The CareTech 2020 Children’s Fostering and Care Awards ceremony took place on Wednesday 18th November and By the Bridge were lucky enough to have three individual and two team nominations! CareTech’s Lee Jones and Nelson Gonzalez hosted the virtual ceremony and donned their smartest suits for the occasion. The champagne was flowing, celebratory chocolates were on standby, and excitement was in the air! Technical issues did not get the better of us, and as the ceremony unfolded it was inspiring to hear the stories behind the individual winners’ nominations, and was certainly the boost we all needed for 2020.
Shilpa Champaneri and Debbie Wright were both finalists in the Team Player of the Year category. The award went to Park Foster Care, but we want to congratulate both Shilpa and Debbie on their nominations and for making it all the way to the finalists stage. Shilpa was also a finalist in the Award for Excellence in Office Operations category.
The SID Team and the Eagal Team were both finalists in the Team of the Year category and we are proud to say that the SID Team brought the award home for By the Bridge! Their original nomination said the following: “The SID Team was formed in 2020. Their priorities were safeguarding and to ensure the agencies are as child-centred as possible. This has led to the implementation of an innovative child and strengths-focused template, and completely transformed working practices and improved services daily”.
We asked the team how they felt to win this exciting award, and Quality Improvement Lead Social Worker Monisha Sahni said: “We are extremely proud to win the CareTech Regional Team of the Year (Fostering)! The SID Team exists to support everyone in By the Bridge so that we can offer the highest quality service, and as a new team formed in the middle of a pandemic, it is an honour to be recognised for our dedication to this mission. We will be celebrating together (but in our own homes) as best as we can!”
We would also like to congratulate the Eagal Team on their nomination. All of us at By the Bridge know what an amazing job this team does for our children and young people, and they definitely deserved to be Team of the Year finalists.
Our final nomination was in the Most Inspiring Manager of the Year category and it’s no surprise that our very own Health & Safety Manager Lee Brown was the winner! Lee’s nomination said: “This person has not taken their eye off the ball during Covid-19, dealing with the constant daily changes and challenges and setting up new ways of working. Lee has remained good-natured and supportive to the whole team throughout.” Since winning the award Lee has received countless messages of congratulations, and said “it was so lovely to be nominated, and a wonderful afternoon to be part of. Winning my category was a fantastic surprise, and the messages of support and congratulations from my colleagues since winning have been truly heart warming to read and hear. My congratulations go out to all the other nominees and finalists. We are all winners in my opinion!”
Managing Director Lynn Webb is immensely proud of the team of finalists, she said “congratulations and a huge well done to finalists and winners for all you have achieved, it is much deserved. I’m ecstatic that we have left such a footprint this year, and the pictures from last year’s National Finals ceremony show the huge scale of the event and demonstrate just how well the team has done. What great achievements.” All winners will now go through to the National Finals, the date of which will be announced soon.
Congratulations once again to all of our finalists: Debbie Wright, Shilpa Champaneri, Lee Brown, the SID Team and the Eagal Team. CareTech’s Lee Jones and Nelson Gonzalez put it perfectly when they said, “it’s the support, care and dedication you all give to caring for our young people that ensures that they are always winners”.
Here’s to a successful 2021!