Author: Paula Palmer

Garnsychan project logo

Garnsychan Partnership

Posted on | by Paula Palmer

The Garnsychan Partnership is dedicated to community-based social,environmental, and economic regeneration. They are active across a range of areas including opportunity and enterprise, the environment, health and wellbeing, training,and education.

The partnership is based in Garndiffaith, just north of Pontypool. They operate several non-profit social enterprises that support the communities of the Abersychan ward and wider Torfaen. Their commitment is to help make the area an even better place to live.

2 projects are Circulate Furniture Recycling and Growing the Veg Box.

Services from Garnsychan Partnership

  • Covid Wellbeing Hub
  • Community Foodbank
  • Community Buddies
  • Community Prescription Collection and Delivery Service
  • Period Power – allowing free access to feminine hygiene products and supporting local organisations with products. Including The Wallich, Hales House and Abersychan School.
  • Lunch Club – returning on 1st March. Senior resident please get in touch to book your place
  • GARNSYCHAN TRAINING AND SKILLS ACADEMY At Garnsychan Partnership they operate a Training and Skills academy across all the projects. Currently supporting 15 placements across the organisation providing valuable work placement opportunities (in warehousing, admin and customer services, recycling of woodwork and furniture restoration, horticulture and much more). All placements are unemployed and most of which have mental health issues, learning difficulties and or physical disabilities, they are not bound by criteria and so are an all-inclusive programme with an open door for everyone.

They are always looking for volunteers to join the fantastic team! For any more information regarding any of the services or to find out more – Please contact them via inbox or call 01495774453, go to facebook or their website.

Career Progression in Care

Posted on | by Paula Palmer
career progression at SIL cover image

Often when you start a job, you don’t plan to be working in the same role forever, you want it to be a stepping stone to something greater. 

In some careers, there’s an obvious path to follow, but in social care, there are lots of options. If you start out as a Care Assistant or Support Worker, you could end up almost anywhere!

Some opportunities for career progression might use skills you’ve learnt directly as a care worker. Others might look at your transferable skills, such as being well-organised and adaptable.

Have you ever had to juggle dropping kids at school and racing back home for a boiler service before taking the dog to the vet, going to the Post Office and picking the kids up again? If so, your time management skills are probably spot on!

Career progression at SIL doesn’t always mean staying with us, we respect your need to grow and will support you in your progression even if it that means we’ll lose you. Having said that we have great opportunities within our organisation, and some of our Care Assistants and Support Workers have recently gone on to other roles such as Team Leaders and Deputy Homecare Manager. Our CEO started out his career as a Support Worker!

Career progression – where could I go?

You might already know where you want your career to take you. If not, the opportunities may not be what you expected…

What interests you?

Career progression doesn’t have to follow a set path. 

Think about the aspects of your current job that you enjoy most. It might be something you do every day or a less regular task. Is there a way you can incorporate that into your career progression?

For example:

  • If you really enjoy helping your service users do their hair, would you be interested in becoming a hair stylist?
  • If planning activities for your service users is the best part of your job, why not consider becoming an activity coordinator?
  • Or would you rather stay with the same company and continue moving up the career ladder?
  • Do you want to use you knowledge of working with disabled and older people at a Local authority level, why not consider becoming a social worker?
  • Do you want to continue working directly with service users, or would you prefer to move to a more office-based role?

Do you want to study or take additional qualifications?

Some jobs, such as nursing or some management roles, might need additional study or qualifications. At SIL, we offer a huge range of opportunities from training that will help you to support particular service users to gaining qualifications in management and to support your development within SIL, and potentially beyond SIL.

Training and development is funded by SIL and in most cases you will also be paid for your time. The exception to this may be qualifications but you would be granted time for study and meetings with your tutors.

We also have access to a wide range of training for personal interests such as Interior Design or Massage Diplomas which are provide free of charge but would be studied in your own time.

What work schedule do you want?

As a care worker, you’re probably used to working shifts and unsociable hours. For some people, career progression is a way to move to a more “standard” schedule. However, some people love working nights or changing shifts. Consider what you’d like from your new role.

What roles could I progress to after working as a Support Worker?

Here are some of the roles that you might consider after working as a Care Assistant or Support Worker.

Specialising in specific areas

You may want to continue delivering personal care and directly supporting service users to stay independent. 

Plenty of Care Assistants and Support Workers love their current role, as well as the flexibility it offers.

