Somerset Care is helping to promote National Wear Red Day 2012.
Wear Red Day is organised through the British Heart Foundation, who celebrated their 50th Birthday last year.

The day allows people to show support and promote awareness of heart disease.
The British Heart Foundation advises that heart and circulatory diseases cause more than one in three of all deaths in the UK, accounting for more than 191,000 deaths each year, at an estimated cost of £30 billion to the economy.
National Wear Red Day 2012 will take place on Friday 24th February and you can get involved in several ways. One simple way is to use the Red for Heart Randometer on facebook. This lets you pull a lever and it generates some brilliant fundraising ideas.
To get involved you can email the British Heart Foundation on red@bhf.org.uk, call them on 0300 330 0645 or visit their website http://www.bhf.org.uk

On February 1st Somerset Care celebrated Dignity Action Day.

Dignity Action Day is a chance to raise awareness of the importance of dignity in care.

Critchill Court residential home in Frome celebrated with a Dignity Action Day party, full of activities for the residents, visitors and staff to enjoy. The residents made and decorated cupcakes, listened to a local musician and made bookings for the ‘wash and go’, a make shift car wash for zimmer frames and walking sticks.

As well as the fun activities Jess Symes, Critchill Court’s Dignity Champion and her mother made ribbons which they sold on the day. In total they raised £60 for their dignity fund, which is used to purchase items for the residents.

Somerset Care at Home is pleased to announce that Alison Godwin has been appointed as Community Services Manager for its Bridgwater office.

Alison joined Somerset Care at Home in September 2008 as Deputy Manager for the Frome and Bath area. She starts her new role on Monday 16th January 2012 and said, “I am delighted to have been appointed as Community Services Manager for the Bridgwater office and would like to thank everyone who has supported me over the last few years.”

The Somerset Care Group has announced the appointment of an Assistant Director for residential services.

After a rigorous recruitment process, the Board of the Somerset Care Group were delighted to invite Jane Lynch to become the company’s new Assistant Director for residential services.

Jane started working for the Somerset Care Group in 1991 as a Supervisor at Wyndham House in Minehead. She then went on to manage Croft House in Williton, which was the first home in the company to develop a specialist dementia care wing. Currently working as an Operations Manager, Jane is also the company lead in dementia, having worked closely with Professor Alex Haslam and his team from the Clinical and Social Psychology department at Exeter University, which resulted in the company being presented with a national dementia research award in 2010.

Within the last year Jane has also taken on the role as Quality Assurance Manager, working with a small team to develop a robust company wide QA system.

Speaking on her appointment, Jane said, “I am delighted with my new appointment and look forward to working with our exceptionally talented team of managers.”

Alyson Martin, Chief Executive of the Somerset Care Group, added “Jane has demonstrated many achievements over the years and is highly talented in the field of social care; we look forward to her leading our care home services.”

Jane will assume the position of Assistant Director for residential services from 1st January 2012.

The Somerset Care Group has announced the appointment of an Assistant Director for community services.

After a rigorous recruitment process, the Board of the Somerset Care Group is delighted to invite Chris Humphrey to become the company’s new Assistant Director for community services.

Chris started working for the Somerset Care Group in October 2011 on a two year contract as Service Development Manager for Somerset Care at Home. The role was created to establish reablement across the community based services. Chris is an Occupational Therapist by profession but has most recently worked as a senior manager in Social Care.

Speaking on her appointment, Chris said, “I am delighted to have joined Somerset Care at this time of huge changes in social care and to have been appointed to the role of Assistant Director of community services. I hope my skills and experience, added to that of my colleagues, will help us to rise to the challenges to come.”

Alyson Martin, Chief Executive of the Somerset Care Group, added “Supporting people to live independently in their own homes remains a priority and Chris brings a wealth of expertise from her previous roles to enable our teams to deliver quality community services.”

Chris will assume her position of Assistant Director for community services from 1st January 2012.

Somerset Care is celebrating this week as Popham Court in Wellington received the highest award of “Beacon” status in the Gold Standards Framework Award. The Gold Standards Framework is an award designed to ensure quality care and support is given to people nearing the end of life.

The staff team at Popham Court are extremely pleased with their success. Hazel Jones, Manager said, “It’s a credit to the commitment and dedication of the staff team to achieve this award”.

Popham Court offers residential care in two separate buildings, The Court is a 37 bed home which provides residential and day care in a charming grade II listed building. Popham House, situated on the grounds of The Court offers nursing care to 37 residents.

Alyson Martin Chief Executive, said, “The attainment of this prestigious award demonstrates the high quality of care and support provided by the staff team, we are delighted with their success”.

Five other Somerset Care homes have also received the Gold Standards Frameworks Award, Milton House in Bridgwater, Calway House in Taunton, Cary Brook in Castle Cary, Critchill Court in Frome and Croft House in Williton.