National Care Association Summer Reception: Celebrating those who care

We were delighted to host the National Care Association Summer Reception on Wednesday 19th June at our London headquarters. Care providers, journalists and industry supporters gathered together to step back from discussions on industry issues, and instead celebrate those who work in care and all of their positive contributions.  

David Taylor, Divisional Director of Howden Care Division introduced Nadra Ahmed, Executive Chairman of the NCA, who commented “It often feels like all we hear about in the media is poor care, but for every bad story there are thousands of people we should be celebrating and empowering to carry on delivering the best care”, setting the tone for the rest of the evenings celebrations. 

Caroline Dinenage, Minister of State for Care gave an empowering talk on how social care is the cornerstone of our communities and our country. Not only is it incredibly important to the UK economy but also vital to people’s lives. The sector faces the extreme challenge of an ageing population, therefore the government has a responsibility to attract workers with the right values and give everyone in the sector the support they need. 

The Minister then went on to discuss various campaigns and initiatives government are currently working on to support the industry. She briefly mentioned the delayed social care green paper and her personal frustrations surrounding this. There was an assurance to the audience that a version of the green paper is ready to be released once the time is right, although other political activities currently mean that there is not enough energy to support it. The delay has however meant that they have been able to expand the remit of the paper to include working-age adults as well as the original focus of older people, meaning that more people should be able to benefit from its findings. 

Mandy Thorn, Vice Chairman of the NCA then introduced Rosamond Roughton, the Director of Care and Transformation at the Department of Health and Social Care. Rosamond spoke passionately about what it means to offer a good care provision within the care sector and shared personal stories of excellent care practices. She mentioned how privileged she feels to be in a position to support the government and make the adult social care sector as good as it can be. 

Amanda Waring, actress and campaigner, was our final speaker for the evening. She discussed her journey to becoming a committed campaigner for dignity and compassion in social care, and how her personal experiences shaped the beliefs she has today. Amanda focused her speech on the important messages from her most recent book ‘The Carers Bible’, on how deeper relationships between the carer and who they care for can help to improve physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing of both parties, as guidance, love and support for carers are just as important as the people that are cared for.

All in all this was an excellent evening and enjoyed by everyone. It was a fantastic experience to show our support and to celebrate the work of our partners, their members and the industry as a whole. The event had an incredible line up of inspirational and influential speakers from the sector, giving their own insights and sharing their personal stories and experiences of what great care means to them. Howden are the official insurance partner and sponsor of the National Care Association (NCA), and so we were pleased to be able to support this initiative.

(Left to right) Raj Singh – Vice Chairman and Treasurer of the National Care Association Caroline Dinenage – Minister of State for Care Nadra Ahmed OBE – Chairman of the National Care Association Mandy Thorn MBE – Vice Chairman of the National Care Association

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