However, there are still ways to progress your career. For example, if you really enjoy supporting people with certain conditions or disabilities, you could choose to work predominantly in those areas. 

For example, if you’re particularly good at helping service users with autism or dementia, you could look for roles that focus on those conditions. If you’ve found a lot of fulfilment when helping service users at the end of their lives, you could look at roles in hospice or palliative care. 

You may be able to take additional qualifications in your area of interest. 

Senior Homecare Support Worker or Team Leader

Seniors or Team Leaders work with service users, but in a different way. It’s still a job that’s mostly on the front line of care, as opposed to in the office. 

Our Team Leaders assess service users and create care plans, and supervise and shadow care workers. Your knowledge of supporting service users and regulatory compliance will be hugely important in this role.

Homecare Care Coordinator / ILH Administrator

A more office-based role, our co-ordinator and administrators put together care rotas, maintain continuity of care where possible, and ensure that everything is compliant with regulations. 

If you’re super-organised, flexible and know how to motivate your colleagues, this role could be a great place for you.

Registered Manager

Registered managers are a key part of any care organisation, including SIL. They’re responsible for all of the people and processes in their branch – that includes care workers, service users, support plans, budgets, policies, and much more. 

It’s a big responsibility, and you’ll need to be a confident leader – as well as being good at keeping up with admin work. You’ll need to keep up with changing regulations, and will ideally have some extra qualifications in health and social care.

Having front line care work experience is vital to being a good manager. Your experiences working directly with service users mean you’ll understand your teams’ daily challenges.

Nursing & Nursing Assistants

While being a care worker is very different to nursing, this is a great path for career progression. 

As a successful Care Assistant or Support Worker, you’ve got many of the same skills. You’re already compassionate and work well under pressure, some key factors in being a good nurse.

Not only that, but you’ve probably worked with many nurses over your career and know a fair amount about what their job involves.

Non-care Administrative Roles

As you work within a company, you’ll come across different jobs that might interest you and get to know different teams. You might have learnt more about marketing, IT or payroll and would like to get involved there. 

Some areas, like Learning and Development or Compliance, might draw on your current workplace knowledge. But, depending on your area of interest, you might need to do some further study or qualifications, either before applying or while you’re working. 

If you’re interested in moving to a different area of a business, talk to people in those teams to find out about their skills and qualifications, or ask the recruitment team for more information about what they look for in a candidate. 

Ok I’m ready to start my career in care…

Go to our vacancies to see our latest opportunities, call HR: 01568 616653 or email hr@s4il.co.uk. You don’t need qualifications to get started in care just the right attitude and to be kind, caring person.

image for Herefordshire Interfaith group healing the mind sessions

Herefordshire InterFaith Group

Posted on | by Paula Palmer

Healing the Mind

Herefordshire Interfaith Group continues with a series of online zoom meetings designed provide an alternative route for healing the mind through the shared knowledge of their faiths, meditation, music and readings.

All welcome – those of all faiths or none, please register in advance: email to hello@herefordshireinterfaith.org.uk or tel: 01981 500764

Tues 18th January from 6.45 for a 7pm start to 8.30pm.
Healing the Mind (part 2):
How to use Mindful practices to relax and bring your mind to rest.
As usual we will draw on the wisdom of our spiritual traditions to help us explore this theme though readings, meditations, contemplation and music with contributions from Karim, Lama Choesang, Frances, Brian, Phil and Di.

Tues 8th February from 6.45 for a 7pm start to 8.30pm.
Healing the Mind (part 3):
Exploring the mirror of the Mind with Pete Hulme. 
Following on from our excellent workshop with Pete in December we will continue with the theme of ‘Experiencing consciousness more clearly and understanding it more deeply’.  Most of the evening will be dedicated to this workshop with the addition of some musical interludes and chaired by by Lama Choesang.

Thurs 3rd March from 6.45 for a 7pm start to 8.30pm.
Healing the Mind (part 4):
Skillful means from East to West
Over thousands of years, great sages of the times, have offered skillful ways to still the Mind.  Resting the mind in a measured way is so important for our health. Lama Choesang, Brian, Pete and Karim will offer an evening of skillful ways to still the mind drawn from the world’s spiritual traditions.

