Plymouth Caring for Carers receives the Excellence for Carers Award
Carers Trust is delighted to have presented the Excellence for Carers Award to Plymouth Caring for Carers.
The award is a Carers Trust standard for best practice in services, advice and information for unpaid carers. Caring for Carers, run by Improving Lives Plymouth and part of Carers Trust's network of local carer organisations, was rigorously assessed for its service, as well as the quality of its leadership, staff, internal processes and engagement with key local partners and stakeholders.
Charities achieving the Carers Trust standard must demonstrate quality of service to unpaid carers across ten key areas including outcomes and impact, carer involvement, and information, advice and support.
In its report, Carers Trust said Caring for Carers had a very strong team and backing at all levels of the organisation, with “everybody working together for the benefit of carers”.
The report said: “The passion and enthusiasm of the team, at all levels, to provide excellent services for carers, was very clear. The team showed a real commitment to providing person centred services that benefited carers, they recognised the differing needs of carers and reflected carer individuality in the work that they do.”
As well as signalling the quality of its services for unpaid carers, the award means Improving Lives Plymouth’s partners and stakeholders can be confident they are partnering with an organisation that has best practice and sustainability hard-wired into its organisational DNA.
Improving Lives Plymouth’s Operations Manager, Lee Sewrey, said: “It has been a pleasure to be involved in the Excellence for Carers process and this award is testament to the hard work and commitment from all the carers team. As a charity we always strive to provide the best support we can to the people of Plymouth. Huge thanks must go to Sarah Austin who worked very hard to achieve this before she left her role as the Caring for Carers Manager - and achieve it she did!”
Improving Lives Plymouth’s Chief Executive Officer, Rob Smith, added: “This process has confirmed to us that the services we provide to unpaid carers are of a very high standard and our staff are committed to offering quality support. The award will also signal to our commissioners, partners and funders that they are working with a charity that is keen to promote best practice throughout all of the services it provides.”
Helen Oliver, Quality Assurance and Improvement Manager at Carers Trust, said: “We’re delighted to present the Excellence for Carers award to Plymouth Caring for Carers. We were really impressed with the culture of the organisation and the whole team are clearly striving to provide excellent services that make a real difference to the lives of the unpaid carers they support. We very much look forward to seeing their services continue to develop and thrive.”
