Finalists for the Great South East Care Awards announced (Part 1)

Monday 1st November saw a multitude of finalists attend the judging day for the Great South East Care Awards. The search to find the winners of the inaugural Great South East Care Awards is almost complete. Entries have been invited from categories representing all areas of the social care sector from throughout the South East. Finalists were invited to attend a judging day at the Hilton Hotel in Brighton, where they were interviewed by a panel of judges representing all areas of the social care sector. The awards sponsored by HET Software take place at the Hilton Hotel, Brighton on 27th November 2010 where the winners will be announced. The evening will consist of a champagne reception, a superb gourmet dinner followed by the awards presentation with Olympic Champion and TV Presenter Sally Gunnell, and dancing into the night. Finalists at the judging day represented all areas of the South East region. From local private care providers, residential and nursing homes and local authority adult social care departments – one thing they all had in common was they epitomised the unsung heroes of the region. Without such people quality care for the vulnerable and elderly members of the community would fail. The Great South East Care Awards is part of a series of regional Great British Care Awards. The winners from all the regional awards will then be invited to attend the National Events for either Home Care or Care Homes sectors at the prestigious London’s Royal Courts of Justice in May and June 2011. The Great British Care Awards are a celebration of excellence across the care sector. The purpose of the awards is to promote best practice within both home care and care homes sectors, and pay tribute to those individuals who have demonstrated outstanding excellence within their field of work.

There are a total of around eighteen awards categories available for nomination, which represent all areas of the care sector, whether it be older people or specialist services, residential or home care. From frontline staff such as care workers and care managers to people who have made an impact in other ways such as training, specialist care and innovation.

The awards have received support from across the social care sector, including the Adult Directors of Social Services (ADASS), Department of Health, Ceretas, the English Community Care Association (ECCA), the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) and Skills for Care. The awards support Maggie’s and the Care Professionals Benevolent Fund (CPBF.) Maggie’s has centres throughout the UK which provide support for people suffering from Cancer. The CBPF is the registered charity for the Care Sector which supports current, former and retired care professionals, by providing assistance to relieve financial hardship or sickness. Lisa Carr, a Director of the Great British Care Awards and one of the judges on the day said, “We were truly heartened to receive such an overwhelming response to this the inaugural Great South East Care Awards. The awards offer a unique opportunity to celebrate the successes of individuals, teams and businesses throughout the UK - people who really do make a positive impact on people’s lives. The quality of the finalists was extremely high and it was humbly to meet so many local champions. The awards will really help to raise the profile of social care in the region and we are looking forward to what promises to be a superb awards evening.”