TWO nurses who have each devoted 40 years to the care industry are retiring.

Janice Shaw and Julie Walters both trained at Airedale Hospital – and are finishing their careers with Czajka Care Group.

Janice – originally from London – moved to Yorkshire with her husband and studied at Airedale to become a state enrolled nurse.

“I had always wanted to do something medical,” she said.

“Moving to Yorkshire gave me the chance to follow my dreams and after my time at the hospital, I continued training – which I self-funded and completed whilst working at the Allergy Centre in Steeton and as a part-time dental nurse.”

Janice has worked for Czajka Care Group – whose homes include Currergate in Steeton and Beanlands, Cross Hills – for 28 years.

She has held various posts, but for the past decade has looked after disabled residents at Staveley Birkleas Nursing Home, in Nab Wood.

“My job at Czajka has been a huge part of who I am,” she said.

In her retirement, Janice plans to volunteer at Staveley Birkleas and in a hospital, when Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.

Julie, from Glusburn, became a state enrolled nurse in the 1980s after her training at Airedale.

She has happy memories of the hospital.

“I loved it,” she said. “Despite living locally, I moved into the nurses’ flats at the back of the hospital and started out on the geriatrics ward on nights when I first qualified.”

After having a son, Julie worked at Langdale nursing home in Cowling before becoming a company nurse at a foundry and machinery firm.

She then became a practice nurse in Cross Hills and worked as the nurse at Malsis School for 16 years, before it closed.

Julie has worked at Beanlands Nursing Home for nearly six years.

“I feel very lucky to have done my nursing in different settings,” she said.

“Over the years I’ve cared for the young, the old and those in between!

“Many of the people I have nursed are local and it’s lovely to see the school children grown and with their own families.

“I have taken great pride in being able to help people.”

In her retirement, Julie plans to work with the Keighley Lions charity and continue her role as a volunteer on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, where she met her husband 38 years ago.