Special gold award for the Wolds Care Centre

The award was presented to regional manager Caron Davis and deputy manager Denise Cullingford at the Ambassadors Hotel in London, and was a culmination of extremely hard work by all the staff at the care home.

Denise told the Leader: “It’s a national accreditation, and we are one of only three care homes in Lincolnshire - and the only one in Louth and the surrounding area.

“Our ethos is that everybody lives well until they die, and we have to evidence that we actually do that in order to achieve the gold standard.

“So, everything from activities to meals to choice - everything is focused around the client, and that is what makes it the ‘commend’ level of the gold standard award.”

Denise added: “We are absolutely thrilled to bits to have received the award.

“It has taken around two and half years to get to this level, and there were a lot of practical steps involved in reaching the level where we are at now.

“Certainly, in terms of paperwork and training for the team, we have put a lot of hard work into this - but absolutely everybody in the home has been involved.

“We have got 66 residents here and a waiting list, and 93 members of staff - including maintenance and decorators - and they have all been involved, because they make sure things are right for when the next person comes in.

“We will re-accreditate in three years time, and hope to get the highest level achievement in the award structure which is the ‘beacon’ status. That’s what we will be aiming for.”

Denise also singled out particular members of staff for their hard work and involvement in working towards the award. Team leaders Emma Kew, Lucy Blackburn, Heather Copeland and Tanya Strickland and nurse Susan Carthy were all given a special mention for the efforts.