A customer relations manager at England’s largest not-for-profit provider of care and housing for older people has been nominated for a Great British Care Award.
Andy Jarman, who works at Anchor’s West Hall and Moore Place care homes in Surrey, was nominated in the Social Care Covid Hero Award category for his extraordinary dedication and professionalism. Going above and beyond in his duties; supporting residents and coming up with technological solutions to new challenges posed by the pandemic.
Andy is widely known for always going the extra mile in developing a strong personal connection with prospective and current residents and their families. Ensuring they are as comfortable as possible and kept fully informed of changes implemented that may impact them.
Since March, he has risen to the challenges posed by Covid-19, exploring and finding new ways for meaningful engagement. Most notably, he has helped set up virtual live tours of West Hall and Moore Place. This has enabled prospective residents to see inside these care homes as if they were being shown around in person, so they can see first-hand what living in an Anchor care home is like.
Similarly, Andy has been creating videos of residents at Moore Place and West Hall taking part in various activities for use on social media, to show that residents continue to enjoy life. This content has been so well received that he has begun working with other Anchor homes to help them develop their own similar content.
Andy has also been praised by colleagues for his exceptional work ethic and continued positivity during the pandemic, willingly taking on extra tasks and setting up Zoom networking sessions with key stakeholders such as Age UK who used to come into the care homes to share what they were doing before the pandemic.
Cass Wills, a colleague of Andy’s who nominated him for the Great British Care Award, said: “The thing that you notice about Andy is he does an enormous amount of work very quietly and calmly. Not only that, he manages to get through it all while smiling and cheering everyone up.
“His dedication to the residents, their families and his colleagues is honestly second to none but what’s really special is how he has come up with brilliant solutions to overcome the challenges we have faced this year. Andy fully represents Anchor Hanover’s core values of Accountability, Respect, Courage and Honesty.”
Chris Hardy, 62, a resident at West Hall Care home since August 2018, was also keen to praise Andy, saying: “He’s just fantastic! Andy is really polite, warm and helpful and you feel like you can go to him with anything.
“It’s not been easy being unable to see my family over the last few months, but Andy has been absolutely brilliant in helping us keep informed and in touch with family. He also gives us a weekly newsletter, so we always know what’s happening in the home and local community. He’s great to talk!”
Andy himself, was very honoured by the praise: “I’m absolutely bowled over to be honest! I’ve always just tried to do what I can and enjoy what I do. I’ve loved getting to know the residents at West Hall and Moore Place and their families as well.
“The last few months have been challenging, but I’ve just tried to keep calm, carry on and help where I can. I’ve always been interested in social media and online technology so being able to use that to help my residents at this time has been great!”
