VEA Awards Programme 2020

Voyage Excellence Awards Awards programme | 25 November 2020

All about the Voyage Excellence Awards..

Welcome Welcome to the 2020 Voyage Excellence Awards!

There’s no escaping that this year’s Excellence Awards is a very different experience for us all. But we simply won’t let that detract from the celebrations as we come together (virtually!) to recognise the incredible achievements of the amazing people who help us to achieve our purpose of delivering great care and support.

The Voyage Excellence Awards is always a special evening and this year will be no exception, so whether you’re dressed to the nines or joining us in your pyjamas, settle in for a night of celebration! Each year we are struck by stories of the unmoving commitment and dedication of each of our finalists; it reinforces the pride we have in leading such a passionate and committed team and we would like to thank each and every person joining us this evening for making the Voyage Care family such a joy to be a part of!

Congratulations to all our finalists, competition is always fierce but the standard of nominations this year was by far the best we have ever had, so you should be incredibly proud of your achievement in getting to this stage!

Remember we share all the highlights of the evening on social media, so please get involved and share your photos and videos with us at communications@voyagecare.com.

All that’s left is to wish you all a very enjoyable evening, have fun everyone!

Andrew Jayne &

Our virtual awards The celebrations will take place in the following order: Introduction from Andrew and Jayne Welcome to the event.

Awards - Community awards - Residential awards - Group Support and other awards - Sade Abayomi award - Outstanding award End of the night Andrew and Jayne will close the awards and give one final congratulations to all our winners.

How to join us..

Timing The Voyage Excellence Awards will begin at 6.30pm and will finish by 8pm.

How to join All you need to do is join 15 minutes prior to the event start time.

That’s it, you’ll be able to enjoy everything the evening has in store!

https://prsnt.live/voyage-care/excellenceawards

Dress code We love seeing you dressed to impress every year - and this year is no different! Put on your finery and let’s make this the night of the year!

The tech bit...

We’ll be sharing the live video of our audience at multiple points through the evening, so please leave your camera on! Remember, you’ll be on mute, so you can speak freely.

Ahead of the presentation of each set of awards, finalists will be moved into a ‘green room’ which will allow us to take you off mute so we can hear you celebrate if you’re announced as the winner please make sure your camera is on, celebrate loudly and we’ll do the rest!

We’ll then put you back on mute so you can continue your celebrations without worrying that everyone can hear you.

All about the Voyage Excellence Awards..

Community categories Branch of the Year DCA North Wales (Wrexham) It’s been a difficult but productive year for the team at Wrexham. As well as handling the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the team have been involved in impressive tender wins and have also managed the transition to a new registration process in Wales, working hard to ensure compliance and register 80 staff. Excellent team spirit is what motivates them!

DCA Surrey and Hants Despite a challenging year the team at DCA Surrey and Hants continue to pull together to deliver the best care and support. Whilst they are one of the smaller DCAs in Voyage Care, the team also run The Grove day centre and have spent this year redeploying support and adjusting their ways of working to ensure a seamless service for the people they support.

Community Team of the Year Upton Road Upton Road is a relatively new service, yet they demonstrate fantastic teamwork and truly put the people they support at the heart of everything they do. They know the people in their care so well, picking up on the little details that ensure their support is always person centred. Choice and control are their watchwords and people are supported as individuals.

Hinckley Day Care The team at Hinckley are a passionate group who always strive to support people to reach their potential; despite the temporary closure of the service due to COVID-19, the team embraced redeployment and gave their all in the services they supported. The team firmly believe there are no problems, only solutions and work creatively to overcome obstacles.

Community Support Worker of the Year Barry Stickley Barry made it his mission to keep life as normal as possible for the people he supports, planning days around their wishes and encouraging them to try new things. Early in the COVID-19 lockdown, Barry packed a bag and stepped in when colleagues were forced to self-isolate, putting the safety and wellbeing of the people he supports first.

Samantha Overall Samantha is a valued team member and works in a person-centred way to deliver a very high standard of support. During lockdown she found new and creative ways to adapt people’s favourite activities and encouraged new ones to keep people happy and active. Her focus on people’s health needs has seen fantastic results!

