National care hero award for East Sussex carer

Jonathon Johnson, Housekeeper at Halland House in Lewes has won a national social care hero award in recognition of his hard work.

The award has been made this week by Support Social Care Heroes (SSCH), an organisation which aims to preserve, protect and improve the health and wellbeing of those providing social care.

SSCH launched the monthly award programme this year to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the 1.54 million people working in social care in the UK. Jonathan, who was nominated for July 2022, is the 7th award winner.

Halland House is a care home in Lewes specialising in adults with Learning Disabilities. Jonathan was nominated by his colleagues, who said: ‘To say Jonathan is a Housekeeper does not do him justice. He will help and support the home in so many ways that he is invaluable to our service. Jonathon will cook, clean, drive, shop, help assist with meals, join in activities, and even maintenance.

‘Jonathan is one of a kind and quite simply, the home would not be the kind of home it is without Jonathan around. Every home needs a Jonathon in their service, we are glad we have ours.’

Jonathan will receive a £50 voucher for the grocery store of their choice, a box of chocolates, certificate, a SSCH hoody and Halland House will receive a bunch of flowers. The prizes have been sponsored by J9 Advisory, a Yorkshire-based advisory firm.

It is hoped that SSCH will receive significant support following research which found that the overwhelming majority of the public feel that social care staff are undervalued (81%) and underpaid (80%). The monthly care hero awards have been created to show that care workers are appreciated.

Nicola Richards, Founder of Support Social Care Heroes, explained the thinking behind the idea: ‘Social care staff often do not get the recognition that they deserve despite being valued by their managers and employers. Many care homes already have ‘employee of the month’ schemes and we really felt we should do something to bring all these nominations together from around the country to celebrate all our social care heroes and the amazing work they do.

‘The pandemic has brought social care colleagues across the country together as we have supported each other like never before. I hope these awards will provide a positive boost to carers, managers and the wider care home teams.

‘These awards are the first step in our long-term plans to ensure those who need care, and those caring for them, are valued by all in society. Our country’s social care heroes have been on the front line and in the headlines for almost two years and this new initiative will help show them that they are valued and recognise the work they do.’