Care village in Crewe scoops four awards

Staff members with their awards

Submitted by Joshua Gartside

The Belong care village in Crewe, Cheshire has four causes for celebration in the not-for-profit organisation's annual Champion Awards.

The Crewe team members won trophies for compassion, leadership and expertise in end-of-life care.

Belong villages across the North West were brought together in an online ceremony designed to showcase the achievements and dedication across the organisation, as colleagues, customers and relatives cheered them on via live stream.

The care village’s experience coordinator, Natalie Ravenscroft, won the Leader Award in recognition of her influence on the village culture, involving the whole team in creating meaningful activities for residents, as well as her success in building relationships with the wider community.

The judges said that she was: “An impressive individual who utilises her leadership skills to influence quality practices across the Belong Village Crewe.”

Donna Woolrich, community support worker at the Crewe branch of Belong’s home care service, Belong at Home, took home the Compassion Award for the commitment shown in undertaking her role. The judges gave examples of small acts of kindness by Donna that make a big difference to people’s lives.

The Crewe team were also collectively recognised for their commitment to ensuring the best possible outcomes for residents receiving palliative and end-of-life care, in-line with individual wishes, with the End-of-Life Care (team) award.

Finally, there was a special award for Belong Dementia Trainer Belinda Jones. She received the Outstanding Contribution to Belong Award for her many years of service supporting people with dementia.

The winners were determined by an external independent judging panel, who conducted a series of interviews as part of the rigorous assessment process.

Belong deputy chief executive Tracy Paine said of Belinda:

“Ever since she started her career as a care assistant, supporting people with dementia came naturally to her. She is a truly wonderful person and an inspirational influence on our lives and work. She has touched so many people’s lives with her passionate and truly person-centred approach to caring for people.”

Commenting on this year’s Champion Awards, Belong’s People and Development Manager, Tim Kirk, said: “It’s been a very challenging year and the outbreak of the pandemic part way through our awards process disrupted our plans to bring everyone together, as it has so many other things. We felt strongly that it was still important to celebrate the commitment and successes of our village teams over the last 12 months, albeit under slightly different circumstances, and we are thrilled that so many of our customers and their relatives could join us for the online event.”

The Champion Awards 2020 was made possible thanks to the support of Collective Purchasing, Marr Procurement, Person Centred Software, Search Consultancy, Pozzoni Architecture, Triangle PR and the Seddon Group.

Shine a spotlight on your neighbourhood by becoming an Area Ambassador. Click here to learn more!