South Gloucestershire Council

Published: 26/04/2013

Beth Tovey, from Chipping Sodbury, has been working in older people’s services for 22 years and has been Centre Manager at Cambrian Green Day Services since it opened in 2010.

She was nominated for Dementia Carer of the Year in the regional heats of the Great British Care Awards by service users, their families and staff at the centre.

After winning her regional heat, Beth went on to represent South Gloucestershire Council at the national awards and was crowned this year’s winner at a ceremony in London earlier this week. She was introduced as being passionate about supporting people with dementia and their families. ‘Beth is proactive about raising dementia awareness and the significance of joined up working and early diagnosis. An inspirational care professional!’

Beth dedicated her award to the wonderful team of 17 staff who work with her in Yate providing activities and support to older people with dementia. She also gave a special mention to her Grandmother Rosie Lewis from Winterbourne who had dementia. Beth cared for her grandmother until she passed away but said she was very close to her and she was her inspiration.

Comments from some of the people who nominated Beth said: “I don’t know what mum would do without the attention she gets, and her quality of life is entirely better from meeting friends, actively taking part in conversation and generally getting the stimuli that with her illness is so important.”

“The centre provides a warm welcome to all. Every client is personally known to the care team helping to establish a safe and comfortable family atmosphere. Indeed it is their home from home!”

Commenting on her achievement, Beth said: “Finding out that I had been nominated and then successfully winning the award for the South West Region was such an honour and reflects our team’s commitment and dedication to dementia services in South Gloucestershire. I still can’t believe I’ve won the National Award but it makes it all the more special to have been nominated by people who come to Cambrian Green Day Services. To get professional recognition is amazing.

“A lot of the work we do is around giving back control to people who attend, to feel valued and supported to be who they are, to find themselves again. We provide a wide range activities including cooking, cleaning, baking and gardening. Our activities focus on full involvement by the people who attend. If we need ingredients to bake we will devise shopping lists, purchase ingredients and then bake the cake because seeing the whole process through is key to activities being a success.

“People who attend need to feel comfortable at ease and welcomed, we provide them with the opportunity to just be themselves. Finding the person within is reward in itself.”

Beth is now due to go and meet the Minister of State for Care Services, Norman Lamb, with the other category winners in the summer.

The Great British Care Awards celebrate excellence across the care sector and are supported by a range of partner organisations including the Department of Health. The purpose of the awards is to pay tribute to those individuals who have demonstrated outstanding excellence within their field of work. More details are available online at www.care-awards.co.uk