Community Manager of the Year Angela Miller Angela has a great approach, she always goes over and above for the people we support and their families - supporting people to achieve their goals and aspirations every day. She has an open and honest approach that is greatly appreciated especially by family members and staff alike; Angela is a great leader, supporting her teams to be the best they can be.

Lisa Williams Determined is a word often used to describe Lisa; despite the challenges she has faced Lisa picks herself up and keeps going. As a result she has grown as a manager and received praise from social workers and regulators alike for her honest approach and unswerving focus on supporting people to live full and happy lives, with the right support.

All about the Voyage Excellence Awards..

Care home categories Care Home Team of the Year Blackberry Hill The team at Blackberry Hill have created an inclusive environment, offering flexibility and choice. Huge progress has been made in recent years and the quality of care delivered by the staff team is high. A new activity schedule has been a huge success and families are engaged and delighted with the care and support their loved ones receive!

The Legard The whole team at The Legard have gone above and beyond to keep people safe and happy during the pandemic, but their commitment and dedication goes far beyond what they’ve achieved this year. Family members spoke highly of the love shown to the people in their care and their approach to removing barriers to give people choice and control.

Care Home Support Worker of the Year Victoria Sanford Victoria has shown outstanding dedication to the people she supports during exceptionally difficult times. Sadly, two people supported by Victoria passed away within a short space of time; Victoria was an outstanding advocate for them and ensured their wishes were respected, despite the barriers presented by Covid-19.

Tara Woodhouse Tara has made fantastic progress in her time with Voyage Care, developing into a truly outstanding support worker who is highly valued by the team around her. She has taken the challenges of COVID-19 in her stride and been a huge support to her colleagues and the people we support alike. Her lively and inventive style keeps people active and happy.

Care Home Manager of the Year Julie Gold Julie has boundless energy which she directs to ensuring the people supported at Harefield Lodge are happy, active and safe. She leads by example and the team around her are happy and skilled, something family members recognise and appreciate. Julie is dedicated and compassionate, exemplifying the qualities required of an outstanding and inspirational leader.

Hayley Massey Hayley is an excellent, caring manager who has gone above and beyond over the last 18 months, managing two services. Despite her challenging workload she always finds time for the people she supports and her team, nothing’s too much trouble for her! Under her leadership the staff team is stable and engaged, delivering high quality care and support.

Specialist Team of the Year Wey House Wey House is a large and complex service, with an equally large staff team that is passionate, engaged and dedicated to using every resource available to them to keep people happy and active. The team have made the environment homely and stimulating for the people living there, and the activity programme really keeps everyone engaged!

Trinity Vicarage Road The work the team at Trinity Vicarage Road put into transition has been universally praised by external agencies and the tailored support plans the team put in place has helped people to settle in to their new home seamlessly. The team are skilled, compassionate and focused on empowering people to live a fulfilling life in the community.

All about the Voyage Excellence Awards..

Other categories Learner of the Year Amy Buxton Amy’s dedication to her studies is remarkable, combining her full time Deputy Manager role with her Level 5 Diploma as well as caring for a young family.

She is developing not only her skills, but her confidence too and has shown huge personal growth in recent years. Amy is cool, calm and collected and is able to put her new skills and knowledge into action in her role at Cecil Road – something those around her truly value!

Kayley Sharp Kayley progressed into a Registered Manager role in 2019, in recognition of her ongoing personal development and commitment to furthering her skills.

Kayley’s dedication to her studies and her growing confidence have been witnessed by those around her and she applies her knowledge every day in her role. Kayley is ambitious and has high hopes for her service in the future!

Newcomer of the Year Annette Lewis Despite not being with Voyage Care for very long, Annette has made a huge impact; bringing with her a wealth of experience. Annette has built a great rapport with both colleagues and the people she supports and puts them first at all times. Annette is described as a role model who has not been afraid to make changes where she can see they will have a positive impact on the delivery of great support.