Trustee recruitment image

Use Your Experience and Make a Difference

Posted on | by Paula Palmer

News Release No 62/22

6th January 2022

Services for Independent Living (SIL) is a multi-award-winning Herefordshire based charity which supports disabled and older people to gain and maintain independence and live the lives they want in their own homes and communities. SIL works across Herefordshire supporting approximately 300 people and employing around 130 staff.

We are currently looking for additional trustees to join our Board and this is an exciting opportunity to play a major part in shaping the future direction of the organisation.

Our trustees work with our managers to develop future plans and steer the organisation. It’s a rewarding and enjoyable role that can make a real difference to the lives of the people we support, while supporting trustees to learn new skills.  

SIL’s CEO, Euan McPherson said: “We are looking for people with good interpersonal skills and who enjoy team working. In particular, we are seeking people with lived experience of disability and/or financial or financial accounting knowledge. At least half the members of our Board have experience of disability.

“You do not need to have been a trustee before as support is available from our existing experienced trustees, who meet monthly. SIL is a welcoming and accessible organisation and we welcome applications from all ages and backgrounds”.

Angela Higham, SIL’s Chair, added: “SIL is a wonderful organisation to be part of, its success is largely due to the joint working between our trustees and the highly effective Senior Management Team. We are looking for people that can join us as we look forward to an exciting period of growth and development.”

If you are interested in joining SIL as a trustee, you can find out more about the role in our vacancies section or please contact Euan McPherson: euan.mcpherson@s4il.co.uk or call: 01568 616653 for an application pack.

News Release image - christmas come early for lucky sil staff

Christmas Comes Early for Lucky SIL Staff

Posted on | by Paula Palmer

News Release No 61/21

23rd November 2021

Not-for-profit care provider Services for Independent Living (SIL), has given their 130 staff a 10% pay increase starting in December. This unprecedented move has been taken to reward their employees for their hard work and commitment and to help increase the recruitment of new staff.

Euan McPherson, Chief Executive said: ‘We are seeking to expand and having just won a new contract for homecare provision in Herefordshire we are keen to recruit new staff.’

He went on to say, ‘Our aim is for  SIL to continue as an employer of choice in this sector locally and we have worked hard to improve the working environment for staff. This has included offering paid sick leave, maternity pay and free staff training opportunities well above the requirements of the Care Certificate. In line with this ongoing investment in our staff, the decision to significantly increase salaries was the next logical step”

Social care nationally is facing significant staff shortages and many providers are struggling to recruit staff. There are national and local initiatives to help encourage people to work in the sector, including new funding for training, recently announced by the government.

With the 10% increase, SIL becomes one of the market leaders for pay in Herefordshire’s social care sector and hopes that by increasing salaries well above the forthcoming increases in April to the national living wage, that they will attract new people into a rewarding and interesting career.  Employees can expect not only a good hourly rate, but receive first class training and perks, while working in an organisation that values its staff and provides excellent terms and conditions.

Now we’re talking – Acting together to prevent suicide

Posted on | by Paula Palmer

Launched in 2018 by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care Trust the Now We’re Talking campaign set out to reduce stigma and encourage more local people to access the Healthy Minds Service to get the support if and when they need it!

Having conversations about mental health helps break down stereotypes, improves relationships, aids recovery and take the sigma out of something that affects us all.

There are lots of different ways to have the conversation about mental health and you don’t have to be an expert to talk.  Promotion of mental health awareness has many forms, and we are all about thinking outside the box! Mental Health problems affect one in four of us, yet people are still afraid to talk about it. Having conversations about mental health helps break down stereotypes, improves relationships, aid recovery and take the sigma out of something that affects us all.

If you would like further information about the Now We’re Talking campaign and how you could get involved please contact alice.linley@nhs.net

Talk

Someone you know will have a mental health problem right now – a family member, your friend, your workmate. He or she just might not know how to tell you.

Being open to mental health can break down any stigma surrounding it. You don’t have to be an expert to talk and to listen, and often it’s the little things that make a big difference.

Go to www.healthyminds./nowweretalking/ for more information on the campaign and how it can help you help yourself or someone else.

GB Paralympics team rewrite history books in Tokyo

Posted on | by Paula Palmer


The British team won medals across 18 sports and finished second behind China at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games .

ParalympicsGB  had a phenomenal medal haul and reached the podium in more sports than any other nation at a single Games.  226 athletes competed in the 12 day competition held in Tokyo after an extremely difficult 18 months as the COVID pandemic brought the world to a standstill.

