Brandon support worker, David Adams, has won The Rainbow Heart Award at the Care and Support West Awards 2023.
The Rainbow Heart Award is given to a group or an individual who demonstrates excellence in care.
The reasons for the nomination
David, who works in Longwell Green, Bristol, was nominated by his locality manager, James Saunby, who said: “David has worked with us for five years and during that time we had two individuals move into the service who are both very different people, with different needs.
“David was able to build up positive relationships with these individuals in a very short time, by spending time with them and learning how they communicated. The first person who moved in has very complex communication needs, and David spent the time to understand them and use a personalised version of Makaton to communicate. David worked with the person to put in place a positive and empowering routine which gave consistent person-centred support, made the person feel understood and listened to, and helped them to feel settled, which has led to them accessing the community on a regular basis, for the first time in many years.
“David’s skills and values have had a massively positive impact. He is an exceptional support worker and is an incredibly good role model to his peers, demonstrating meaningful support and utter professionalism. I have never met another support worker like him; he is calm, motivated, person-centred, kind, caring, adaptable and has a good sense of humour.”
Care and Support West
Care and Support West is a representative body for companies, charities, organisations, and individuals involved in social care, support, and health sectors in the West of England. Their awards celebrate individuals working in the care sector, ranging from support workers to managers, care home teams to entire organisations.
David said: “The awards night was very busy, the food was lovely and everyone was really friendly. When I won, I went red! Honestly, I was really pleased, not just for myself but also for the service.”
James added: “David’s award was presented last and was called ‘our most prestigious award’ by the host. I really wanted David to win and get all the accolades he deserves. I am so proud of him.”
And this isn’t the only award David won this year! In February, he walked away with the Equip Award at the Brandon Staff Awards 2023.
A second nomination
A Brandon team based in Backwell, North Somerset, were also finalists in the Younger Adult Care Sector category.
Sadly, they didn’t win but they are extremely proud to have been nominated. Details of the nomination, including who nominated them, is currently unknown. We’ll post an update if we manage to solve the mystery!
