5 minutes with Andy Cole, CEO of Royal Star & Garter and chair of the National Care Forum

Andy Cole is the chief executive of Royal Star & Garter, a charity that provides care to veterans and their partners living with disability or dementia. They have three homes located in Solihull, West Midlands, High Wycombe, Bucks and Surbiton, Surrey. He is also the chair of the National Care Forum (NCF), a membership body for not-for-profit organisations working for the care and support sector.

Can you tell us about Royal Star & Garter and what you do?

Royal Star & Garter cares for veterans and their partners who live with disability or dementia, in state-of-the-art residential homes across England. We are one of the leading social care charities for the Armed Forces community.

Founded during the First World War, we have supported injured and disabled members of the Services for more than a century. We operate three Homes and have a strong focus on providing high-quality care for those people who are living with dementia, as well as supporting their wider families.

You are also chair of the NCF, can you tell us what you do?

I chair a brilliant board of 12, elected from the members, who support Vic Rayner chief executive and her amazing team in delivering for the whole membership. Vic does all the hard work, and we are incredibly lucky to benefit from her amazing leadership right across the sector. I help where I can and have various governance responsibilities.

Can you tell us about the path you took to get to where you are today and would you change anything?

My career was never particularly planned, but the core theme is that I have always been happiest when involved with organisations I am passionate about and where change was needed.

I actually trained as an industrial chemist, but then worked in marketing and public affairs in the arts for more than a decade – including some very happy years at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the British Film Institute, working at film events and festivals around the world.

After I had children, I was lucky enough to be appointed chief executive of the national premature baby charity, Bliss. For years I focused on helping families and improving specialist maternity and neonatal services, before moving into the social care sector. I’m proud to now support such a wonderful, values-based organisation which focuses on residents and always puts quality first.

Who inspires you the most and why?

I’m a big Welsh rugby fan. I have the greatest respect for Gareth Thomas, the ex-Wales captain, who came out in 2009 while still playing professionally. You should always be brave and be yourself.

What is your biggest achievement in your career and in your personal life?

During my time at the baby charity Bliss, I was part of a wide-ranging review of specialist neonatal services – this led to a number of important improvements for the most vulnerable patients in the NHS and their families.

I’ll always be incredibly proud of helping to deliver that change, even though the job is far from complete.

Personally, I’m a runner – so any time that I have dragged myself round a half marathon, it’s a great, if painful, achievement.

What do you think is the biggest threat facing care providers at the moment?

Social care is all about wonderful people. Without a stable, highly skilled and, crucially, properly rewarded workforce, we will struggle. Society needs to value our amazing care staff much, much more – clapping during the pandemic was appreciated, but not sufficient – there needs to be a complete shift in mindset. Our teams are professional heroes every single day, and they should be recognised as such.

What do you think the government should do to improve life in care homes?

Most importantly, listen properly to care providers and the users of care services, and take our views on board. I spent six months working inside government during the pandemic and it was clear that social care is still considered the poor relation of the NHS. And local authorities need the resources to pay care providers properly for what they do.

What is the biggest opportunity for your organisation currently?

We are working on launching an exciting new framework for care homes to help demonstrate their engagement and understanding of the veteran community. Tens of thousands of care home residents have had Armed Forces experience during their lives, but too often this is not recognised or supported.

What do you hope to introduce in your organisation in the next five years and what are you most excited about implementing?

We are in the process of updating all our digital care systems at the moment, and I’m really excited by the possibilities that acoustic monitoring may bring.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A spaceman initially, then a scientist – which I’m afraid I was not very good at!

What is your favourite book and why?

Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli. It is a beautifully written, short book, wandering through the wonders of the universe.

What is the best present you have received?

Does my wedding ring count?

How do you like to spend your free time?

Apart from time with my family, I’m never happier then when out walking - whether just along the Thames near home or preferably up a ‘proper’ hill. And as a rugby fan, I try to see games at London Welsh or London Irish whenever I can, and I live fairly close to Twickenham stadium too - the energy of a live sporting event is electric.

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