Folkestone Care Home Owner Takes to National Stage

The owner of a care home in Folkestone was a judge at one of the most prestigious industry awards schemes in the UK last week.

The judging for the Great British Care Awards was held at the impressive International Convention Centre in Birmingham to decide the national winners of more than 20 individual categories from each of the nation’s 11 regions. Roger Waluube, who has owned Pelham House Care Home since 2011, was one of 85 independent judges whose role was to recognise the very best achievements of individuals and teams in the care industry.

“It was a really useful experience to mix with other influential members of the care sector nationally,” said Roger. “There are always things we can do better to help people maintain their independence, as we continue to discover more about all the issues associated with aging. Our understanding has developed immensely over the last 20 years, and we will need to continue adjusting to an increasingly older population.”

The judging came in the week that the care industry expressed fears that new immigration rules announced by the UK government could impact on the sector, which is currently short of an estimated 120,000 workers.

A report published by the Care Association Alliance in 2019 found that there are 1.47 million people employed in social care, and that a further 500,000 will be needed in the next ten years.

“Unusually for most care homes, we have our own team of dedicated staff at Pelham House, so we don’t rely on freelance or agency staff to cover shifts,” said Roger, “We certainly don’t regard our staff as ‘low-skilled’ as they undertake continual training to hone their skills in what can be a challenging job both physically and mentally.”

At the south east regional finals of the Great British Care Awards in Brighton in November, Pelham House had a winner in the ‘Care Innovator of the Year’ and a finalist in the ‘Ancillary Worker of the Year’, while sister business, Aspire Home Carers, also had a finalist among the ‘Registered Managers of the Year’.

The Home has also just been shortlisted in four categories of the British Care Home Awards to be announced at a prestigious event in London in May.