laughs so readily at jokes and appreciates so deeply the work done by everyone at every level?

Melinda Smith started at our Williamstown hostel soon after it opened its doors. In all those years, Melinda has become an essential part of the glue holding the place together, contributing her liveliness, her wisdom and her boundless empathy to the multiple bonds between staff and residents alike. She regularly goes above and beyond in ensuring that the people around her get to enjoy life as much as she does. Melinda deserves a medal!

Lee-Anne Diano has had various roles at Wintringham starting at Port Melbourne as a personal carer, moving on to being a supervisor, case manager and manager at various sites. Now, Lee-Anne is working as the Return to work coordinator with the Human Resources team at head office. According to Lee-Anne ‘You can be anything you want if only given the chance’. Lee-Anne has a lot of wisdom and knowledge and a wonderful sense of humour to match. Lee-Anne is a great asset to anyone’s team.  

Danny Stevens has been a great team player with Wintringham since he started at Port Melbourne as the Recreation Coordinator in 1997. Danny is a complete all-rounder guy, having his hands in all different roles, including recreation manager, Human resources manager and now site manager at Williamstown Hostel. His standards and his values are first rate: inclusive and enlightening.

"I am inspired by people who work hard and achieve high quality outcomes. I am really fortunate to have worked at Wintringham with so many people who consistently do both." 

Lyn Gaffney has worked at Port Melbourne Hostel since she started at Wintringham more than twenty years ago.

Lyn has prided herself in being the best carer she can be and it definitely shows. Lyn throws everything she has into the job she is doing and nothing is ever too hard. Lyn has her hand in all jobs at Port Melbourne and knows just about everything Port Melbourne has to offer. Wintringham has become Lyn’s family and is known by ‘mum’ by most people. We are so proud we have Lyn apart of our team! 

Doris started at Wintringham without any experience in aged care, but learnt very quickly. Throughout her time at Wintringham she has worked as a Care and Support Worker, a Case Manager, and finally as a Client Services Coordinator at our Seddon office. She is multi-talented, and has on occasion managed the Seddon office when the Manager was away, and worked for six months setting up Wintringham’s first regional Home Care Packages. Even though she has moved offices a few times, her clients are fond of her and make sure they keep in touch.

Doris is known as the go-to person when staff are unsure of something. If she doesn't know, she will endeavour to find out - she just loves helping others!

"I feel that we really do make a difference to so many lives just by showing our clients that they deserve to be treated just like any other person."

Tess Galea started working for Wintringham in 1998 as a cook in the Williamstown kitchen. She moved to Ron Conn in 2006, where she initially worked in food services, before being appointed as the Kitchen Supervisor and Head Cook just two weeks later! In 2018, Tess moved to being a part-time cook which allows her to dedicate more time to her grandchildren.

Tess is an exceptionally hard worker and always prides herself on producing the best quality meals for our residents.

"During my time at Wintringham, I have made lifelong friends and can only describe working for the company as a pleasure."

Sue is our Learning and Development Coordinator who started working at Wintringham as our receptionist in 1997. It’s hard to believe that when Sue first started, the whole head office could fit in to one board room – a testimony to how much the organisation has grown over the years.

Working in a range of roles across the business, Sue became our highly entertaining quiz master at lunch time, and she is now also a member on the equal opportunity committee. She says: “Meeting some of the people Wintringham helps has certainly opened my eyes to some of the struggles and the resilience that our clients have.”

Kathryne started working at McLean Lodge in 2001 without any experience in aged care at all.

Over the years she studied nursing while working in many roles, and eventually moved into community care. Kathryne is now our Acting Regional Manager Community Services - Northern Region, where she is dedicated to achieving goals and outcomes for clients, including helping them to live independently, in their own homes, for as long as they can.

"Working at Wintringham made me quickly realise that I could make a difference and I am proud to still be working here after all this time."