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Sparkling Night Of Champions As Care Home Provider Celebrates Team Successes

Colleagues from a care home provider’s 21 care homes and head office are celebrating success at an in-house awards ceremony.

A glittering black-tie evening saw individual and group wins in nine categories at the Colten Champions awards reflecting all aspects of the care mix.

Colten Care honoured excellence in nursing, caring, team work, support services and other ways staff make a positive difference to residents, families and each other.

There were more than 1,000 nominations across homes in Dorset, Hampshire, West Sussex and Wiltshire and the Colten House head office in Ringwood.

Over 400 nominations were submitted by residents and relatives.

Bincy Thomas, Senior Care Lead at Brook View in West Moors, Dorset, said she was taken by complete surprise when she heard her name read out as the winner of the Caring Excellence Award.

Bincy said: “Many people work in support of residents’ care and so I knew others deserved the award too.

“Yes, I was a finalist but I really didn’t think I would win it. It was a surprise and then after I went up, everyone was congratulating me and my fellow carers and nurses were saying ‘you deserve it, we are so lucky you are here’.

Asked for her view of the qualities that produce ‘caring excellence’, Bincy said:
“Remember that everything is centred around the resident. You should always be honest and friendly to them and their relatives. I try to take care of everyone as if they were my own family. You act as a problem solver and you support your colleagues on the floor. I look at the team as my sisters and brothers.”

Also a winner, picking up the award for Resident Impact, was Ildiko Csanalosine Fuves, a waitress at Braemar Lodge in Salisbury.

“I was shaking and crying when I heard I had won,” said Ildiko. “I am really honoured and so happy. People said such beautiful things about me. I am so thankful.”

The Values award, designed to recognise an individual who exemplifies Colten’s company values of being friendly, kind, individual, reassuring and honest was won by Senior Gardener Chris Marsh.

He said he was ‘truly humbled’ to be nominated and to go on and actually win it was ‘something else entirely’.

Chris, who has worked for Colten Care for ten years, added:
“When the guiding principles and values of your employer align with your own, it makes your job that much more enjoyable and fulfilling.

“Working for a company that recognises the value of outdoor spaces, and promotes the well-being that comes from gardens, social interaction and mental stimulation, makes my role one to truly treasure.

“Colten invests so much in these values, and I am proud to be part of an ambitious team that shares and develops this vision.

“At the heart of everything we do is the best cause of all: our residents. We work tirelessly to give them the best experience possible, to heal and uplift them and ensure they feel safe and valued.”

The awards ceremony took place at the Bournemouth Highcliff Marriott Hotel after a champagne reception and dinner. Afterwards, guests danced to live music from pop rock party band We Are Robot.

Event host was Hampshire-based Manley Hopkinson, a polar explorer and round-the-world yachtsman.

Manley said: “It was a superb evening and the energy was infectious. It was an honour to present the awards and speak to the teams. I felt humbled and inspired in equal measure.”

Colten Care residents were represented by guest of honour Mollie Speirs who travelled to Bournemouth from her care home, Kingfishers in New Milton.

For every resident or relative nomination made, Colten Care donated £10 to their respective care home’s charity of the year.

Colten Care Chief Executive Mark Aitchison, who introduced the evening, said:
“Colten Champions is a brilliant way to celebrate colleagues who truly embody our values and consistently go above and beyond.

“I thank all those who put in a nomination, including so many residents and relatives, and of course congratulate all the winners, finalists and nominees.

“Their success is richly deserved and it is a privilege to work with them.”

 

Nestle