Pride of Craegmoor Awards Recognise 'Shining Stars' & 'Leading Lights'

Craegmoor Healthcare, a leading provider of specialist support to people with learning disabilities, mental health illnesses and other needs, has announced this year’s winners of the company’s ‘Shining Star’ and ‘Leading Lights’ competitions, at the company’s annual ‘Pride of Craegmoor’ Awards.

Staff from across Craegmoor’s Older People, Independent Hospitals, and Specialist Divisions were invited to an awards dinner at the Cheltenham Chase Hotel in Gloucestershire on Thursday 20th November, to hear the results from the evening’s host, GMTV presenter Fiona Phillips, who spoke movingly about her own experiences of having loved ones in need of support and how much she admired the work going on across Craegmoor.

Shining Star awards recognise those outstanding members of Craegmoor’s staff who have gone the extra mile to perform their jobs to an exemplary standard and who help Craegmoor to consistently provide the very best levels of service.

The ten Shining Star 2008 finalists – all of whom had been nominated by service users and colleagues – were in attendance at the awards dinner and each received a trophy and £100 in high street vouchers. The overall winner of Shining Star 2008 was Adele Limbert, a senior support worker from Craegmoor’s Dolphin Lane care home for people with learning disabilities in Wakefield. For her fantastic achievement Adele was presented with a trophy, a certificate and £500 worth of high street vouchers, as well as a personal thank you from Craegmoor Chief Executive Ted Smith.

The Leading Lights awards recognise those services within Craegmoor that take the lead in creating the list for positive outcomes for the people who use Craegmoor’s services, as well as topping the list for staff morale, professionalism and innovation. On the night, the winners of the regional heats of Leading Lights 2008 were presented with a trophy as well as a commemorative garden bench to take back with them to their services. The winners of the divisional heats were awarded with £500 to be spent on new facilities. Past winners have opted to give the people who use that service the opportunity to choose what the money is used for.

The overall winner of Leading Lights 2008 was Craegmoor’s Weir End House care home and Woodpecker Lodge supported living unit, which work together to support adults with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour to develop living skills prior to moving into the community.

Speaking after the awards dinner Craegmoor’s Chief Executive Ted Smith said:

“It’s a great honour to share a stage with such dedicated and inspiring professionals. The individuals and services celebrated at these awards embody the values of Craegmoor as an organisation and as a family. We fully intend for tonight’s winners to be representative of all of Craegmoor’s staff and of the services that we develop in the future”.

For further information please contact the Craegmoor Press Office on: 01905 459 813

Notes for Editors

• Photos of the awards are available upon request
• Craegmoor is one of the leading independent providers of specialist support in the UK with a turnover of approximately £170m and employs over 6,500 people.
• It has a portfolio comprising specialist and nursing care homes, mental health hospitals, specialist adult colleges and supported living schemes with over 4,700 beds across 234 homes. 
• The wide range of services offered by Craegmoor include:

1. Specialist care and support for adults with learning disabilities and mental health illnesses
2. Nursing and residential care for the elderly
3. Independent Hospitals 

• Craegmoor has 2229 Specialist beds including 143 beds in three colleges. 
• Craegmoor has currently 2242 Older People beds and 237 beds in the company’s Independent Hospitals.
• Working closely with local authorities, Primary Care Trusts and NHS Trusts, Craegmoor is committed to building partnerships focused on constant service improvements which meet the needs of individual people and which are in line with regulatory requirements and best practice.

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