The Care Employer Award
The Bridge Community Care
Dan spoke with genuine compassion and warmth, clearly demonstrating why The Bridge Community is a deserving winner of this award. He described the ‘golden thread’ that runs through every aspect of the organisation’s work, ensuring that care, compassion and individual needs remain at the heart of everything they do. The Bridge Community is a thriving employer that consistently goes above and beyond, delivering bespoke support not only to the individuals they serve but also to their dedicated staff team.
The Home Care Employer Award
Horizon Care
A good employer makes sure people feel prepared, supported and appreciated every day. Horizon Care believes staff should have the right training, resources, recognition and someone to turn to. Their focus is on creating a family ethos where people feel valued, heard and confident to provide the best possible care.
Home Instead Sheffield and Barnsley
Home Instead Sheffield and Barnsley has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to delivering high-quality, person-centered care. Through strong leadership, a dedicated workforce and a culture of continuous improvement, they consistently strive to achieve positive outcomes.
Complete Care West Yorkshire Limited
Being a good employer means seeing people and their individual stories, not simply employees on a rota. Complete Care West Yorkshire Limited believes staff should feel valued, listened to, supported and able to develop. Their proudest achievement is creating a culture where people genuinely matter, feel part of something and want to succeed together.
The Care Home Worker Award
Paschaline Oguejiofor, Exemplar Healthcare
Displayed person-centred approach, building trusting relationships with customers and their families, ensuring that each individual feels valued, respected, and safe. They regularly exceed expectations by identifying needs beyond their role, taking proactive steps to improve quality of life, and advocating for those who may struggle to voice their own needs.
Leon Fletcher, Strong Life Care
This nominee consistently goes above and beyond in providing exceptional care to vulnerable individuals. Demonstrated unwavering compassion, patience, and dedication, placing residence dignity, and independence at the centre. A worthy winner, not only for the exceptional support they provide every day, but for the genuine difference they make in helping people live safely in the communities they love.
The Home Care Worker Award
Maria Collins, Complete Care West Yorkshire Ltd
Maria’s exceptional 9-year track record speaks volumes about her loyalty and character. She loves her organisation so much she actively recommends it, all while balancing heavy personal caregiving responsibilities at home. Her passion ensures her service users always come first, making her highly deserving of this commendation.
Talent Chinyani, Complete Care West Yorkshire Ltd
Talent embodies everything it means to be an outstanding healthcare assistant. Throughout the judging process, I was struck by her incredible passion and unwavering dedication to those in her care. She doesn’t just do her job; she elevates it, setting a phenomenal standard for the entire community care sector. A truly well deserved win.
The Care Newcomer Award
Joanne Moody, Strong Life Care
Joanne demonstrated real courage and self-awareness in embarking on a career in care later in life. She recognised her own strengths and areas for development, showing great initiative by actively seeking further training and knowledge to ensure she could provide the best possible support. The judges were particularly impressed by her willingness to learn, her understanding of the individuals she supports, and her appreciation of the importance of teamwork. Her genuine ability to build relationships and connect with everyone across the organisation truly stood out.
Ian Senior, Crossroads (Barnsley) LTD
The judges were hugely impressed by your journey into the care sector, particularly having built experience in so many different areas before making this transition. Embracing a new sector must have been daunting, yet you have approached it with enthusiasm, curiosity and determination. Your commitment goes beyond simply completing training; you actively research, develop your knowledge and put your learning into practice. Your passion for promoting good nutrition and improving the wellbeing of those you support is truly commendable.
The Care Home Registered Manager Award
Laura Davy, Cygnet Social Care
With 15 years’ experience, this inspiring Registered Manager has achieved outstanding CQC recognition through exceptional person-centred care, creative thinking and a relentless focus on meaningful outcomes. Their commitment to developing staff, reducing restrictions and celebrating individual progress demonstrates compassionate, inclusive leadership and a genuine determination to continually improve lives and opportunities.
