ECL shortlisted in yet another prestigious industry award!

We have been shortlisted in ‘The Care Innovator’ award which recognises Inclusive Employment Business Manager, Sue Wray for her exceptional entrepreneurial skills in identifying, developing, implementing and establishing the new Inclusive Employment service. Whilst the award is an individual one that recognises Sue’s personal vision and passion in supporting adults with learning disabilities to achieve their aspirations of paid employment, she is the first to acknowledge that she couldn’t have done it without her team, Sue commented “I have an exceptional team who are as committed to Inclusive Employment as I am, their hard work, dedication and enthusiasm is the reason we have managed to place almost 100 candidates in paid employment in Essex since April 2020, and despite a global pandemic”.

We are also a finalist in the ‘Putting People First/Personalisation’ award which recognises Katie Craig, Older People Team Leader at ECL Colchester (Marylands) for going above and beyond to make dreams come true for customer Roger Pearce, who was living with a terminal condition. Katie was determined to ensure Roger achieved his bucket list and applied creative thinking to fulfil Roger’s wishes safely during the pandemic last year. Once again, although this is officially an individual award Katie commented “it was very much a team effort, when the team at Marylands heard of Roger’s terminal diagnosis they all wanted to help him, and they were instrumental in making sure he enjoyed the few short months he had to live”.

Finally, Ruth Wingrove-Smith, Registered Manager for South West Essex Regulated services has been shortlisted for the ‘Social Care Covid Hero Award’. Despite the challenges of running her own reablement service in a pandemic, Ruth was part of the team that managed a short-term residential service known as ‘Step 2 Home’ to alleviate pressure on Essex hospitals in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Step 2 Home mobilised in just 10 days, with Ruth and the team working bank holidays, evenings, and weekends to make sure patients received a quality service. Ruth represents our frontline staff who are all ‘Covid Heroes’ in our eyes and we are delighted this has been recognised by the judging panel.

To have been shortlisted in yet another prestigious industry award is an honour and a testament to the innovation and dedication demonstrated by ECL staff to deliver outstanding support for adults across the region, it is even more admirable that these achievements have taken place during the challenging time of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Great British Care Awards – East of England Region will be announced at a ceremony on 28th October.