It’s been two years since COVID-19 first spread in the UK and the country went into lockdown. Throughout these two years our social care sector has faced challenges never seen before, and the people working in social care have continued to adapt and show up to keep our communities safe and supported.
That’s why this April Skills for Care is #CelebratingSocialCare. We’re supporting them, and we’re encouraging you to get involved too.
The campaign follows the Social Care Day of Remembrance and Reflection which was held on 17 March and the lifting of public COVID-19 restrictions, two years since the pandemic began.
The celebration is dedicated to recognising the important role that social care plays in our society and shouting about the dedicated and skilled work of everyone working across social care.
While Skills for Care works hard to recognise and support the achievements of the social care sector year-round, this dedicated month is a time to encourage everyone to really take time highlight the importance of social care and the skills, passion, and vital work of all social care workers.
They’re asking as many people as possible to get involved in #CelebratingSocialCare by sharing your stories on social media.
How to get involved in #CelebratingSocialCare
You can join in by sharing your experiences, successes, and well done messages on social media using #CelebratingSocialCare. Share your achievements that you’re proud of, shout out colleagues who have done a great job, or tell your team how proud you’ve been of their work during these challenging times.
You can get involved by doing one or more of the below.
- Post thank you messages on social media to your colleagues.
- Share your good news stories and stories of success throughout COVID-19.
- Record a short video of yourself paying tribute to the hard work of your teams.
- Encourage your teams to post their own messages of thanks to colleagues.
- Share photos of your team and give them a public shout out for their amazing work.
Whatever you do make sure to use the #CelebratingSocialCare hashtag to be a part of the conversation.
What else is happening
While creating a time and space for people working in social care to reflect on their achievements, Skills for Care will also be providing information on ongoing support to help social care teams as they adapt to the way in which COVID-19 will be managed, with the impact still being felt among social care workers and people who draw on care and support.
It's hoped that this campaign will remind social care workers of their resilience and achievements so far, and that they have the skills and tenacity required for what comes next.
Skills for Care will be sharing good news stories, case studies of how providers have innovated, blogs from people in the sector, and round-ups of support available on their website throughout April so make sure to keep an eye on their articles and blogs during this time. They are also highlighting the resources that they have available to help social care providers as we continue to adapt to how we live alongside covid.
Resources include:
- Three funded packages of learning which were developed in response to COVID-19: the rapid induction programme (aimed at new staff), refresher training (aimed at existing staff) and a volunteer programme.
- A guide to building resilience, a trait which is hugely important when managing challenging situations.
- A wellbeing hub where you can find an array of wellbeing tools and resources from Skills for Care and other sources.
- A suite of registered managers support, including local networks, and WhatsApp and Facebook groups.
Find out more: www.skillsforcare.org.uk/celebratingsocialcare
