Surprise ‘survival kits’ for Radfield’s care assistants

Radfield Home Care Wakefield and Dewsbury, located in Ossett, West Yorkshire, has been overwhelmed by the commitment and dedication shown by its home care workers since the Covid-19 outbreak, with carers going above and beyond for their clients in every aspect of the care they provide to older people in the community.

Jackie Gillen, owner and director of Radfield and Gemma Bristow, registered care manager for the office, wanted to demonstrate to their staff just how much they are appreciated and came up with the creative idea of making ‘carer survival kits’ for over 30 care team members, to show recognition and a ‘thank you’ for all their hard work supporting people.

Gemma explains:

“We really admire our dedicated team of care professionals and the care and support they provide; we felt many may be feeling quite isolated and anxious given the current circumstances, we wanted to do something to remind them all how much we appreciate everything they do. We usually see staff regularly face to face as they always call into the office, but we are unable to do that at the moment, we just wanted to ensure they all know we are always thinking of them.

Nothing gets in their way, they are all absolutely amazing, and we wanted to send a surprise gift to show our appreciation and brighten up the day a little in these testing times. So, we decided to create a ‘Carer Survival Kit’ which we hand made for each member of our team. Little things like this, make a big difference!”

The survival kits were beautifully presented, labelled individually for each member of staff and made up of little gifts representing all the great things they do as home care assistants. The kits included:

• Mint – because you are worth a ‘mint’ to the people you care for and to us
• Candle – to brighten up your day when things get tough
• Safety pin – because you keep the people you care for ‘safe’
• Playing card – to help you deal with any situation
• Paper clip – to help you hold everything together
• Coffee – to keep you awake during long shifts
• Sweets – because you have a big heart
• Elastic band – for when you are stretched to your limits
• Toothpick- to help you ‘pick’ the right words to say
• Crayon – to make each day bright and colourful
• Button – because you are always ‘right on the button’

The care team were delighted with their surprise survival kits with lots of comments made and posted on the office Facebook page including, “It was a lovely surprise, Jackie and Gemma – cheered me up no end; thank you it was a lovely surprise, best decision ever to come and work for Radfield; thank you so very much, such a lovely caring thought!” To read more comments from the care teams, visit the Facebook page.

The ‘survival kit’ gift initiative demonstrates one of many ways Radfield Home Care continues to value its staff, providing a supportive, positive working environment; collectively referred to as its ‘Caring for our Carers^TM pledge.

If you would like to find out more about Radfield Home Care jobs and how you can join the team, you can visit www.radfieldhomecare.co.uk or contact the branch directly on 01924 271 394 or email [email protected]