Expanding Horizons lifted a top award at the prestigious Great British Care Awards for Wales.
The Gwent-based social care organisation won ‘The Care Employer Award’ at the awards staged in Cardiff.
Established in Cwmbran, south-east Wales in 2005, Expanding Horizons provides specialist services for individuals with mental illness, learning disabilities and autism across Torfaen, Newport, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Bristol, providing over 100 jobs.
Expanding Horizons Managing Director, Alison Cooling, said: “To be a finalist was a huge honour, but to go that step further and win at regional level is fantastic. It is something that we are so proud of.
“There were nine other great organisations in the final for our category. The Great British Care Awards is one of the most significant and widely recognised platforms for celebrating successful organisations within social care.”
The Great British Care awards acknowledge and celebrate employers’ commitment to care and how this is achieving success in delivering an excellent service. Employers must demonstrate considerable acumen and entrepreneurial flair while at the same time have a sustained track record of delivering high quality care services to win an accolade.
Making their award the judges said: “Expanding Horizons director, Ellis Jenkins and managing director, Ali, not only have extremely good business heads, but more importantly they care about delivering care.
“They have demonstrated extreme business strategies to help execute care within the community and within their services. They support their staff with development from carer to senior managers and that’s what it is about, being able to promote from within. That promotes confidence within their own staff. They are deserving winners!”
Director, Ellis, said: “Winning this award is a really proud moment for all of us at Expanding Horizons. The health and social care sector has been a difficult place to be over the last couple of years and to be recognised with such an accolade is a wonderful achievement.
“Our whole team, from directors to support staff, work so hard, not only to provide outstanding care services to those we support, but to ensure that we also provide a workplace that promotes opportunities and a culture that we can all be proud of.”
Expanding Horizons are no strangers to awards, having previously picked up the Support Specialists of the Year for Wales in 2022. Now, as winners of the regional Great British Care Award in 2023, they have automatically qualified for the UK-wide award, with the ceremony in Birmingham in March.
Ellis added “Our recent successes have given us even more motivation to continue to grow Expanding Horizons. We have a very clear strategy that takes us up to 2025. This is something that we’re very open and transparent about with our teams. More specifically, it’s really important that we continue to be innovative, constantly review how we can meet outcomes more effectively for those we support and also be forever improving when it comes to attracting, developing and retaining a talented and dedicated workforce.”
Expanding Horizons, established in 2005, is a supported living organisation based in Cwmbran. It assists those that are resident in the South-East Wales and Bristol region who experience a range of mental health issues, learning and physical disabilities.
www.expanding-horizons.co.uk