By Your Side

Sarah Parkins is the Founder and Director of By Your Side, an Outstanding-rated home care provider specialising in personalised support for people living with dementia, complex needs, and those requiring compassionate support at home.

With over a decade of leadership experience in the health and social care sector, Sarah is passionate about delivering care that is truly person-centred, relationship-led, and focused on enhancing quality of life.

Holding a Level 5 Diploma in Health and Social Care Leadership and Management, alongside specialist dementia qualifications, Sarah has built By Your Side around the belief that care should never be “one size fits all.” Under her leadership, the organisation has developed a strong reputation for delivering tailored, high-quality support that promotes dignity, independence, and meaningful outcomes for customers and their families.

Under Sarah’s leadership, By Your Side achieved an Outstanding rating from the Care Quality Commission (CQC), recognising the organisation’s commitment to delivering exceptional standards of care and support.

Sarah is deeply committed to raising standards across the care sector, supporting both customers and care professionals alike. Alongside leading By Your Side, she is the Founder of The Pad Project UK, a charity supporting individuals and families experiencing incontinence poverty within local communities.

She is also the CEO of the Sarah Parkins Academy, which provides mentoring, compliance support, training guidance, and practical resources to care providers across the UK through initiatives such as the Outstanding Care Compliance Programme.

Sarah continues to champion compassionate leadership, workforce development, and excellence in care, ensuring that By Your Side remains a trusted and respected provider within the community. Read less

Cristina Todosi is a dedicated professional currently serving as Deputy Manager at By Your Side. In 2025, it is planned that she will take over as Registered Manager at By Your Side. With a strong foundation in the care industry since 2016, she has played a key role in enhancing healthcare services and supporting her team. Cristina holds a Master of Business Administration in Healthcare Level 7 and is currently furthering her expertise by completing her NVQ Level 5.

Outside of her professional pursuits, Cristina enjoys immersing herself in the world of literature, exploring new destinations through travel, and attending concerts that ignite her love for music. With a balance of ambition and creativity, she embraces life’s adventures both personally and professionally. Read less

Maggie De Jong is a Supervisor/Care Coordinator, who has been with By Your Side for 5 years.

She has been the By Your Side Medication trainer for 4 years and will be expanding her role to include a Moving and Assisting trainer.

Maggie enjoys meeting people and is motivated by a desire to make people comfortable, she feels that most things can be made better with a laugh!

Maggie is the proud mother of 2 beautiful daughters and has an amazing Grandson. Read less

My name is Adrian, and I’ve been part of the team at By Your Side for the last eight years, where I specialise in live-in care. I’m passionate about helping people live better, more fulfilled lives by supporting them with their daily activities and helping them maintain independence in their own homes. This work gives me a strong sense of satisfaction when I see people able to live more normally, stay connected with others, and take part in social and daily activities that would otherwise be difficult without support. I also value being part of a friendly, caring, and hardworking team, where we are always ready to support the people we care for and to support each other as well. In my free time, I like to stay active by running, going to the gym, and hiking in the mountains. I’m passionate about cooking and enjoy discovering new recipes, as well as learning about nutrition and how it contributes to a healthier lifestyle. I also enjoy practising guitar in my spare time. Read less

Sarah Heron has been a care practitioner at By Your Side for nearly 3 years. She holds a Level 3 GNVQ in Health and Social Care and is a qualified first aid trainer. Her qualifications and demeanour ensure that every customer receives personalised, high-quality care tailored to their unique needs.

Sarah is an empathetic carer who started off caring for family members before venturing out and working for By Your Side. Although she hasn't been in care long, her 'out of the box' thinking and care to ensure the customers feel valued, loved and appreciated. She fully believes in customer-centred care and empowering customers to make informed decisions.

Sarah has recently started training people in first aid and is venturing out into training manual handling soon, too, alongside her care work. Sarah is only at the beginning of her career, and the sky is the limit! Read less

Chloe Bennett has been with BYS for just over a year, she was new to Care work and took on some evenings and weekends around her family, horses, dogs, running and cycling.

Her main role is in administration, which is rather stressful, so she wanted to take on a more fulfilling role. She prides herself on being reliable and honest. She loves being with BYS and recently has taken on some early morning calls before her day job, it has become more of a social area in her busy life.

She is always willing to try new things and will go above and beyond. A keen problem solver, who enjoys discussing her ideas with others. She is very organised at home and at work, so she is never without a spreadsheet. Read less

My name is Wendy, and I have worked in the care sector for over 40 years. I have been part of the team at By Your Side for the past three years and am passionate about supporting people to live independent and fulfilling lives.

One of my proudest achievements was helping three people with learning disabilities move from institutional care into their own homes and become active members of their local community. Supporting people to gain confidence, independence, and a sense of belonging is what I enjoy most about my role.

What I love about working at By Your Side is being part of a small, caring, and supportive team. Everyone works well together, and there is always help and guidance available when needed. The company is flexible, approachable, and genuinely cares about both the people we support and the staff who work here. I am grateful to be part of such a positive and dedicated team. Read less

My name is Ruth Alaofin, a dedicated care worker for over a year, a bank staff as a care advocate at By Your Side.

I am independent, focused and able to convey empathy for each service user's pressing concern and have a sincere respect for service users' dignity.

I am reliable, and always willing to support my team when needed as my calm demeanour, excellent communication skills, and positive attitude make me to be valued also an asset. Read less

"Hi, I’m Parker! I have been a proud member of the By Your Side team for two years, working as a Care Consultant, and I am deeply passionate about delivering the highest standards of care to our community. For me, this work is about going above and beyond to ensure every single person is treated fairly and with absolute dignity.

I strongly believe that no one has a disability; rather, people have different, unique abilities. My true passion is helping our clients discover and celebrate those amazing abilities every single day.

As a specialist consultant to the End of Life pathway, I am fully prepared to support, guide, and bring comfort to any family navigating this deeply profound and professional service.

Outside of work, I am a dedicated family man. I love staying fit, active, and healthy, and you will often find me cycling, swimming, or out enjoying a long walk. I love being part of the supportive, caring culture we have built here at By Your Side!" Read less

My name is Adrian Wolski, and I have been dedicated to professional caregiving since 2024. I am an easy-going and approachable individual who excels at building deep, trusting relationships with the people I care for. Outside of my care work, I am passionate about video editing, which keeps my creative and technical skills sharp. Read less

After working in education for a number of years, I decided to move into the care sector following my experience of providing palliative care for family members. This experience highlighted the importance of compassionate, person-centred support and inspired me to pursue a career where I could make a positive difference to people’s lives.

I have been part of the By Your Side team for the past three months and thoroughly enjoy working for such a friendly and supportive company. I am passionate about helping others and take pride in promoting dignity, independence, choice, and respect in everything I do. Building meaningful relationships and supporting people to live as independently as possible is one of the most rewarding aspects of my role.

Outside of work, I have a keen interest in the arts and enjoy drawing on my background in performance and creativity. I also enjoy reading, watching films, running, and spending time outdoors on long walks and hikes. Read less

Ayesh has worked in care, but looking after young people and children, and has decided to move over to adult care.

I am a caring and passionate person, fun, I like going to visit new places and going to an activity which enjoys having lots of fun. Read less

Hi, I’m Sue. I am a friendly, caring, and compassionate person who enjoys helping others and making a positive difference in people’s lives. After many years of caring for a family member alongside working, I have developed patience, understanding, and a strong belief in treating everyone with dignity and respect.

In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my family, partner, and pets, as well as getting out for walks and enjoying the seaside. Read less