Christina Halonka, Marton Care Homes
With an extraordinary 35 years in care and 26 years as a Registered Manager, this dedicated leader has created a truly welcoming, family-focused home. Their hands-on approach, unwavering commitment to residents, strong team culture and passion for maintaining high standards have created a happy, stable environment where everyone feels valued.
The Home Care Registered Manager Award
Sheridan Lees, Horizon Care
Sheridan demonstrated exceptional leadership and a strong commitment to delivering high-quality, person-centred home care. Through effective staff support, professional development and a focus on dignity and individual needs, they have helped create a well-led service that makes a positive difference to clients and their families.
Sara Booth, Complete Care West Yorkshire LTD
Sara demonstrated and spoke with pure passion in her voice when talking about her team. She is so compassionate and puts everything into developing and nurturing her staff. Sara is such an admirable individual who always looks out for others.
The Dignity in Care Award
Mark P’s Team, Hesley Group
The judges were particularly moved by Mark’s mum’s description of a team that consistently treats him with dignity, compassion and respect. Each member of the team takes the time to understand and connect with Mark in ways that work for him, adapting their communication through Makaton and even drawing on his hand. The introduction of a WhatsApp group, at Mark’s request, is another wonderful example of person-centred care, keeping his family connected to his daily life, experiences and activities. It is clear that the team goes above and beyond to ensure Mark’s voice is heard, his individuality celebrated and his family included every step of the way.
Emma Towers, Wykewood, Exemplar Healthcare
The judges were impressed by Emma’s genuine understanding of dignity and respect, recognising that it is often demonstrated through the smallest everyday interactions rather than grand gestures. Emma’s commitment to checking in on people, particularly after a difficult day, shows the depth of her compassion and care. The powerful example of supporting a young man living with quadriplegia, helping him rebuild his confidence and self-worth until he was able to move into his own home and reconnect with his children, truly stood out. It demonstrated the life-changing impact of person-centred care, patience and belief in someone’s potential.
The Dementia Carer Award
Marinda Aydinalp, RMBI Care Co.
Marinda’s compassion, innovation and unwavering commitment transforms lives. She consistently goes beyond standard practice, delivering truly person-centred support that promotes dignity, independence and purpose. Her holistic approach, exceptional leadership and ability to inspire staff, families and professionals make her a highly deserving and inspirational runner-up.
Katie Brownley, Britto Health Care
This candidate is a deserving winner due to her outstanding compassion, person-centred approach, and deep understanding of dementia care. Drawing on personal experiences, she consistently promotes dignity, independence, and family involvement. Her thoughtful actions, such as creating meaningful moments for couples, demonstrate genuine dedication to improving lives affected by dementia.
The Ancillary Worker Award
Ellen Balback, Complete Care West Yorkshire Ltd
Ellen truly impressed me with her caring nature, compassion and genuine love for her role. Despite being relatively new to the position, she demonstrated a wonderful attitude, a willingness to help and a real commitment to making a difference. Her warmth and enthusiasm were refreshing to see, making her a very worthy runner-up.
Mike Abbey and Chelsea, Strong Life Care
This fantastic team of ancillary workers have made a real difference to residents’ lives through their projects, creating a warmer, more welcoming environment. From decorating residents’ rooms to supporting trips and activities, they have gone above and beyond, showing teamwork, kindness and a shared commitment to making life happier, brighter and more fulfilling for everyone.
The Care Home Activity Organiser Award
Deborah Wilson, Marton Care Homes
Deborah radiates genuine passion, optimism and friendliness, with a real interest in others. Deborah started in domestic duties before discovering a natural love of listening to residents’ life stories. In her own time she crafts personal touches — felt nameplates for walking frames, new game ideas — building authentic connections that never feel forced.
Deanna Astbury, Bennett Court, Exemplar Healthcare
Deanna brought warmth and a genuine passion for bringing joy into people’s lives, always with respect for service users as adults. Deanna has created safe, flexible spaces shaped closely by people’s own voices — recreating pumpkin picking in the service for those with mobility needs who could not get out — and uses a two-way app so families could share live feedback.
