A career devoted to driving up standards of social care has earned a father-of-two a prestigious accolade at the Wales Care Awards.
The achievements of Shokat Babul, 60, were recognised at the Oscars- style annual ceremony held at Cardiff City Hall.
Shokat was presented with a special award for Exceptional Services to the independent social care sector.
The awards are organised by Care Forum Wales to honour the outstanding contribution made by care professionals and volunteers across the country.
Shokat has just retired from his role as chairman of Care Forum Wales after 12 years. He has also been chairman of the National Care Providers Association and was invited by the Welsh Government to join the Social Care Institute for Excellence which he went on to lead for nine years. The independent charity works with adults, families and children’s social care providers across the UK to ensure the best possible standards of care practices are employed.
Shokat lives in Lambeth, south London but spent a large part of his working life running four Plas Geller Nursing Homes across Blaenau Gwent responsible for around 126 people who needed care.
A delighted Shokat said the award was a great honour but added: “I feel honoured and I feel humbled and I am but one among many millions who have contributed to a better world.
“I believe I am a custodian being honoured on behalf of these millions of people, many of whom have been with me and supported me along the way.”
Mario Kreft, the Chair of Care Forum Wales who founded the Wales Care Awards nine years ago, said of his friend: “Shokat has been instrumental in bringing together the independent social care providers and agencies, including Government, to bring about a lasting partnership which works together to drive up care standards.
“He has played an enormously important role in developing those quality standards and he has always made sure they are at the forefront of everything he does.
“He always says he wants to leave the world a better place than he found it and I think this is the best way to describe his achievements.”
Shokat left his family in Tanzania and travelled alone to Britain aged 17 with only £100 in his pocket.
With more than one job to keep himself afloat, Shokat worked hard at his studies in accounting, business and finance.
By the time he was 21, he was head of management accounts at Conrad Ritblat, a highly successful city firm of property management consultants.
But his career soon began to take him in a different direction, firstly into environmental and conservation arenas and later into community development and social care.
But at the heart of his work were always the same principles, guided by his Suffi Muslim faith which is very dear to him and the family he left behind in Tanzania.
Shokat said: “Nobody has a monopoly of wisdom. The challenge to us is that this world has been entrusted to us, that we seek to live in peace and in harmony and use the best of our education and knowledge so we leave the world a better place when we are gone.”
Growing up in Tanzania, he was taught both at school and at home by his mother that not just the world but the universe was a very vast place and he was encouraged to go out and learn as much as he could about it.
He said: “It’s a search and a journey about getting to know yourself and how much there is to learn and what you can do with that knowledge. It is about knowing you are part of something much bigger and grander.”
It was this drive and thirst for betterment and knowledge which Shokat believes has shaped his life and sent him on his committed path to better social care standards.
Shokat said: “I see my biggest contribution as being part of a successful team that has helped bring the independent sector together which is helping shape policy and practices in both health and social care in Wales and to a certain extent beyond Wales.
“And I suppose I am pleased about this contribution I have made to the world.”
