Gateshead Carers Win Top Awards

Care services provided by national charity CIC Group in Gateshead have scooped two top awards at the prestigious Great North East Care Awards.

The awards, which are supported by the Department of Health, are part of the Great British Care Awards, a series of regional awards which celebrate excellence in social care and pay tribute to those who work in the sector throughout England.  They were presented by TV star Hardeep Singh at the Hilton Hotel, Newcastle on Saturday.

Elizabeth Stavers, who manages two services that support people with learning disabilities in Gateshead, collected the ‘Care Home Coordinator’ award, presented in recognition of her delivering consistently high standards of care to people living in residential care services.

The charity’s Cheviot Gardens service, which supports an individual with profound learning difficulties in Lobley Hill, won the 'Putting People First' award. This award is given to individuals who demonstrate an innovative approach to empowering people to have more control over the care and support they receive.

Both winners will now go forward to the national finals of the Great British Care Awards – to be held in May or June 2012.

Neil Matthewman, Chief Executive of CIC Group, said: “We are very proud of Elizabeth and the Cheviot Gardens team, who were both deserving winners at this prestigious ceremony. Not only are they fantastic ambassadors for the Gateshead Community, they are also brilliant representatives for the care sector as a whole.”

He added, “Their dedicated and innovative approach to care has really changed lives and was rightly recognised with these commendations.”

Ends. (Issued 21/11/11)

Note to Editors: Photo: Cheviot Gardens team with Hardeep Singh. For further information or to arrange an interview with Peter, please contact John Hughes on 0151 422 5372 or email john.hughes@c-i-c.co.uk

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