Norwood, the UK’s leading Jewish charity for children and families, organised two special ceremonies earlier this month at which 83 members of its care staff received industry awards. The first event was held at East Berkshire Golf Course on Wednesday 2 May, and was in recognition of the efforts of staff at Ravenswood Village, Norwood’s residential community for children and adults with learning disabilities. The second event, celebrating the contribution of care workers and outreach workers in Norwood’s residential homes and family centres in North and East London, took place on Thursday 3 May at the Kennedy Leigh Centre & Pears Wing for Children.
Once again, Norwood service users presented many of the awards, with David Harris, Norwood’s Director of Operational Services, handing out the rest. The sheer number of awards achieved demonstrates Norwood’s commitment to being a leading provider of specialist services within the UK’s learning disability sector. In total, 41 members of staff received their National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) level 2 in Health and Social Care,
27 received NVQ level 3 in Health and Social Care, eight received NVQ level 4 in Health and Social Care and seven received their NVQ A1 Assessor Awards.
Three service users were also recognised for their achievements. Sally Abrahams successfully completed a course in NVQ administration, whilst Joanna Taylor and Richard Harris achieved certificates after completing a Have Your Say course, which involves service users in the process of choosing new staff members.
Click here for photos from the Ravenswood Village awards ceremony...
Click here for photos from the Kennedy Leigh Centre awards ceremony...
As they presented awards to care staff, some of the service users took the opportunity to publicly thank their support workers for the high standard of care that they provide. One of them, Naomi Mushin, who lives at a Norwood residential home in Hendon, gave an impromptu speech, declaring: “Sandra Grimes is my co-keyworker and she is the best.” Lionel Bernstein, from a Norwood residential home in Kenton, presented Roberto Mendoza with an award and announced: “Well done Roberto for receiving this award. The staff and residents of the house are very proud of you.”
Ellen Olsen, Learning and Development Manager at Norwood, said: “All our care staff have worked extremely hard to gain their NVQ’s at various levels. Having our service users fully involved in both ceremonies really added to the atmosphere. You could see how proud they were that staff members at their homes had achieved these awards. Norwood will continue to ensure that all our staff have the appropriate knowledge to provide the best possible services to our residents.”
Click here for photos from the Ravenswood Village awards ceremony...
Click here for photos from the Kennedy Leigh Centre awards ceremony...
For further information, please contact David Wosner, Public Relations Officer at Norwood on 020 8420 6942 or email david.wosner@norwood.org.uk
