Redan Street Team become National Winners at the Great British Care Awards
On Friday 8th March, over 1,000 of the very best in social care attended a glittering awards ceremony at Birmingham’s ICC, for the national finals of the Great British Care Awards, where the overall category winners were announced.
Recognised last year as the East of England Regional Winner, our team from supported living service, Redan Street, in Ipswich, went on to be crowned the National Winner at Friday’s Gala Awards.
Judges were unanimous in their decision to award Melany Castillo and her entire support team the ‘The Home Care Team Award’, stating that, “Melanie and her team demonstrated outstanding dedication and commitment to the people they support. We felt inspired by her drive to change people’s lives which were routed in a strong values-based approach, showing innovative solutions to person centred care.”
Our finalists were rewarded with a fabulous evening of entertainment, a 3-course meal, followed by the presentation of twenty-one award categories recognising and celebrating all areas of the care sector.
Melany, Service Manager of Redan Street, shared, “After we were presented with the award I messaged my team to tell them straight away and to thank them all. We are all incredibly passionate about providing the best support we can and work closely with and for the individuals we support, their families and health and social care professionals. This is a great way to show colleagues they are being recognised for what they do and how we do it together.”
Receiving the award Melany felt a little overwhelmed but extremely delighted for her team, who’s hard work, dedication and commitment have now been acknowledged as being the best nationally. No stranger to awards the team were recognised in the Suffolk Care Awards last year as finalists and in the Caring UK Awards. Melany was also a finalist in the National Care Awards in November last year as Learning Disability Service Manager of the Year.
The Redan Street Service comprises of two buildings Redan Street and Oban Street, a 2-bedded bungalow and provides care, support and accommodation for individuals with learning disabilities and additional complex needs, living in a supported living environment. As a strong dedicated team colleagues support up to ten individuals. Individuals require varying levels of support for specific needs and achieving greater independence and strong positive relationships with support workers and family networks are actively encouraged.
The Great British Care Home Awards, hosted by Care England and supported by The Access Group, brought together the winners from the nine regional Great British Care Awards held in Autumn 2018. Winners from each region were invited to compete once again to become the national champions.
Sector support includes the Department of Health, The National Care Forum, Alzheimer’s Society and the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) as well as commercial organisations.
Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England said,
“Social care work is one of the most difficult, and at the same time, one of the most spiritually rewarding careers. People who work in social care, make a huge difference to the lives of the people they work with, and are some of society’s unsung heroes.
“The Great British Care Awards looks to redress the lack of recognition that people who work in social care receive and is recognising and rewarding the very best in the social care workforce, giving them praise and respect for the transformational work that they do every day.”