A member of Denbighshire County Council staff has come away from the Wales Care Awards 2009 with two prestigious honours.
Sandra Jones is Denbighshire’s Older People Strategy Development Officer and was honoured with the silver award in both the Promoting Fulfilled Lives and Dignity in Care categories,a recognition of the work Sandra has done to promote improved well-being, independence and opportunities for the older people of Denbighshire.
The award comes hot on the heels of a number of achievements for Sandra in promoting opportunities for older people, including the launch of the new Passion for Life pilot – an exciting citizen empowerment model designed to help older people make incremental changes to improve their lives, and inter – generational projects aimed at breaking down barriers between older and younger members of the community.
All of the initiatives developed by Sandra are as a response to feedback from older people, and in all cases, older people are involved in the planning, implementation and monitoring of any projects. With funding from the Older People’s Strategy, Sandra has encouraged statutory and third sector partners to “think big whilst spending small”.
Councillor Pauline Dobb, Cabinet Lead Member for Health, Social Care and Well-being, said: “This is absolutely wonderful news and thoroughly deserved. Sandra has led on many projects within Denbighshire that have made a world of difference to the lives of older people in the county. Her dedication, commitment and passion for her work is to be commended and this national recognition is a testament to Sandra and the team.”
Sandra said: “Of course I’m delighted to have been given this honour. Residents in the county are now living longer and we really need to adapt the services we offer to meet their needs. We have to be forward-thinking and innovative in our developments and winning awards of this kind really shows we are making progress in the county.
