The founder of Caring Homes Group, Helena Jeffery, has been rewarded for her lifetime of care and dedication to the care industry with a ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award at the National Care Awards on 27 November at the Hilton London Metropole.
Helena Jeffery established the Caring Homes Group in 1994 with her son Paul, following a successful career as a registered nurse. She founded the company on an aspiration to provide better quality care for older people.
Helena Jeffery explains her founding principles: “Every home we operate must be sustainable and successful, but first and foremost, every Caring Home must be exactly that, a caring home for each resident, where they feel completely free to live life to the full.
She continued: “It’s a great honour to receive this award, but I could never have achieved such success without our amazing and hardworking teams. This may be a lifetime achievement award, but I fully intend to continue to work for as long as I can. I thrive on making a difference to people’s lives and that ‘drive’ will always be intrinsic to Caring Homes’ philosophy.”
The judges chose Helena because ‘she has demonstrated a real passion and commitment for high quality care and a well-motivated workforce, which has been embedded within the Caring Homes business throughout its 21 year history’. The organisers also said they were ‘thrilled that Caring Homes and Helena have won this highly prestigious and sought after award’.
The first Caring Homes was launched in 1994, Bradbury House in Braintree, Essex. Since then the company has grown to become one of the most highly respected independent care and support providers in the UK and manages over 60 care homes supporting at least 2,400 elderly residents.
Helena is still a very active member of the management team, and is dedicated to ensuring that her teams remain absolutely focused on providing the highest standards of care and support in the best environments. Helena interviews all regional and Home Managers to ensure they share her dedication for caring in a compassionate manner. She also works closely with the Operations Team on the ongoing refurbishment programmes that ensure each home provides a high quality living environment. Helena is also passionate about offering the highest levels of training to all colleagues, and launched the ‘Helena Jeffery Training Academy’ in 2014 to ensure all new team members are fully equipped to reach Caring Homes Group exceptionally high standards.
Paul Jeffery, CEO, Caring Homes, is delighted with the award win. He says: “Helena has dedicated her life to best serving the needs of others. She is an inspiration to many, and it is thanks to her, Caring Homes Group is a beacon of excellent care within the care industry.”
He continued: “I would like to speak on behalf of the 5000 Caring Homes Group employees by congratulating her on this prestigious and well-deserved award.”
Her other son, Robert Jeffery, Support Services Director, Caring Homes, adds: “Our mum managed care homes before co-founding Caring Homes, and I recall she would often cook Christmas lunch for residents before coming home to do it all again for the family. It was obvious even in those early years that mum thrived on making a difference to both the residents and staff; she has never lost her work ethic or her natural way of talking to people from all walks of life and all ages. I guess she was always deserving of such a prestigious award, but to receive it at such a senior level makes it even more meaningful.”
Caring Homes Group are also recent winners of a prestigious Laing & Buisson Award for ‘Supported Living’. Their newest care home, Ivy Court in Norwich, has also just won ‘Most Outstanding Care Home’ at the Over 50s Housing Awards, run by Seniors Housing.
To find out more about Caring Homes visit our website at: www.caringhomes.org.
