A Blaina woman who once prepared silver service lunches for Welsh Assembly members and visiting dignitaries has once again struck silver.

Paula Lewis, who is Hospitality Services Manager at Hallmark’s Greenhill Manor Luxury Care Home in Merthyr Tydfil, was one of the award winners at a glittering ceremony held at Cardiff’s Holland House Hotel.

The Wales Care Awards are organized by Care Forum Wales to acknowledge exceptional work in the care sector and the ceremony, sponsored by Ontex Healthcare, was hosted by TV and radio presenter Jason Mohammad.

Before moving to Greenhill Manor last year, Paula, 60,  worked at Hallmark Regency House Luxury Care Home in Ely, Cardiff, and it was her work there which prompted Christine Ivins, the company’s Customer Relationship Manager, to nominate her.

The judges gave her a silver award in the category for Promoting Fulfilled Lives, sponsored by Boots Healthcare.

Paula has worked in the hospitality field all her life, initially running pubs with her first husband, but when her marriage broke down and three children to care for, she joined an agency.

She worked in many commercial kitchens including the Tesco store in Magor before getting a job at the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff – as a dishwasher.

When her talents became known, she was very soon promoted to Head of Hospitality, which involved organising lunches for dignitaries, buffets for up to 200 guests and tailoring functions for the individual needs of AMs.

She then left to manage hotels including the Express by Holiday Inn in both Pontypool and Bridgend before joining Hallmark, being responsible for kitchen and housekeeping teams.

“Paula’s quality of service is in her understanding of the dining experience and of the importance of mealtimes to residents’ wellbeing,” said Christine.

“She regularly meets with the residents and their families in a bid to improve the catering and hospitality in any way she can.”

Citing an example of the care Paula takes to meet the individual needs of the 120 Greenhill residents, Christine said that when the family of one resident commented that they were put off by the amount of food being served she ordered smaller dinner plates.

She also ordered different coloured plates to encourage resident living with dementia to have a more positive mealtime experience. which produced promising results.

“I am always looking for new ways to do things,” she said.

She and her second husband have seven children and 14 grandchildren between them, which takes up most of her spare time, and she also enjoys taking her two dogs for walks.

Mario Kreft, chairman of Care Forum Wales, said the standard of entries was extremely high.

He added : “There are only winners here tonight so it is only fitting that the finalists will receive a gold, silver or bronze Wales Care Award.

“I trust that they will continue to inspire those around them as role models and encourage others to aspire to even greater heights and in the months and years to come.

“This awards ceremony is our opportunity to pay tribute and to celebrate the talent and commitment that is improving the quality of life for thousands and thousands of people throughout Wales.

”We take our hats off to them.”