Somerset Care Lead in Recruitment Initiatives

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Kim Wilson

Somerset Care is celebrating this month after receiving a national award. Skills for Care named Somerset Care winners of the Best Recruitment Initiatives on Thursday 14th March at a gala dinner. Alyson Martin, Chief Executive, Sue Baverstock, Group Head of HR and Training and Judith Clark, Workforce Learning and Development Manager, attended the ceremony accompanied by Kevin Mellor, Manager of The Halcon Centre and a representative of ‘The Rising Stars’ programme.

One of the reasons Somerset Care received this national award, alongside their diverse recruitment initiatives, was for ‘The Rising Stars Programme’, a management development course, helping members of Somerset Care to progress into Management positions within the company.

Speaking on their achievement, Alyson Martin, said “Our workforce are our greatest asset in ensuring we provide Quality Care and Support, so recruiting the best people and offering training and support to encourage their continued development enables us to retain excellent staff. We are delighted to have won this prestigious national award on behalf of our team.”

Tom Jones – Merit Badge Prize Winner

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Kim Wilson

Somerset Care is pleased to announce that Care and Support Worker, Tom Jones, has been announced as the winner of the Merit Badge Prize Draw.

Tom, who works for Somerset Care’s Mendip Community Services, was nominated by a client’s family, who praised him for his trustworthy and caring nature. He was awarded a certificate, badge and a £50 Sainsbury’s voucher.

The Merit Badge is awarded to staff members of Somerset Care who have gone above and beyond what is expected of them. Each nominated staff member will receive a badge and certificate to congratulate and thank them for their hard work and commitment. Every quarter recipients of the Merit Badge are entered into a prize draw and will have a chance to win a voucher to the value of £50.

Speaking on Tom’s award, Kim Dominey, Community Services Manager, said, “Tom is a very valuable popular member of the team who really deserves this recognition.”

Somerset Care Announces Harry Patch Award Winners

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Kim Wilson

Somerset Care is pleased to announce that this year’s Harry Patch Award has been presented to two of their managers. The presentation was made at the Group’s annual Managers Meeting, which was held at the County Cricket Club on Friday 7th December.

Sue Steeds, manager of Critchill Court, a 50 bed care home in Lynwood Close, Frome and Netta Hunt, Manager of the West Somerset Community Services office, Minehead, were presented with a Bristol Blue Glass Bowl at the meeting to mark their achievements.

Sue, who was awarded an ‘Outstanding Leader’ award at the Group’s in-house awards ceremony earlier in the year, recently planned to create a 1950s themed reminiscence room with the help of local companies and families.

Netta, who manages the delivery of our Community Services in the West Somerset area has recently been involved in a ‘PETALS’ dementia pilot in the area, and has worked tirelessly in the roll out and development of the project.

Speaking on the achievements, Alyson Martin, Chief Executive, said, “Sue and Netta are both exceptional managers and we are proud to be able to recognise their achievements through this award”.

Alyson Martin Receives ‘Outstanding Contribution to Social Care’ Award

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Kim Wilson

Somerset Care is pleased to announce that Chief Executive, Alyson Martin MBE, has been announced as a winner in this year’s Great British Care Awards, South West Region. Alyson attended the gala dinner on Friday 16th November at The Passenger Shed, Bristol, and was presented with the ‘Outstanding Contribution to Social Care’ award, for her commitment and dedication to the care sector.

Alyson has worked in social care for over 40 years, starting her career as a care assistant at the age of 16. Throughout her career she has undertaken a variety of roles including care home Manager and Director of Care Services, culminating in her appointment as Chief Executive of Somerset Care in January this year. Alyson’s outstanding depth of knowledge and experience has allowed her to have a significant impact on the social care sector, not only through her role within Somerset Care but also as a leading figure within the wider social care arena. She was awarded an MBE for her services to social care in the Queen’s Jubilee Birthday Honours list this year.

Alyson Martin, said, “I am delighted to receive this award. I would like to express my thanks to everyone who has supported me throughout my career, including the thousands of staff who provide care and support to our vulnerable clients.”

As a winner of the South West Regional Awards Alyson will be shortlisted to receive a National Great British Care award in 2013.

Jane Lynch Is Awarded The ‘Lifetime Achievement In Dementia Care’ Award

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Kim Wilson

Somerset Care is pleased to announce that Jane Lynch, Assistant Director for residential services, has been announced as a winner in this year’s National Dementia Care Awards. Jane attended the gala dinner on Wednesday 31st October at the Brighton Hilton Metropole Hotel, in association with the 7th UK Dementia Congress 2012 and was presented with the ‘Lifetime Achievement in Dementia Care Award’ for her commitment and dedication to dementia care services within Somerset Care.