Team GB won 124 medals overall, including 41 gold, 38 silver and 45 bronze.

ParalympicsGB’s traditionally strong sports, such as cycling, rowing and equestrian, once again proved to be the best in the world.  There were also outstanding performances from the wheelchair fencing, judo and table tennis squads.”

Every member of ParalympicsGB’s 20-strong cycling squad won medals in Tokyo, spearheaded by Dame Sarah Storey who became Great Britain’s most successful Paralympian of all time, winning three events to reach 17 golds in a stunning career.

In the dressage arena, Sir Lee Pearson moved to third on the all-time list of ParalympicsGB medallists with three golds in Tokyo.  This was his 14th medal across five Games. Joining the him on the podium was Georgia Wilson, one of 48 Games debutants in the ParalympicsGB team who return home with silverware.

Swimmer Reece Dunn won  five medals – three golds, a silver and a bronze – making him the most decorated athlete in the ParalympicsGB squad for the Tokyo 2020 Games.

There were medals too for British athletes in taekwondo and badminton, new additions to the Paralympic programme for Tokyo 2020.  Beth Munro, Amy Truesdale, Dan Bethell and Krysten Coombs all reached the podium.

ParalympicGB’s wheelchair rugby team struck gold for the first time at their sixth Games, beating three-time champions the USA 54-49 in a thrilling final. Kylie Grimes, the sole female in the British squad, also made history as she became the first woman to win wheelchair rugby gold.

Experience also paid off for table tennis player Sue Bailey who, after competing at six Paralympic Games, secured her first Paralympic medal alongside teammate Megan Shackleton. Para canoe’s Jeanette Chippington was ParalympicGB’s oldest medallist with bronze out on the water in the women’s VL2 event. The 51-year-old first pulled on the British vest at Seoul 1988 in a remarkable Paralympic career that has spanned five decades.

Meanwhile 17-year-old swimmer Ellie Challis, ParalympicGB’s youngest athlete in Tokyo, exemplified the star quality of the next generation of young athletes with silver in the women’s 50m backstroke (S3).

Summing up the performance of the team over the last 12 days, Chef de Mission Penny Briscoe OBE said:

“The performance of the athletes will live long in the memory and their impact will transcend these Games – inspiring the next generation, giving hope and happiness, and positively influencing change through what they have delivered on and off the field of play.

Have you been inspired?

If you are living with a disability and have been inspired to try out a new sport try these websites for clubs in your area:

parasport.org.uk/

getoutgetactive.co.uk/

disabilitysportwales.com/

rda.org.uk/ Riding for the Disabled

At the heart of our challenge is the importance of exercise on mental and physical health so even if you can’t become the next dressage olympian you will be boosting your health.

SIL 25k mile challenge update

As we head into September and the 6th month of the Challenge we have racked up over 5000 miles.  We have a very long way to go so please don’t forget to send in those miles.  You can let us know via the email sil25k@s4il.co.uk.

Don’t forget that we are also raising funds for Megan Baker House and you can donate at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sil-25k-challenge

Leominster Dementia Care

Posted on | by Paula Palmer


Leominster Meeting Centre and Dementia Friendly Leominster is about helping people and their families adjust to living with dementia.  They offer exercise, educational sessions, one-to-one meetings with support workers and advisers, as well as therapeutic activities and having FUN!

Leominster Dementia Awareness Week is Monday 23rd to Saturday 28th August.  Please check the flyers below to see what’s happening or check their website at https://www.leominstermeetingcentre.co.uk/

SIL celebrates 25 years of care in Herefordshire

Posted on | by Paula Palmer

SIL marks a significant milestone this year; 2021. 25 years of delivering care and support in Herefordshire.

SIL started way back in 1996 when a group of disabled people and carers decided that they wanted to be part of a pilot scheme that was being introduced by the government for Direct Payments (DP).  This new approach to social care would allow them to control their own care and support by allowing them a pot of money to buy in the services they want rather than being ‘prescribed’ a care package.

This group approached the council and, with a more than a little persuasion, gained approval for a Direct Payment Scheme in Herefordshire.  They then continued to lead the the way in growing the demand for DP and so SIL or Herefordshire Centre for Independent Living (HCIL), as it was known then, was born. The group recognised that whilst the ideal was there, they needed a little support to manage some aspects of the process.  HCIL, with it’s first CEO, Marion Tweed-Ryecroft on board  initially offered payroll, book keeping and employment advice to the first recipients of Direct Payments.

