The facility services manager at Roseneath Aged Care Centre has just taken out a state-wide gong at the Leading Age Services Australia (LASA) Excellence in Age Services Awards.

Named winner of the Individual Award for Excellence, Ms Vaele said she was "shocked" for such a small regional centre to claim the title.

The awards celebrate the passion, contribution and achievements of organisations, teams and individuals in the service of older Australians, qualities that Ms Vaele has many of.

But she attributes the award to the "heart-warming" efforts of all the staff at Roseneath during what has been an incredibly difficult year with a pandemic adding extra pressures on residents and staff.

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"I've been flabbergasted by the size of their hearts because there are lot of things in aged care that aren't written down," she said.

"When you see your staff sitting down with a resident, holding their hand or just chatting and having a laugh about something.

"From the pandemic point of view, that sort of stuff has increased tenfold because we're also concerned about how this is affecting our residents because they watch this on the news every night."

Ms Vaele joined Roseneath in June 2018, as the general manager, prior to that she worked in the aged care sector in Armidale for 14 years.

"The way the staff are with our residents, we are family. I've got wonderful residents, extremely wonderful family members and great staff - so yes it has been challenging in aged care but it's also one of the most rewarding things I believe anyone can do," she told the Leader.

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