A Kinmel Bay woman who changed jobs “because she wanted to make a difference” can take pride in having achieved her aim.
And the effort put in by 24-year-old Stacey Moore has now earned her a place on a shortlist for a prestigious award.
She has been nominated in the category for Residential Care Practitioner in this year’s Wales Care Awards, which are organized by Care Forum Wales to recognize outstanding work in the care sector.
The prize giving ceremony will be held at City Hall, Cardiff, on November 6 and Stacey’s category is sponsored by the Older People’s Commissioner.
Two years ago Stacey, who works for the Rhyl-based care provider Procare Wales Ltd, attended the Cardiff ceremony with a colleague who had been nominated, little dreaming that she herself would soon be among those honoured.
Before joining Procare she worked in a local nursing home caring for elderly people with dementia and though she enjoyed the work she felt she could make more of a difference working with younger people.
“With young people you have more opportunity to support them to develop and gain more independence with day to day living skills,” she said.
She joined Procare in 2011 and since the company opened the Plas Lorna Residential Service in Rhuddlan last year she has worked with an individual who is non-verbal, has severe learning difficulties and presents with challenging behaviours.
As a Support Manager she manages a team of five and according to Jacky Angove, the Plas Lorna’s registered manager, who nominated her for the award, she leads by example.
Describing her as “enthusiastic, self-motivated and having excellent values”, she said that Stacey has been instrumental in leading her staff team to bring about massive changes in the young individual which in turn has enabled him to enjoy a much more active social life, being part of the local community and gain both life and social skills.
He now enjoys swimming, going to discos and horse-riding, which is Stacey’s own favourite pastime.
Jacky said that Stacey had also built up an excellent relationship with the young man’s family, who could speak very little English. Stacey and the team arranged for communication cards to be translated into Mandarin for them to understand the work being done with their son.
On a broader front, she has supported other individuals settle into Plas Lorna and, said Jacky, is extremely keen to develop her knowledge and skills and attend the many training courses the company offer.
Stacey stated “I love seeing the young people in our care making progress, and that is how I feel we do make a difference,” she said.
The job satisfaction she gains is so apparent that her sister now wants to follow in her footsteps and become a support worker.
Stacey, who only recently moved to live in Kinmel Bay from Rhyl, said she was very flattered to have been nominated for such a prestigious award, especially by her manager.
“I really can’t believe that I’ve got this far,” she said.
Mario Kreft MBE, the Chair of Care Forum Wales, said the Wales Care Awards had gone from strength to strength.
He said: “The event is now firmly established as one of the highlights in the Welsh social care calendar and are seen as the Oscars of social care.
“The aim is to recognise the unstinting and often remarkable dedication of our unsung heroes and heroines across Wales.
“The care sector is full of wonderful people because it’s not just a job, it’s a vocation – these are the people who really do have the X Factor.
“If you don’t recognise the people who do the caring you will never provide the standards that people need and never recognise the value of the people who need the care in society.
“We need to do all we can to raise the profile of the care sector workforce – they deserve to be lauded and applauded.
“It is a pleasure to honour the contribution of all the finalists. Each and every one of them should be very proud of their achievement.”
