We are celebrating the news that Shared Lives South West Team Leader Anne Bilham and carer Sarah O’Shea have been shortlisted for the South West heat of the Great British Care Awards.
Anne is up for The Home Care Registered Manager award and Sarah is in the Putting People First Award.
It is the second award Sarah has been shortlisted in recent weeks, she is also a finalist in the Cornwall Care Awards.
They will both attend a judging day in Bristol in October. They will find out if they’ve won at a glitzy award ceremony at Ashton Gate Stadium, Bristol, on October 25.
If they win they will then go forward to the Great British Care Awards final.
Anne has been a Team Leader at Shared Lives South West for almost four years. She was nominated because she lives and breathes her role and does what is best for the organisation and the team that she leads.
We believe she’s a real asset to the charity and her enthusiasm and knowledge shine through making her a great leader.
Anne always goes the extra mile and puts the people being supported first and makes sure their wishes are heard.
She played a large part in ensuring SLSW received an Outstanding rating by the Care Quality Commission. Anne also recently stepped up to help and support the Somerset Shared Lives scheme.
FLATTERED
“I feel shocked, flattered and overwhelmed that my colleagues felt so highly of me to nominate me,” she said.
“It’s humbling that they made the effort to take the time to do this. This shortlisting is an opportunity to showcase Shared Lives South West as a whole as we are a fantastic team.”
She said that she has enjoyed a successful year at the charity, as it celebrates another successful year and its 15th birthday.
“I feel really proud of what we’ve achieved with our CQC rating, it was our chance to sparkle. We wanted to show that we work hard and we are always striving to improve and are open and transparent. If we make mistakes we learn from them.
“Working with Somerset Shared Lives scheme has been a big piece of work. It’s been challenging but a positive experience.”
As a registered manager at Shared Lives South West, Anne is passionate about providing high quality care and ensuring that staff morale is high and her team is happy.
“I believe that the adoption of the principals of coaching culture has contributed in the promotion of staff engagement” she said.
“The team is looking at things from different perspectives and it’s helping to make improvements within the organisation.”
Both are inspirational in their fields and we wish them all the very best.