The Home Care Co-ordinator Award
Emily Murray, Continued Care from Oakville Ltd – Harrogate
Emily recognizes the importance of well developed communication skills and recognizes the vital role in avoiding errors and safe, high quality care. She took on the role of Surveys and Feedback Champion, successfully increasing engagement and using insights from feedback data to drive positive changes that improved people’s care and experience.
Danielle Haines, Choices Homecare
Danielle is determined in her role as coordinator of care. She is actively working towards achieving her Level 5 qualification, with the clear ambition of progressing to a Registered Manager position. She demonstrated a strong understanding of compliance, person-centred practice, and continuous improvement, providing detailed examples of how actions can positively impact service users’ lives. Danielle also reflected well on her own influence within the organization and how her leadership approach can support positive outcomes.
The Care Home Cook/ Chef Award
Vitor Martins, Strong Life Care
The judges were impressed by how Vitor has successfully brought 30 years of catering and hospitality experience into the care sector, using his skills and high standards to make a real difference to those he supports. His experience, including being selected to work alongside Gino D’Acampo and lead a team in Hull, reflects his passion and commitment to excellence. He has demonstrated that providing food in care is about so much more than simply preparing meals.
Carrie & Hazel, Strong Life Care
The judges were impressed by the depth of experience both individuals bring to catering within the care sector and, importantly, how effectively they work together to ensure consistency and high standards across every shift. Their commitment to regular communication and collaboration, drawing on feedback from colleagues, residents and families, ensures that dietary provision continually evolves to meet individual needs. They demonstrated an excellent ability to recognise the small but important details about each person and respond thoughtfully. By working closely with other professionals and using evidence-based approaches, they have shown how good nutrition and personalised dietary support can make a significant difference to people’s wellbeing, health and recovery.
The Care Home Team Award
St Mary’s Riverside Care Home, St Mary’s Care Homes
St Mary’s Riverside has created an exceptional culture where residents and staff thrive. Achieving an Outstanding CQC rating within four years of opening, the team demonstrates outstanding leadership, compassion, innovation, and teamwork. Their commitment to continuous learning, staff development, community engagement, and person-centred care makes them truly deserving as Highly Commended.
Langdale House, Cygnet Social Care
Laura and her dedicated team have transformed lives through outstanding person-centred care, innovation, and positive risk-taking. Achieving an Outstanding CQC rating, expanding services without disruption, reducing restrictive practices, and empowering individuals to achieve meaningful goals, they consistently demonstrate excellence, compassion, teamwork, and an unwavering commitment to continuous improvement.
The Home Care Team Award
Rotherham Dementia Carers Support Team @ Making Space
This small but remarkable team is truly punching above its weight, providing vital support to a group that is too often overlooked by society. Their passion, creativity, and commitment were evident throughout, particularly in their vision for expanding services through initiatives such as carers’ cafés. The trust, dedication, and support they show one another has created a culture where innovation flourishes, enabling them to develop meaningful solutions and deliver outstanding outcomes for those they serve.
The Care Innovator Award
Rachel Higginbottom, Peopleoo
The judges were particularly impressed by Rachel’s innovative approach to developing an app that gives carers the recognition, appreciation and praise they so rightly deserve. Equally powerful is the way it has created a platform for family members to have a voice, often empowering them to share feedback and experiences they may not previously have felt able to express. Rachel’s work has strengthened relationships between carers and families, encouraging greater communication, engagement and collaboration. This is an initiative that benefits everyone, helping to build a more connected, appreciative and supportive care environment.
Professor (Hon) Vijay Kumar, Denaby – Conisborough Medical Practice
The approach taken by Afsand and Professor Vijay Kumar was instrumental in bringing a much maligned and overlooked part of society in to the modern NHS. Their methodology, without financial support, has proven such a success it has brought much needed medical support to their patients in the travel and circus community. Their work is very impressive.
The Care Home Frontline Leaders Award
Amanda Burgin, Each Other Care
Amanda is a natural leader with a real gift for recognizing talent and nurturing potential. She excels at teaching, training and mentoring her team, inspiring each individual to develop their skills and be the very best they can be. Her ability to build fantastic working relationships, foster collaboration and bring out the best in others makes her an exceptional leader.
