A FATHER and his son have been both been shortlisted for major national awards as a result of the high level of dedication they bring to running a care home near Wrexham.
Peter Greenwood, 53, took over Llanerchrugog Hall in Rhosllanerchrugog in 2007 and has since used over 30 years’ experience as a teacher to completely turn around its fortunes.
His 20-year-old son George, who made it real family affair by joining him on the staff of the home just under two years ago, goes well beyond the call of duty to ensure the happiness and security of residents.
It is the two men’s deep commitment to their respective roles that has landed them both places in the final of the 2013 Wales Care Awards.
While Peter is on the shortlist for the Commitment to Training and Workforce Development category, sponsored by Educ8 Ltd, George has been separately shortlisted in the Exceptional Newcomer category sponsored by Coleg Cambria.
This is the 11th anniversary of the awards and the glittering presentation ceremony will be held at City Hall in Cardiff on Friday, October 18.
The awards are in association with Care Forum Wales, a not-for-profit organisation set up in 1993 to give independent care providers a single professional voice with which to speak on one of the most important issues of our time – how to provide better quality care for those who need it most.
Peter’s own company, Lifelong Learning 4 Living Ltd, six years ago and he now lives there and runs it alongside George and his older son, 25-year-old Oliver.
Originally from Portsmouth, Peter had previously been headteacher of two Hampshire special schools, first in Bordon and then Waterlooville, later becoming consultant head of a third Hampshire special school in Farnborough.
He said: “Llanerchrugog Hall had been an old-fashioned residential care home and was in danger of being closed.
“With the help of a fantastic team of staff, I believe I’ve managed to improve things beyond all recognition.
“We now care for a group of 13 people with learning difficulties who range in age from 23 to 73. Looking after them we have 14 full and part-time staff.
“Our housemates, as I like to call them, live either in the main hall itself or in a number of flats adapted for semi-independent living which are attached to it.”
Since he has been in charge Peter has put the emphasis firmly on staff training and development.
This has led to the hall winning a number of accolades, including an Investors in People Bronze Award, bronze and silver awards in the Welsh Government Healthy Small Business Initiative and places in the finals of both the 2011 and 2012 National care Awards.
Courses being attended by staff as part of the current year’s packed training programme include autism and diabetes awareness, managing loss and grief, relationships and sexuality and visual impairment.
All this adds up to the impressive fact that Llanerchrugog Hall is providing about 180 days of training a year for its team.
Peter said: “My ethos is very much that you only get out of people what you put into them. Ensuring that people receive the proper training is the best way of getting a return from them, which is most important for our housemates here at the hall.
“We now have just one more of our support workers to finish a Level 2 in care and we will then have 100 per cent of our full-time core staff with that qualification, which isn’t bad when the national average is 45-50 per cent.”
He added: “I am very proud to have been nominated for the Wales Care Awards, which I see as a recognition of our team at the hall and the high level of commitment they put it.”
Peter’s son George grew up in Portsmouth and attended the local Springfield School before going on to Havant College.
When father Peter took over at Llanerchrugog Hall, he became a support worker there.
For the past year George has been in charge of food activities throughout the home, which not only means cooking for residents but also helping some of them to plan and prepare their own meals.
He has also recently started to help with the complex administration of medicines and is currently working on a new computer-based drug dispensing system.
Through his own development plan, he has attended no less than 18 short courses in everything from food handling to fire safety.
Using his qualification as a pool lifeguard, he leads groups of residents on regular swimming trips to the local baths or the pool at a private gym and the same qualification is also a reassurance for the residents he takes on kayaking expeditions to Bala Lake in North Wales.
But despite all the extra duties he performs – many in his own time – George reckons it’s in the kitchen at Llanerchrugog Hall where he’s really at home.
He said: “My great passion is food and I try to impart my knowledge to the guys at the hall. My aim is to get them to the stage where they can plan and prepare meals by themselves and it’s great to see them doing that.”
He added: “Money is not what motivates me, and I do the job and all the extra things for the love of it. My greatest reward at the end of the day is to know I am helping the guys.
“Being nominated for the Wales Care Award really took me back and I was ecstatic when I found out. Knowing that some of the guys had supported my nomination made it even better.”
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.
“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.”
