BUPA CARE SERVICES CELEBRATES ACHIEVEMENTS OF CARE STAFF AT COMMUNITY CHAMPION AWARDS

Activity co-ordinators and maintenance staff are amongst those from Bupa Care Services who have been honoured at Bupa’s Community Champion Awards 2010. Mary Fox, an activity co-ordinator at Bupa’s Highgate Care Home in Glasgow, has been named ‘Community Champion of the Year’ for her dedication to building links with the local community. Mary was nominated by colleagues for her dedication in developing Highgate Care Home’s links with Cannock Side Primary School and for helping residents to access the internet. She was singled out for special praise amongst Bupa’s UK workforce of nearly 33,000 people. Through involvement in Bupa’s ‘Activ-eat’ project, Mary has taught over 150 school children about the importance of healthy eating. Activ-eat is a Bupa initiative for primary schools designed to make healthy eating fun and memorable for children aged six to nine. She also returned to the school to promote the importance of hand sanitation. Using a lightbox, she showed the children the germs on their hands to demonstrate how important it is for them to wash them thoroughly and regularly. Mary has also created a resource room for residents at Highgate, teaching them how to use the internet and how to contact family and friends in a bid to enable them to feel more connected to the community. The Community Champion Awards is an opportunity for Bupa employees to nominate their co-workers for their efforts fundraising, volunteering and engaging with local communities. The event is designed to formally recognise the work of Bupa employees in the UK and Spain. Mary Fox said: “It has been truly wonderful to be recognised in such a way for what I would consider to be part of my job, rather than a special achievement. “I thoroughly enjoy working at Highgate, and it’s wonderful to see what a difference linking up with the local community can make to the lives of our residents. It is very important for our residents to feel a sense of community spirit, and feel involved in what is going on in the local area”. Oliver Thomas, Care Homes Director said: “Mary’s passion and dedication in building links with the community and helping our residents feel more connected to the local area deserves recognition. She is an inspiration to those she works with.” Other winners included: Maintenance man, Jack McDonald, 72, was awarded third place in the ‘Community Champion of the Year’ category for his commitment to helping both the residents of Balcarres Care Home in Dundee and the local community. Jack never stops going the extra mile to help the home run a variety of events including raffles and fancy dress parties to support charitable causes and enrich the lives of the residents in the home. Kirsty Thomas, activity co-ordinator at Monmouth Court in Ipswich was awarded second place in the ‘Community Ambassador’ category for her continued work with Belstead school, a secondary school for students with severe, profound and multiple learning difficulties. Liam Pickering was awarded third place in the ‘Volunteer of the Year’ category for his commitment to the local community and support of charitable endeavours with Bupa’s Court House Care Home in Malvern. Liam has been continually supporting his local community, through his involvement in managing the Welland Junior children’s football team. Martin Moran, maintenance man at Bupa’s Field House Nursing Home in Harpenden was awarded third place in the ‘Fundraiser of the Year’ category for his sustained efforts and dedication to raising money for charity, particularly Sarnelli House Orphanage in Thailand, where he visited as part of Bupa’s global challenge volunteer programme in 2007. Notes to Editors Community Champion Awards The third annual Community Champion Awards was held recently at The Berkeley Hotel, Knightbridge London. Bupa employees were nominated this year for six different awards: Volunteer of the Year Fundraiser of the Year Community Champion of the Year Team of the Year Community Ambassador of the Year Gold Ambassador Award