Sophie Moody, St Mary’s Care Homes
Sophie is passionate about identifying and nurturing talent, bringing out the best in those around her. Having worked across a range of roles, she leads from the front with a practical, solutions-focused approach, always keeping her residents at the heart of every decision and ensuring the highest standards of care.
The Home Care Frontline Leaders Award
Becky Bartlett, Complete Care West Yorkshire Ltd
Becky has demonstrated strong leadership and a genuine commitment to improving care and support. By leading by example, motivating colleagues and identifying opportunities for improvement, Becky has helped drive positive change within their team, encouraging others to deliver excellent care and embrace continuous learning and development.
Megan Munro, Continued Care from Oakville Ltd
Megan demonstrated genuine compassion and warmth when speaking about both the people she supports and her colleagues. She showed an excellent ability to adapt to the many demands and challenges of her role, providing examples of how she responds positively and confidently to different situations. Her flexibility, resilience and can-do attitude clearly shine through, reflecting her commitment to delivering the best possible support while encouraging and supporting those around her.
The Care Assessor Award
Wendy Waddington, Britto Health Care
Person-centred care is about the person, not a document on a computer. Wendy is proud of building meaningful relationships, listening to residents, families and staff, and making sure care plans reflect real lives. Good care means people feel valued, respected, understood and genuinely cared for every day. Wendy achieves this.
Ryan Pearce, Bridge Community Care Limited
Assessment should never be a tick-box process; done properly, it can genuinely change somebody’s life. Ryan is proudest when they see people becoming more independent and when staff understand behaviour differently. Their role is to give teams the tools, coaching and confidence to help people live meaningful, fulfilling lives independently.
The Three Rs Award
Horizon Care
The judges were impressed by the nominee’s innovative approach to attracting and retaining talent. Their commitment to recognising employees, investing in development and creating a positive workplace culture demonstrates a clear understanding of the importance of valuing their workforce and building a motivated, skilled and dedicated team.
Hesley Group
Hesley Group demonstrated a genuine commitment to making their employees feel valued, supported and recognised. Their thoughtful recruitment and retention strategies, combined with opportunities for growth and development, have helped create an environment where people feel motivated to perform at their best and build lasting careers.
The Workforce Development Award
Workforce Development Team, Hesley Group
The judges were impressed by the nominee’s passion for workforce development and their dedication to helping care staff reach their full potential. Their proactive approach to identifying training needs, creating learning opportunities and inspiring colleagues to develop new skills demonstrates an outstanding commitment to raising standards across the care sector.
Complete Training, Complete Care West Yorkshire Ltd
Complete Training has made professional development a priority, fostering a culture where learning is encouraged, valued and celebrated. Their determination to secure training opportunities, motivate staff and support continuous improvement has helped build a more confident, knowledgeable and skilled workforce.
The Putting People First Award
Emma Beattie, Strong Life Care
Emma’s dedication and commitment to putting people first shone through in every aspect of her approach. From creating personalised decorations that make residents’ rooms feel like home, to holding funerals within the home to honour and celebrate the lives of those who have passed, every detail reflects the compassion, dignity and love at the heart of her care. It is clear that Emma sees the home as so much more than a care setting; she has helped create a family where everyone belongs, is valued and cared for.
Natasha Crowther, Nova Care Yorkshire Ltd
Natasha’s dedication and commitment to the people she supports truly shone through. Her decision to prioritise her clients’ needs, even during the conversation, demonstrated genuine compassion and a selfless approach to care. The lengths she goes to, often beyond her contracted hours, from shopping and cooking to following up on visits from other professionals, reflect an exceptional level of commitment. Natasha consistently goes above and beyond to ensure those she supports receive the care and attention they deserve. Her passion, kindness and dedication were evident throughout her nomination.
