National care hero award for Bristol carer.

Holly Kane, a carer at Crossley House care home in Bristol, has won a national social care hero award in recognition of their hard work.  The award has been made this week by Support Social Care Heroes (SSCH), an organisation which aims to preserve, protect and improve the health and wellbeing of those providing social care.

SSCH launched the monthly award programme this year to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the 1.54m people working in social care in the UK. Holly, who was nominated for September 2022, is the 9th award winner.

Holly was nominated by her colleagues. Lydia Edwards, the Deputy Manager at the home, said:

“Holly has progressed greatly in her time at Crossley House especially as she had no experience of care beforehand. She has grown in knowledge and experience immensely! 

“Holly is always willing to go the extra mile to improve the lives of our residents with her bubbly and outgoing personality. Holly is an asset to our team and residents and this shows by covering additional shifts, sometimes at short notice. We are all so proud of Holly having achieved this great award.”

On hearing they had won the award Holly said:

“ Since being at Crossley House I have learned so much from the experience and the training provided by Ablecare. I love being around the residents and making their lives so much better.”

Holly will receive a £50 voucher for the grocery store of their choice, a box of chocolates, certificate, a SSCH hoody and Crossley House will receive a bunch of flowers. The prizes have been sponsored by J9 Advisory, a Yorkshire-based advisory firm.

The social care workforce is often overlooked yet they keep the most vulnerable people in our society safe and well. It is hoped that SSCH will receive significant support following research which found that the overwhelming majority of the public feel that social care staff are undervalued (81%) and underpaid (80%). The monthly care hero awards have been created to show that care workers are appreciated. 

Nicola Richards, Founder of Support Social Care Heroes, explained the thinking behind the idea:

“Social care staff often do not get the recognition that they deserve despite being valued by their managers and employers. 

“Many care homes already have ‘employee of the month’ schemes and we really felt we should do something to bring all these nominations together from around the country to celebrate all our social care heroes and the amazing work they do.

“The pandemic has brought social care colleagues across the country together as we have supported each other like never before. I hope these awards will provide a positive boost to carers, managers and the wider care home teams. 

“These awards are the first step in our long-term plans to ensure those who need care, and those caring for them, are valued by all in society.

“Our country’s social care heroes have been on the front line and in the headlines for almost two years and this new initiative will help show them that they are valued and recognise the work they do.”

Social care employers are encouraged to nominate their staff for a care home hero award (employee of the month). Taking part has been made simple and easy: post a photo of your employee of the month and which care home you represent, to social media, with the hashtag #SocialCareHeroAwards and tag Support Social Care Heroes page. Tell us in 160 characters why the person is a social care hero. 

All nominations will be curated by the Support Social Care Heroes team and on the last Monday of each month a winner will be chosen at random.