Jane joined Somerset Care in 1991 and has held a number of roles throughout her career. In 2008 she assumed Group wide responsibility for leading the development of dementia services and has worked closely with the Universities of Bradford and Exeter. This inspired her to bring Dementia Care Mapping, life stories and reminiscence to Somerset Care, and led to national recognition when the organisation received National Dementia Design and the National Dementia Research awards in 2009. More recently Jane has worked with Reminiscence Learning, a Somerset based charity that provides a specialist training experience in this field, to launch ‘Archie’s Story’, an intergenerational project, which aims to make Williton one of the first dementia friendly villages in the UK.

Alyson Martin MBE, Chief Executive, said, “We are delighted that Jane’s contribution to Dementia Care has been recognised with this national award. Her leadership and commitment has been exceptional, and has ensured that Somerset Care continues to provide high calibre innovative services for people with dementia.”

Wiltshire Community Team To Attend Great South West Care Awards

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Kim Wilson

Somerset Care‘s Community Services Team in Wiltshire has been shortlisted as a finalist for the Great South West Care Awards.

The team was awarded the “Help to live at Home” contract from Wiltshire Council in
September 2011, and during the past nine months the team has tripled in size
and worked extremely hard to provide a quality service, enabling their service users to remain as independent as possible in their own homes.

The team attended a judging day at The Mecure Holland House Hotel in Bristol last
month, and will find out if they have won the award at a Gala Dinner at The
Passenger Shed in Bristol on 16th November. Award winners will then
be invited to attend the Great British Care Awards Gala Dinner at a prestigious
central London venue next spring.

Shirley Chapman, Operations Manager, said, “I am so pleased that the Wiltshire
community team has been shortlisted as finalists in this years’ Great South
West Care Awards. The team has worked extremely hard over the last year to
provide a quality service and we have received excellent feed back from our
service users.”

Somerset Care Celebrates Their Animals

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Alyson Martin

This month Somerset Care celebrated the achievements of their staff with an awards ceremony. One of the lucky award winners was ‘Chewy the dog’ from Pulsford Lodge.

Chewy arrived at Pulsford Lodge in June 2010 with a married couple from Oxfordshire who decided to move to the area to be close to family. He soon captured the hearts of the residents and became a permanent member of the Pulsford Lodge family.

After seeing Chewy’s photo at the awards ceremony we decided that our animals needed recognition and set up a ‘Somerset Care Pet Competition’ on our Facebook page. Photos have been uploaded of animals from across the company (including a few entries from Central Office) and the community are invited to vote for which photo they like the most.

The winner will receive a treat and a certificate to be displayed in the home or office.

Somerset Care Celebrates Staff Achievement

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Alyson Martin

On 11th July Somerset Care hosted its annual awards ceremony at the Holiday Inn, Taunton.

Over 160 guests attended the event, at which staff were recognised for their long service and special achievements in; care, support and training. In total the company celebrated 915 years of long service, with five members of staff each celebrating 30 years service. In addition to long service 45 presentations were made to staff members who had been nominated by fellow staff for their special achievements.

Presentations to the award winning staff members were made by UKHCA Chief Executive Bridget Warr, Somerset Care’s Chairman Chris Davies and Non Exedcutive Director Barrie Dale.

Speaking at the ceremony, Chief Executive Alyson Martin said, “It is wonderful to see so many of our staff members honoured for their hard work and dedication to Somerset Care. It has been a lovely day and a pleasure to be able to celebrate our staff achievements.”

Preston Park House Receives Highest Gold Standards Framework Award

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Alyson Martin

Somerset Care is celebrating this week as Preston Park House in Yeovil 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 Preston Park House are extremely pleased with their success. Janice Passmore, Manager of the home, said, “It’s a credit to the commitment and dedication of the staff team to achieve this award. A special mention must go to Deputy Manager Emma Read who has dedicated a lot of time and organisation into this achievement”.

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 at their success”.

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

Somerset Care ‘Rises’ To The Stars

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Alyson Martin

It was all smiles recently when several Somerset Care employees celebrated graduating from the 2012 ‘Rising Stars’ programme.

There was a congratulatory presentation at Calway House in Taunton on 19th April, during which graduates were filmed talking about their experiences during the Rising Stars and were presented with a certificate and book. The footage has been made into a four minute programme that has been posted onto the popular entertainment site You Tube.

Rising Stars is an in-house management development programme run by Somerset Care that helps residential supervisory and nursing staff promote themselves to a management level. It began in April 2010 with 12 participants of which, 7 are now Deputy Managers and one is a Manager.

The programme concentrates on the key areas of management, organisation, team building, strategy, finance performance, sales, marketing and leadership. Each category has its own training session, a majority of which is taught by Gary Mitchell, a freelance trainer who has 12 years of experience training some of Britain’s largest Blue Chip companies. The course also includes two placements at different residential homes to branch the candidate’s experience.

The programme has proved to be very successful and has had extremely positive feedback.

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