2018 Care Awards Gala Dinner: Chairman's Review

Len Collacott, Chair of Care & Support West sums up the The Care Awards on 20th October

The cocktail dresses have been put away, the hairdos and make-up have changed back from Awards Dinner to everyday, as have the DJs and lounge suits as its back to the day jobs.

All that left is a trophy for a lucky (albeit well deserved) few and great memories for the rest of us.

It was another magnificent evening. Ashton Gate is becoming quite a venue to host a prestigious event- especially one like ours as, with over 400 attendees, most places can’t fit us in! The venue was good, the food was excellent and how the wine flowed!! If you are going to make the effort to mark the achievements of the industry you need to do it well and we did. Many thanks to David and his team for putting it all together. Rudolph and Laura were brilliant hosts. Rudolph is becoming quite a regular now and is so patient with his fans posing for photographs and stopping for a chat- who would have thought East Enders would be so popular in the West Country?!

Once again this was a night for the ‘doers’ of the industry. Those who put in the tough shifts ta the sharp end, those who are working over Christmas and Banh Holidays, those who work nights and anti-social shifts. Lets stand tall and recognise the sterling work that we do.

I said on the night that whilst everyone has remembered and celebrated the 70 year anniversary of the NHS the Aunt Sally of the sector- social Care has been forgotten. Social Care was formed 70 years ago too in 1948 with the creation of the National Assistance Act. As we move forward it looks like Social Care might just be the saviour of the NHS. We are entering momentous times when our industry is set for great change and hopefully recognition. We won’t be the Aunt Sally for much longer.

For now events like our Care Awards are so important to remind ourselves of what a terrific contribution we make to improve the lives of people who need us. Our care staff are the unsung heroes but the awards night is the time those praises do get sung.

So get ready to dust off the cocktail dresses, the DJs and suits, to get the hair and make up into event mode and lets look forward to doing it all again next year.