Stanislav Earl-Ivanov Since joining Voyage Care, Stanislav has shown incredible dedication, empathy and talent, empowering those in his care. His hard and uncompromising work has reaped rewards, including supporting a person to walk again. The impact of this work has made a huge difference to those around him, and Stanislav has proven himself to be an invaluable asset to his team.

Field Based Support Team Member of the Year Katie Reynolds Katie’s positivity and willingness to help even beyond her own remit is something her colleagues truly value. She is a dedicated and talented area recruiter, who builds rapport easily and delivers results for her region. Katie is reliable, relatable and fun to work with, encouraging those around her and setting a positive example.

Shane Ritson Shane thinks outside the box, he is dedicated and always makes time for a chat with people we support as he visits services. Shane goes above and beyond to ensure high standards for the people we support, working to make the vision of the operational teams a reality. Shane is a huge support to operational colleagues, demonstrating best practice and always a source of advice and guidance.

Join us on social!

Share your celebrations with us on social by using our hashtag!

We’re so excited to see you all virtually so get involved and show us how you’re watching the awards!

Send your photos to communications@voyagecare.com and we’ll share as many as we can on our social channels!

#VEAs2020

All about the Voyage Excellence Awards..

Group Support categories Group Support Team of the Year Quality During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Quality Team have been central to Voyage Care’s response, providing a constant source of advice, guidance and support to services in the most challenging of times. Their coordination of government guidance and development of the procedures and practices to keep people we support and staff safe has been remarkable.

Operational Support Team The OST work well together as a unit; the team are responsive and make personal contact with operational teams to fully resolve queries. They have gone above and beyond during the pandemic to ensure the organisation has resource deployed in the right areas to give effective support to operational colleagues. Their attention to detail and clear processes have made a real difference to our internal systems.

Internal Communications It is clear Internal Comms work well as a team by the quality and volume of their output. Their complimentary skills come together to produce Zest and Hive, amongst many other projects. Their achievements are such that they have received multiple industry awards. During the pandemic their work has been crucial in sharing complex information with operational colleagues, with clarity and precision.

Group Support Team Member of the Year Ben McKee Ben is described as a breath of fresh air by the regional team he supports; he is motivated, efficient and works seamlessly with operational teams to good effect.

While a hard worker, Ben’s sense of humour keeps everyone’s spirits high and the positive relationships he has built are a testament to the trust people have in him and his ability to give managers and candidates a positive experience.

Kelly Thomson Kelly has used her considerable expertise and knowledge to the benefit of the operational teams she supports, helping Voyage Care to refine the SBSS offering and ensuring staff are well supported to deliver the specialism effectively. Kelly goes above and beyond and has had a huge impact on the was assessments are carried out, keeping the people we support at the heart of all she does.

Special awards Operations Manager of the Year Angela Godsmark Angela has been successful in building relationships with customers in new areas to Voyage Care. She has overseen the development of the DCA staff teams in North Wales and the successful implementation of new services in Powys and Conwy.

Angela has achieved impressive growth whilst maintaining her focus on quality.

Paul Brockie Paul has achieved consistent and continued growth over the past year, including new community offerings in Glasgow and Falkirk. These developments within community support supplement his high quality residential care portfolio and shows a successful dual focus on both quality and growth.

As always, we have a few surprises this year, including a special award category for this year only!

We will be announcing the winner of the Outstanding Achievement award and the prestigious Sade Abayomi award towards the end of the ceremony. These coveted awards are very special; they recognise those who have made an outstanding contribution to the delivery of great care and support throughout the year.

Stay tuned to find out if you’re a winner of one of these amazing awards!

Good luck!

All about the Voyage Excellence Awards..

Support on the night

We’ve made it as simple as possible for you to join the event on the night, so you can sit back, relax and enjoy the celebrations!

However, if you do have any questions or encounter any problems on the night, please email communications@voyagecare.com and we will be on hand to support you.

Nominations for 2021..

It’s never too early to think about next year’s nominations! It’s been a difficult year but that’s not stopped you from working hard and providing great care and support! The nominations we received were incredible and the judges had a hard time choosing the winners!

If you already know who deserves to be recognised at next year’s Voyage Excellence Awards then keep your eyes peeled for more information about the 2021 nomination window!