On Friday 19th of May, Scottish Care held their annual Care at home & housing support awards at Radisson Blu in Glasgow. The awards ceremony was hosted by Pop Idol winner, Michelle McManus and Scottish Care CEO, Dr Donald Macaskill.
The evening comprised of 11 awards where Bluebird Care Ayrshire, Edinburgh and Glasgow South was shortlisted for Provider of the Year and our Bluebird Care Edinburgh Care Assistant was shortlisted for Care Worker of the Year.
Congratulations to all the finalists and winners, it was a great evening celebrating a bunch of amazing people who are all doing their bit to support the people in our community. If you’d like to read more, click on the below link:
https://scottishcare.org/care-at-home-housing-support-awards-2023-winners/(link is external)
When the award categories were published months ago, the Senior Leadership Team sat and discussed what awards they’d like to enter and who they would like to nominate.
Care Worker of the Year seemed like an obvious choice. We regularly receive ‘Excellent’ rating by the Care Inspectorate and that wouldn’t be possible without our amazing team who go out day in day out to deliver person centred high-quality home care. Whilst we had a few people who we knew had really gone over and above recently, we decided to let our team make the final vote.
It was amazing to see so many people put Mark Croy forward stating that he embodies the Bluebird Care values. Not only does he genuinely care for our customers but also the team around him.
He is passionate about delivering the very best care and always looking for ways to make his customers smile. But it doesn’t stop there, he also supports his peers. He constantly has a positive can-do attitude and brings smiles and laughter to many.
One example that really stood out to his peers and the very reason they wanted to nominate Mark was the support that he offered to his fellow Care Assistant, Val.
Mark and Val had just finished delivering care to a customer and whilst on their way to their next cal, Val crashed her car resulting in damage that needed repairing.
Unfortunately, as Val was expecting this situation to happen, she didn’t have the funds available to make the repairs and wanted to continue working to help our customers. Due to this, Val continued to drive her damaged car for weeks with no repair in sight.
Mark found out about Val’s situation and wanted to try and help his peer. In the background, he organised a sponsored walk starting at Musselburgh’s Brunton Theatre and going all the way to the top of Arthur’s Seat and back to Musselburgh. This is no easy walk especially as Arthurs's Seat is 252 metres high. It took Mark just over 5 hours of his own personal time to complete and he managed to raise £365.
Whilst £365 is a fantastic contribution towards Val’s repairs, it still wasn’t quite enough. He didn’t let it stop him, he reached out to the Directors of Bluebird Care Edinburgh, Jane, and John Perry to make them aware of the situation and see if they were able to help in any way.
As Mark had gone over and above for a member of the Bluebird Care family, the pair decided to match his contribution resulting in £730 to put towards Val’s car repairs.
Val was then invited into the office to receive her cheque, Val said, “I am overwhelmed with what Mark has done for me and thank you Jane and John for contributing. I’m amazed by all who sponsored Mark”.
Mark said, “I wanted to complete the sponsored walk so that I could give back to Val. As a Bluebird Care, Care Assistant she is a true gem who gives her all every day”.
Mark's dedication to the team and passion for helping others has also resulted in Mark receiving assistance from our team as his own car broke and he was provided with the Bluebird Care company car.
