Local Care Expert Celebrates Award Win

A local care expert is celebrating after having been recognised for their hard work, compassion and dedication in an important care award.

Carol Collins, who works for Bluebird Care Fareham, was chosen out of hundreds of nominees as the winner of the Community Engagement Award at this year’s annual Bluebird Care Awards.

The awards saw over 600 people bid for the top spot in each category from across the South East of England.

Carol is part of the team who supports people across Fareham and the surrounding areas, to stay safe and well in the comfort of their own homes, including specialist dementia and live-in care.

The Community Engagement Award goes to a ‘superhero’ member of the team who goes above and beyond to drive charity and community projects, and give their all to the local community.

Carol was named the worthy winner of this award thanks to her consistently undertaking various activities to raise money for charity. Since running her first marathon in 2008, Carol continues to run for charity to raise crucial funds. She recently ran every day for ten days to raise funds for Gosport and Fareham Inshore Rescue Service (GAFIRS). She is also running the London marathon to raise funds for Cancer Research and Alzheimer's Research UK.

Carol will always promote the company’s free social activities club to customers and doesn’t hesitate in providing transport so they can attend. The social activities club has given many customers enjoyment and something to look forward to, and carers like Carol have helped to ensure customers can fully enjoy it. She never hesitates to go above and beyond for the customers and takes it upon herself to look at ways to further help. For example, Carol completed a Level 2 Cancer Support course in her own time to aid her understanding of what a customer was experiencing. She also researched into MND so that she could further support another customer with this condition.

Carol has been a member of the Bluebird Care Fareham team for two years. Prior to this she was an ex-post mistress with no previous experience of the care industry.

She celebrated the award with her colleagues at a celebratory lunch in London, where everyone who was nominated came together to celebrate their contributions to care.

Bluebird Care Fareham is part of the national Bluebird Care network of 220 home care providers. Based in Shedfield, they support people across the local area each year to stay safe and well in the comfort of their own home.

Jonathan Gardner, CEO at Bluebird Care, said:

“Carol really impressed us with her stand out dedication, compassion, and drive for continuous learning and development. She is a credit to the care sector, and to Bluebird Care.

These awards are incredibly special for shining a light on the often ‘unsung heroes’ of our communities across the UK – who work day in, day out, to make the lives of others better.”

Reflecting on her award win, Carol said:

“I am delighted to have been named the winner of the Community Engagement award. I am really grateful and honoured that everyone from Bluebird Care Fareham nominated me. When my name was called out, the feeling was overwhelming that I must admit it brought me to tears, it still feels like a dream! Team work is at the heart of everything we do at Bluebird Care, and so it’s lovely to know that you’ve got that support behind you. I’m looking forward to sharing the good news with our customers, who mean the world to me!”