The Palliative Care/ End of Life Award
Hayley Hare, Community Integrated Care
Hayley demonstrated exceptional passion and a genuine commitment to championing care in her own unique way. Her enthusiasm, warmth and strong connection to the communities she lives and works in shone through. She showed a profound understanding that palliative care is about so much more than managing the final stages of life; it is about enriching every moment, preserving dignity and enabling people to live as fully and meaningfully as possible until the very end. Hayley’s compassion and dedication make her a truly inspiring advocate for high-quality care.
Thornhill House, Strong Life Care
These candidates demonstrated exceptional passion and a genuine commitment to championing care in their own individual ways. They are remarkable individuals, each bringing great character, compassion and an unwavering enthusiasm for the communities they live in and support. They truly embodied the essence of palliative care: that it is not simply about managing the final stages of life, but about enriching every moment, preserving dignity, creating meaningful experiences and empowering people to live as fully and meaningfully as possible, right until the very end.
Linda Shephard and Olivia Modest
These nominees consistently goes above and beyond in delivering exceptional palliative care to individuals experiencing some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. With remarkable compassion, empathy, and dedication, they ensure that end-of-life care is not defined by fear or sadness, but by dignity, comfort, and meaningful experiences.
The Social Care Nurse Award
Gavin Pearson, Dearnevale, Exemplar Healthcare
Gavin has demonstrated exceptional compassion, leadership and dedication to nursing within social care. Gavin’s commitment to holistic, person-centred care, advocating for vulnerable individuals and driving positive change has made a meaningful difference to the lives of those he supports, setting an inspiring example for the nursing profession.
The Housing with Care Award
Amanda Fields, South Yorkshire Care Team, Target Housing
The judges praised this passionate team for putting young people at the heart of everything they do. Fearless in challenging external services, they provide holistic, individualized support that bridges the transition into adult services. Their diverse backgrounds, shared purpose and extended-family approach demonstrate an outstanding commitment to changing young lives for the better.
Safe Haven North Region, Safe Haven Accommodation
The judges praised this team for providing stability, encouragement and support without judgement. Their commitment to empowering individuals to take control of their lives and achieve greater independence was clear. From having their own front door key to building confidence and life skills, their person-centred approach creates meaningful, lasting change.
The Co-Production Award
Jed Thomson, The Bridge Community Care Limited
Jed’s approach has achieved what the system has struggled with for decades, supporting someone home after 26 years in hospital. The person, family and professionals plan together from the first assessment, and the framework is used to train staff, so the learning spreads. It is great that Jed recognises the importance of involving all stakeholders and uses a framework which Jed uses to train other staff. This has resulted in two excellent examples of significantly making a different to client’s quality of lives including the community in which they live. Jed has demonstrated how co-production can create outcomes previously unachievable. Jed uses a framework to support a holistic approach to co-producing care and support plans that begins early, involves the person, family and the professionals that has achieved life-changing results and trains others in this approach.
The Unpaid Carer Award
Janet Proud, Crossroads Caring for Carers ( Barnsley)
Janet is an inspirational carer whose dedication to George has inspired her to transform the lives of countless other dementia carers. Through her passion and advocacy, she has helped support over 80 carers, created lasting connections and brought vital community support to Barnsley. A truly deserving winner and community champion.
The Outstanding Contribution to Social Care Award
Mike Herrington, Continued Care from Oakville Ltd
Mike describes himself as “the man who can do” – if something needs doing, Mike is the person to ask! No job is ever too big or too small. His willingness to help goes far beyond his day-to-day responsibilities, as he actively involves himself in as many charitable initiatives as possible, always looking for opportunities to support those in need. His generosity, can-do attitude and commitment to helping others reflect his genuine passion for making a positive difference in the lives of people and within his community.
Susan Taylor, Crossroads (Barnsley) LTD
Susan beautifully describes herself as a stick or rock, broken in two, with the word ‘care’ threaded throughout. A powerful reflection of who she is, this imagery speaks to resilience, compassion and the belief that care is at the heart of everything she does. Even through life’s challenges, care remains the thread that connects, strengthens and guides her, shaping the way she supports others and makes a difference.
