Our ‘Employee of the Year'award goes to Martin Bowley, Care Officer at the Conquest Centre, Hastings – a day service for adults with learning disabilities.
Martin has a real gift of seeing what people are capable of and not the disability.
If someone comes to him with the ambition of getting a job, Martin plans the stages needed to make this happen, such as getting experience or learning specific skills. His refusal to see life in terms of ‘obstacles' motivates all those around him… and has a funny knack of making the ‘seemingly impossible' actually happen!
Martin also demonstrates to the wider community just how much adults with learning disabilities can achieve, given half a chance. Would you be surprised to learn that a group of adults using the Conquest Centre have recently taken up golf at the Beauport Park Club? With Martin's enthusiasm the logistics of manoeuvring a wheelchair over the range or the challenge for the group of learning the skills needed to pitch and putt, are readily overcome.
Our ‘Team of the Year' award went to staff at the Milton Court Centre in Eastbourne.
Milton Court provides vital mental health services to older people – supporting, amongst others, individuals affected by dementia and their carers. The challenge for the staff team in recent months has been to manage the transition of services into a temporary home at Pembury Road, whilst Milton Court undergoes a radical £1.6m refurbishment.
Happily, the changeover was conducted without disruption to services, thanks to a feat of strong planning, good organisation, and regular communication with all those who use Milton Court. The team are now gearing up for the move ‘back home' when Milton Court and its stunning new facilities re-open this summer.
‘Learner of the Year' went to Sarah Liddiard, Care Officer at Linden Court, Eastbourne – a day service for adults with learning disabilities.
After a hard year of studying, Sarah now confidently teaches Makaton (an internationally recognised sign language) to people who have difficulty with normal speech.
In 2008, Sarah successfully completed courses in Foundation and Enhanced Makaton, before passing her Makaton Local Tutor course. Since then, she has wasted no time in passing on her new knowledge to the benefit of service users at Linden Court and her colleagues.
Yesterday's award ceremony (9 March 2009) celebrating these and many other achievements, was attended by around 200 staff and their guests. Keith Hinkley, Director of Adult Social Care, summed up saying:
"Social work is an extremely rewarding profession. Time and time again, I meet individual staff members whose dedication to the job really shines through – and today is a case in point. It is with great pleasure that I would like to publicly thank all the winners and runners-up who have done so much to support local people. Keep up the good work!"
Councillor Bill Bentley, Lead Member for Adult Social Care, agreed saying:
"We've made 267 awards! That's 11 winning teams and individuals – plus 256 certificates for all those members of staff who've gained qualifications over the past year. Well done to all!
"The County Council has made significant progress in driving up standards of social care in East Sussex. And, although it's right and important to recognise and celebrate individual achievements, rest assured, this does not mean we're going to sit back on our laurels.
"There is significant work to be done over the next two years as we roll out a more personalised system of care in the county. Known as ‘Putting People First' this programme of change will give local people more choice and control over the support they receive."
Further information
For a full list of winners and runners up, please contact Charlotte Johnson, Communications Manager – phone: 01273 481435.
Putting People First (PPF) – the name of a new policy from the Department of Health – sets out radical changes to the country's social care system, based on individual choice, and the personalisation of services. Find out more on our Putting People First page.
East Sussex County Council runs ‘Working Wonders' – a service to support adults with a learning disability into employment. Employee of the year Martin Bowley has links to Working Wonders through his work at the Conquest Centre, Hastings. Please contact Charlotte Johnson, Communications Manager – phone: 01273 481435 – for more information about ‘Working Wonders' and what it achieves.
Reference:
2337
Contact the press team
East Sussex County Council