Regional care awards celebrate local heroes
The awards ceremony for the Outstanding Care Awards for Devon and Cornwall has celebrated local heroes in the caring sector.
Carers, Rowcroft Hospice and Ocean Healthcare were amongst employees, volunteers and care organisations from across the region celebrated at the awards.
The ceremony saw more than 300 people attend the sold out event at the Livermead Hotel in Torquay.
Devon County Council, Torbay Council and Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust are amongst organisations backing the initiative.
Bronze, Silver and Gold winners were selected across 20 categories, including awards for individuals, teams and organisations.
Team Riverview at the Priory Group won Gold in the Team of Excellence category, with Ann Owen, from Quality Care Torquay, named Community Carer of the Year, and Home Instead Senior Care Exeter & East Devon winning the Quality Supplier Award.
Home Instead Senior Care Exeter and East Devon received Gold for Quality Supplier, with the Registered Manager and Care Coordinator receiving Gold for Community Manager of the Year and Bronze for Care Coordinator of the Year.
Mark McGlade, Managing Director at Home Instead Senior Care, said: “We are delighted to have been recognised with the Gold Award for Quality Supplier. Everything that we do is focused on delivering care good enough for our own mum or dad. It starts with recruiting the most caring and compassionate caregivers and delivering care that provides for our clients’ social as well as physical needs.”
Other winners included Devon Freewheelers Blood Bikes, winners of The Emergency Services Award, Steve Dixon from Devon Safeguarding Adults Board, who won Gold for Commitment to Training and Development, and Andy Cowling from The Old Rectory Exeter, named Care Home Activity Organiser of the Year.
Kirsty Warren and Frankie Rowe, both of Bluebird Care Exmouth, won Bronze for Outstanding Community Manager Gold for Outstanding Deputy, respectively.
William Flint, Director at Bluebird Care, said: “Having the opportunity to recognise and reward the work of those in the Care industry is a very positive initiative that we support and actively promote within our Bluebird Care business. Both Frankie and Kirsty have been promoted through the business and achieved much success which we are delighted to see rewarded with Kirsty’s Bronze Award and Frankie’s Gold Award. They can be very proud of their achievements”
Jonathan Hanbury, Director at Atlas Care, commented on their Silver win of Care Newcomer of the Year: “It has been an amazing first 6 months for the team at The Ness Centre and we are so happy and proud to have been recognised as Care Newcomer of the Year in the Outstanding Care Awards 2018. We are striving to innovate in dementia care and make a real difference to families and individuals living with the disease and this was seen and recognised by the judges. Thank you to Kat and all the team!”
Hundreds of nominations were received for the new awards, which were launched in February, including many for individuals who had gone above and beyond in making sure vulnerable people received care during the ‘Beast from the East’ snowstorm in March.
Several nominees jointly received Gold for The People’s Award for their efforts to support vulnerable members of their communities during the bad weather.
Kat Green, co-founder of the Outstanding Care Awards, said: “It was a fantastic evening full of emotion. People who care are a special breed – compassionate and resilient. It was wonderful that they could be in the spotlight and receive the recognition they deserve.
“People and organisations from across the South West have come together to celebrate the best of the region’s care sector. As this is the first year of the awards, we were delighted with the response and the incredible nominations put forward. We are excited to look ahead to next year and where the Care Awards will go next.”
Link to full list of winners on the website: https://www.outstandingcareawards.com/shortlist
