Nurses

Anne Bowness RVN

Anne is the head nurse at Kendal. She is the longest serving member of the practice and joined Chadwick and Owen, as it was then, in January 1979. Outside of work she enjoys walking, and showing her cairn terriers, going to concerts and out with friends.

Jane Bellas RVN

Jane is one of the team of fully qualified veterinary nurses at Kendal. She has worked for the practice for nearly 31 years, fresh from school! Her special interests are anaesthesia, nutrition and diabetes. She has three dogs.

Liz Pilgrim BSc Hons (Physiology) RVN

Liz has been a veterinary nurse since 1995 after qualifying from Myerscough College. She has worked at Westmorland Veterinary Group since 2003. Liz feels very lucky to enjoy her job. She loves the variety of cases she deals with on a day to day basis and the challenge and satisfaction of making a difference, getting a very sick animal better. At home she has two rescue cats- Daisy and Thomas, and also a horse called Finlay which she enjoys competing to a high level. She has recently taken up trail running again after a break and has done the Great North Run twice.

Lauren Baxter RVN

Lauren joined the team at Kirkby Lonsdale in June 2012. Lauren grew up on her families dairy farm where she developed her love for animals. From school she went straight on to complete a National Diploma in Animal Management at Myerscough College. She followed this with a full time job at a vets where she went on to qualify as a Veterinary Nurse. Lauren really enjoys the variety work offers and loves not knowing what might happen next, allowing her to use her nursing skills to their full potential. She also loves to get involved in organising and running events such as our stand at the Westmorland County Show and Kendal Torch Light Procession. In her spare time she is kept busy with her son and his hectic social life! and with her 2 Labradors and crazy Cocker Spaniel. She also enjoys spending time with family and friends, helping out at home on the farm and having as many Centre Parcs holidays as possible.

Gayle Denny RVN

Gayle’s passion for animals came from growing up on her parent’s farm in Lancashire. She started her nurse training in Caerphilly, Wales in 2008 and qualified in 2011. She decided to move back up North with her partner and in 2012 started work at Westmorland. Since then, Gayle has developed a particular interest in canine and feline behaviour.

Gayle spends a lot of her free time participating in a variety of sports including walking, canoeing, climbing and snowboarding. Gayle is the Chair of her local sports and when she can, loves tackling a good challenge. She also enjoys playing drums, making (and eating) cake and going on adventures in her VW camper.

Heather Dixon RVN

Heather qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2009 from Myerscough College and joined the team at Kendal in August 2013. Heather enjoys all aspects of veterinary nursing but especially enjoys nurse clinics and laboratory work. Her and Gayle enjoy running the puppy parties that are held at the Kendal branch. In her spare time she enjoys keeping fit and travelling to all corners of the globe.

Cathy Broomfield RVN

Cathy joined us in August 2015. She has a lifelong love of animals - her first dog was a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and she worked as a teenager in a Boarding and RSPCA Kennels. She now owns a boarding kennels, cattery and canine hydrotherapy pool with her husband. They have 4 Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, two rescue cats and a growing flock of chickens. In her spare time she enjoys showing her dogs at Open and Championship level. She is also Chair of the Westmorland Riding for the Disabled Association and Trustee of the local charity Alice's Escapes. Her greatest achievement to date is climbing to the summit of Kilimanjaro!

Naomi Capstick RVN

Naomi joined the practice in September 2016. She spent the first few years of her life being brought up on the family farm and although they no longer lives on the farm her dad is still involved in farming and she takes every opportunity to help him. In her spare time she likes playing netball and badminton and participating in other sports such as walking, running and football. She loves art and photography and spending time in the countryside and socializing with friends. She also has a labrador called Devon.

Leanne Hartley

Leanne grew up in a big city as a child, but spent as much time as she could helping on her grandads' small farm in Quernmore. This is where her love of animals started. She trained to be an RVN at Myerscough Collage once her two boys Reece and Leo has started school. She loves getting outside with the family walking in the woods and spending time at the river or on the beach. Always accompanied by her dogs Boo and Jenson.