Belong Take Home Double Gold At NAPA Awards 2018

When an 88-year old resident of Belong Crewe care village announced that he wanted to ride the world’s fastest zip wire to raise money for charity, people told him he was crazy. Four months after whizzing down the Velocity 2 at over 80 miles per hour, however, John Harvey has been awarded the ‘Growing Old Disgracefully’ prize at the fifth annual National Activity Providers Association (NAPA) Gala.

John was nominated for the award by general manager of Belong Crewe, Phil Caine, for his willingness to live life to the full and for inspiring others around him to undertake new challenges, even persuading the care village’s experience coordinator to ride the zip wire with him.

Also taking an award home for Belong was 39-year old Caroline Newton, Lead Senior Support Worker at Belong Atherton, who won ‘Best Carer who Contributes to Activity Provision’ for encouraging customers and staff to engage more within the community. In her nomination, she was described as someone who “makes dreams come true” for residents at the village, and her commitment to this goal has even included arranging for one lucky Atherton resident to fulfil her ambition to sing with a brass band, which she did in front of over 100 people including Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham.

Nominated for the award by Belong Atherton’s experience coordinator, Gemma Willetts, Caroline was delighted at the result, commenting: “I was completely overwhelmed! I’ve worked at Belong Atherton for four years now and I feel incredibly humbled to receive this award for the work I’ve carried out there. I still can’t quite believe it!”