Roll forward 25 years and SIL has grown; we now also provide care and support in the home and community with our Independent Living at Home and Homecare Services.  That small group of disabled people, and the disabled persons or family carers, that form at least 50% of our board of  Trustees, that have followed have made SIL what it is.  They have provided direction and been instrumental in ensuring that SIL can enable people affected by disabilities to exercise choice and control, to live independent lives, and to actively participate in society.

To celebrate our 25 years our AGM this year will be true party and will feature more awards than ever. Keep reading for all the details… but next


History of SIL by Dave Hughes, Trustee and ILH Service User

Around 1990 Dad used to go to Gill meetings, at that time it was at Hereford County hospital. Dad said I can go, so I did and I met a lot of people. I met a lady called Barbara Milman, who said to me about a group I can go to. It was in Holmer Hall and the group talked about having support staff in your own home, this was where I first met Maggie O’Neill and the late David Price. In the beginning at the meetings there were about five people attending, this was direct payments and today there are a lot!

In the beginning there were 2 or 3 ladies called Marion and Caroline(Caroline is still working in direct payments today,) plus David Norsworthy who started in an office by The Tan Brook Centre in Hereford.  Before long there were a lot of people working there. We had monthly meetings to discuss things and I remember a new lady coming to one of the meetings and her name was Amy, after this she got a position working there. Amy helped me a lot when I was on Direct Payments. She was very good with me and spent a lot of time at my home sorting things out. Aimee still works with Direct payments today.

[toggle title_open=”Read more” title_closed=”Read More” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”yes”]In 2003 Ginnie started Independent Living @Home and the time pass had came for me to transfer onto Independent Living @ Home, this was in 2009.  At that time Ginny started three support workers and a coordinator to help the team leaders and the direct payment clients, when holiday or sickness cover was needed.  The only staff who transferred from Direct Payments with me was Myfanwy.  The coordinator became my team leader, it worked well to start with but the team leader was always stressed, he had only two clients!  When I wanted a change of team leader, I spoke to one of the managers and it came back to me via my team leader I had requested this, so Dad had to intervene to sort it out.

I did some training with Lindsey, Mandy and Anita also Kate, who was working in HR at the time. The training had to stop because Kate was too busy.

I went on holiday to Yorkshire with Myfanwy and Doug, we had a nice time and I also went to the Olympics with Myfanwy and Ben, and had a good time there as well.

SIL moved to Leominster and they were growing every day.

We didn’t have team leaders for a while we had Team Coordinators, they were based in the office. I thought it was not as good as the team leaders, as you only ever spoke to them on the phone. After a couple of years Ginny put it back to team leaders, and I had Elaine Powell, who I liked very much.

Marion said she was leaving so Kate filled in to replace her as the new Chief Executive for a while. Then after, Gemma Lewis got promoted to the head of HR.

After a while Ginny said she was leaving, and Elaine also said she was leaving, but only as my team leader, I missed her very much. Before she left I was ill for a while and I heard the office was having a lot of new people starting, Elaine took me to see what was going on. I met Euan at this time, he was about to be the new chief executive.  I had a chat with Euan and liked him very much.

My new team leader was Joyce Taylor, I liked her.

After a while a new post of manager started and John Roberts had this role, I liked him also. After a bit we had Val Javens as Deputy Manager. We had an AGM at Point4, Venns Lane, Hereford where Lisa and her team were there, from “Wish”.  Wish was based in Leominster at the SIL office, they went all over the county with information. I went to Dorestone Front Room, one day and Lisa was there with the Wish stand, I asked her what can I do regarding an activity, she was very helpful and informative.

I had a change of team leader and now I had Donna Tranter, I liked her.

John Roberts was leaving and Euan asked me would I like to be on the interview panel when replacing John, and I said yes. Val Javens got this role, as she stepped up from Deputy Manager. I was on the interview panel again. Two of them were Team Leaders, who I already knew. One of the Team Leaders got the position, but didn’t stay very long.

The council took Wish and based them elsewhere, at this time I saw Lisa, and she told me she’d got the position of Deputy Manager at SIL, I was very happy about this as I like Lisa very much.

I went to the Summer Garden Party, in the summer of 2017, Karen said to me Euan had mentioned would I like to be a trustee?  I thought I wasn’t that clever but I went to the Open Day for new Trustees, I liked the idea so I went and sat in on the trustee meeting on three occasions. I didn’t go to the next meeting as they were discussing me becoming a trustee. Later that year I became a trustee.

