Karolina Gerlich, Chief Executive at The Care Workers’ Charity shares how The Care Workers’ Charity’s Advisory Board and Champions Project are proving the power of collaboration in shaping a stronger social care sector.
The future of adult social care depends on collaboration. Care is built on relationships, and when those relationships thrive, so does the entire sector. Over the past year, The Care Workers’ Charity’s Advisory Board and Champions Project have shown the power of collaboration when it is rooted in shared purpose and genuine respect for those who deliver care every day.
The Advisory Board and Champions Project was established to ensure care workers’ voices are heard at every level of policy, practice, and research. Since launch, members have contributed to research projects, consultations, and discussions with partners including the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), the Care Quality Commission (CQC), Oxford University, Sheffield University, and digital innovators working to improve the care experience. Together, we have created a national platform where care workers’ insights directly inform decisions about the future of adult social care.
Through regular meetings and engagement sessions, members have identified everyday challenges — from limited access to mental health support to inconsistent induction and progression pathways. They have also co-developed practical recommendations to address these challenges, shaping The Care Workers’ Charity’s priorities and encouraging partners to think differently about workforce inclusion.
Our publication Centring Care Workers: A Guide, co-produced with Advisory Board and Champions members, builds on these insights. It outlines tangible approaches to achieving genuine collaboration with care workers, ensuring their expertise and experiences directly shape policy, practice, and innovation across the sector.
One of the most significant outcomes of this collaboration has been the creation of care worker-led feedback channels that feed directly into national policy. Members have contributed evidence to DHSC workforce reviews, advised CQC on its evolving regulatory framework, and provided personal perspectives for university-led research into wellbeing and retention. This ensures that those who understand care best — the workforce itself — are not only consulted but actively shaping the sector’s future.
Our 2025 Wellbeing Survey of over 2,000 care workers reinforced how vital this collaborative approach is. Only 56% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that their role is valued by the wider public — highlighting the ongoing gap in understanding and appreciation of care work. Feedback from our Advisory Board and Champions Members mirrors this finding: care workers want to be part of the conversations and decisions that shape their work, wellbeing, and future. They are not just participants — they are essential stakeholders in the sector’s success.
Through collaboration, we are building a growing evidence base for what care workers need most. Partnership has allowed us to turn insight into action — developing wellbeing resources, shaping sector guidance, and promoting care as a career of pride and purpose.
But collaboration cannot stop here. It must reach every part of the workforce. The Advisory Board and Champions Project has shown that when care workers lead conversations about the challenges they face, the solutions become stronger, fairer, and more sustainable.
At The Care Workers’ Charity, we believe true partnership means co-production — working with care workers, not simply for them. It means ensuring their voices shape not only how we talk about care, but how we design the policies, training, and wellbeing support that reflect the realities of their work.
As we look ahead, our Advisory Board and Champions Project will continue to lead this vision, bringing together care workers, policymakers, researchers, and innovators in pursuit of a shared goal: to build a sector where collaboration is the norm and every care worker feels respected, supported, and valued for the vital contribution they make every day.
Because when care workers thrive, care itself thrives — and that is the future we are working to achieve together.
