This year for International Women’s Day we are celebrating the amazing women working in homecare.
Adult social care is a significant economic contributor, adding an estimated £51.5 billion per year to the economy in England in 2021/22. Social care has a bigger workforce than the NHS, construction, transport, or food and drink service industries.
The majority, 83%, of people working in homecare are women. Women also make up the majority of managerial roles as well, with around 80% of higher managerial roles held by women.
Homecare is a fundamental part of our communities, it enables people to live well and flourish at home. It is the hundreds of thousands of women working in homecare that keep this essential service running.
So this year we are shining a spotlight on some of the many and varied roles in homecare and the amazing women going above and beyond to support people in their own homes.
Denise Neighbour, Senior Carer, Oxford House Community Care:
''Denise has worked for Oxford House Community Care for over 25 years! Denise goes above and beyond for her Service Users, making sure they have everything they need, arranging extra help and support when needed by liaising with health professionals and family members and generally making their life easier and happier.''
Kelly Nash, Business Development Manager, Agincare Home Care
''Kelly has over two decades experience working in the Health & Social Care sector, and is a great advocate for Care in general. She approaches everything she does with positivity, good humour and with the interest of her team and the people they care for at heart.''
Donna Doyle, Registered Manager, Oxford House Community Care:
''Donna has worked in Adult Care for over 18 years. Donna started as a scheduler, progressing to care manager and now our Registered Manager. Donna is the most caring and dedicated Manager, she doesn’t switch off, making sure all her Service Users are safe and well looked after. What Donna enjoys most about her job is seeing the difference our carers make to clients lives, seeing carers develop and grow within the company and assisting clients to reach their outcomes.''
Sheraz Rehman, Carer, Oxford House Community Care:
''Sheraz is our second longest standing member of staff. In March, Sheraz will have been a carer for Oxford House for an outstanding 23 years! Sheraz has provided excellent care in Maidenhead throughout her time at Oxford House. We are grateful for her commitment and dedication to our service users. At our 30 year anniversary party last year, we presented Sheraz with an award.''
Kelly Barnes, Registered Manager, Agincare Home Care Medway Service
''Kelly has worked Agincare for seven years. First as a care worker travelling around Medway on her bike! She worked hard over the years, gaining experience and then undertaking the responsibility as Registered Manager.
She is particularly proud to have achieved a ‘Good’ CQC rating. The ‘Good’ rating acknowledging all the hard work the team have put in. Kelly is also a great supporter of working mums''
In her own words: “We have many mums who apply for a job with us. When they sit down with us, the first thing they do is raise concerns about how they will manage their working life around parenting. As a single mum to three myself, I always take the time to understand their worries and share my own personal journey with them - sometimes it is reassuring to sit with someone who is in a similar situation and hear how it can work. The same as someone did for me when I first joined Agincare. I saw that Manager as a superhero”.
Donna Marie-Butler, Carer, Oxford House Community Care:
''This is Donna’s first job in Adult Care and although she has only been working as a Carer since October, Donna has hit the ground running and is a natural Carer. She is caring, empathic and full of enthusiasm for the role. Donna has already signed up for her L2 Adult Care Award and has created a video for us to encourage people to the care sector. Keep up the good work Donna!''
Claire Barry, Care Co-ordinator, Oxford House Community Care:
''Claire started her career in Care as a Carer in 2013, and is now our Care Coordinator and out of hours Coordinator. This is not the easiest role, but Claire manages it so well. She works many different shifts, days, evenings and weekends.
Claire manages the rosters for our 67 Carers and over 110 Service Users. Claire has exceptional organisational and communication skills, she is a real asset to the company.''
Carole Locke, Live-in carer, Caremark, Tunbridge-Wells:
''In her role as a live-in Care Assistant, Carol is a diligent and hard-working member of the Caremark. Carol recently took on the tasks of mentoring a new live-in carer and is showing her the ropes at present. She is always willing to support the office with anything asked of her and regularly gets great feedback from the other team members she works with. I don’t know of a single person who thinks she is less than fantastic.''
Carly Trevet, Registered Manager, Agincare Home Care Dorchester Branch
''Carly is Registered Manager of Agincare’s Dorchester Home Care service as well as our Extra Care service in Blandford. Her progression through Agincare over the last decade has been incredible and deserves recognition - Carly joined in 2013 as a care worker before quickly progressing to Care Co-ordinator, then latterly as Deputy Manager and finally as Registered Manager in 2022.
She is especially proud that her team assisted a client being able to attend her daughter’s wedding. The client herself believed that she would not be able to go due to her health and being so far away. However, Carly and her team supported the client every step of the way, from organising transport to being with her on the day. Bravo team!''
Agnes Sanyangore, Support worker, Support Solutions:
''Agnes is one of our sponsored overseas workers. Agnes has come in and shown how much she 'loves' her role to care not just for clients but her colleagues. She has faced some tough learning curves and a lot of new systems and regulations, however she has faced them with vigour and determination.''
Marie Shillito, Registered Manager, Support Solutions:
''Marie has worked in the care sector since she was 18 years old. She has always shown great passion, care, and strived to gain knowledge. I am proud of how she has developed and what she has achieved. Marie deserves to be recognised''