I have seen many changes over the years but I think SIL is run a bit more smoothly now, due to Euan’s open door policy and good communication with all staff.

In May 2019 Rob Simpkin started at SIL as the new team co-ordinator. Then in June Val Javens tendered her resignation, this position was advertised internally and Lisa got the position of Registered Manager. In turn her job was advertised internally also and Rob got the position of deputy Manager.

In August 2019 SIL expanded purchasing Abelia Home Care Services, it provides short calls around Leominster and north Hereford, bringing all the staff with them, it will be an asset to SIL.

Every year SIL has events throughout the year, these are for Easter, the summer garden party, McMillan coffee morning, the AGM and Christmas jumper day.  SIL publish a monthly bulletin, a quarterly newsletter and also a Year Book, this celebrates everything SIL has achieved throughout the year.

I have seen many changes over the years and I think SIL as got better and better.

When we had to lock down for Covid in March 2020 everyone work as one team to keep us safe. I think they all worked very good from the support workers, teem leaders, Managers. I know Paula and Chib kep the Office running, now we have got Milly.

Thank you to Dave for that brilliant retelling of the history of SIL.  Dave has Cerebral Palsy which affects his body movement and uses a electric wheelchair to get around.  Whilst at home and with his family and support team he is able to communicate and respond with head movements and slower speech.  To write this he used electronic Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device with simple head movements. [/toggle]

The Red Carpet AGM and extra special award ceremony

As this is a landmark year for SIL we are celebrating.  Our AGM will be an extra glamourous affair to be held at the Courtyard on Thursday 7th October with lunch, a celebration cake and prosecco… as well as the formal business we will have the launch of our new videos and extra special awards ceremony.

The invite is extended to Service Users, family and carers, SIL employees and interested persons who would like to know more about SIL. Please RSVP to reception@s4il.co.uk.

Awards

ILH & Homecare Awards

The Judy Phillips Memorial Award – Support Worker of the Year (nominated by Team Leaders)

Nominations are made for the person who shows positive regard for all; commitment & flexibility; accepting and supporting differences; warmth, humour & sensitivity; ability to listen and let the service user lead and a willingness to go the extra mile.  The award is named after Support Worker Judy Phillips who sadly passed away after car accident.  She embodied all of these qualities and thus an award was created in her name.

The Ian Jones Award (Service user nomination)

This award is given for enabling services users to achieve personal objectives by encouraging and motivating others; increasing service user confidence and working in partnership with others.  The Ian Jones award was added by the family of a Service User, they were so fond of Ian who supported their son, also Ian, they asked for an award to commemorate him.

The Adam Cove Award – Team Leader of the year (nominated by Service Users)

This award is given for the Team Leader who has: outstanding vision; dedication and commitment to excellence.  Adam was a popular member of the SIL team who used his photography skills to take photos for SIL, wrote a travel blog and personified the award characteristics.

ILH Team of the Year (Service user nomination)

The Team of the year award is given to the team which demonstrates these principles: working well together; support each other; good sense of humour; share tasks; talk through issues; accepting and supporting differences and a willingness to go the extra mile

HCS Award of the Year (Service user nomination)

This award  is presented to the Homecare Services support worker who shows positive regard for all; commitment & flexibility; accepting and supporting differences; warmth, humour & sensitivity; ability to listen and let the service user lead and a willingness to go the extra mile.

Extra Awards for 2021

Traditionally SIL awards have recognised excellence in our care providers as it receives so little acclaim elsewhere.  One of the positives to come from the Covid-19 pandemic is that the care sector is now receiving much more recognition for it’s value and we have proudly and diligently lived up to the keyworker title.

We continue to recognise excellence in our care teams but with this celebratory event wanted to acknowledge the outstanding people that are part of the wider SIL team and those that support and care for people outside of our workforce. To that end we have introduced 5 new awards:

Direct Payment Services Award

Outstanding PA of the year, nominated by DPSS SUs. Download the nomination form Nomination form.

Nominations are sought from our DPSS users and family members for their support staff or personal assistants; those that they feel are the best example of what an outstanding PA should be.

Services for Independent Living Awards

Team award for Outstanding achievement

Health & Safety Award for Managing Covid

Business Continuity Award

Keep Calm and Carry On Award