What a fantastic year 2024 has been for MerseyCare Julie Ann, we have held some fabulous fundraisers for various charities, celebrated some outstanding staff achievements, and more importantly, provided exceptional care you can trust.
Let’s run over what we have gotten up to throughout 2024 at MCJA!
January
In January, Our fabulous Rosie is taking part in the ‘Run Your Age’ for Age UK – here’s what she had to say:
“Most people will feel lonely at some point in their lives. It’s a deeply personal experience that – in most cases – will thankfully pass. Sadly, 2.65m older people feel they have no one to turn to for help and around 3.9m older people consider TV to be their main form of company. As a former Age Concern CEO I know how much loneliness impacts on the health and wellbeing of older people, indeed anyone of any age who experiences any level of loneliness.”
In total she raised over £200 – well done Rosie!
February
In February, we received a fantastic compliment from Joan, to one of our staff members, Michelle. Here is what she had to say: “I think Michelle is the best carer in MerseyCare, she goes above her job to help you. She is so thoughtful with a smile even if the day is so hard. Nothing is too much trouble for her. She helps other carers when they are down. To me, she is so special to me. A carer, a friend, and it is pleasure to see her. That makes my day so special.”
Michelle, who previously worked as a Care Assistant with ourselves, is now a Care Co-ordinator at our Head Office, progressing further in her career! Well done on this incredible testimonial Michelle.
March
March was a month for recognition and celebration – we congratulated Sally on her 25 years of service with MerseyCare Julie Ann, as well as celebrating our ‘Carer Of The Year Awards’, congratulating Mary Prentice becoming the Carer of the Year 2023! We would also like to give a special mention to the 4 runners up: Shelley Harper, Mary George, Grace Taiwo and Kataryna Posacka – well done all, this is an incredible achievement.
Furthermore, we also celebrated a massive milestone for one of our service users; Barbara. Barbara celebrated her INCREDIBLE 105th birthday on the 15th March, and we just couldn’t miss out! Carer of the Year 2023, Mary Prentice took herself down with some lovely flowers, cake and a beautiful handwritten card. Barbara even received a card from the King Charles and Queen Camilla!
April
In April, we made some exciting changes at MCJA. We packed up our stuff at our old head office in Aigburth, and moved to our brand new office at the Liverpool Innovation Park.
We held a fantastic celebration with our open day, inviting a number of staff, service users, and stakeholders. On the day, we held a raffle in support of the Marie Curie, raising an incredible £185! We want to say a MASSIVE thank you to everyone who came down on the day to celebrate the opening of our new head office.
May
In May, we started off the month with another fundraiser, this time for CashForKids. Cash for Kids is a charity that supports children in difficult circumstances, such as those living in poverty, hunger, suffering from abuse, neglect, illness and much more.
In total, we raised an incredible £80+! Well done to all the team who took part in the fundraiser.
June
In June, we listened to career progression stories from 3 of our staff members, Katie (Business Admin), Alim (Care Assistant) and Lucy (Trusted Assessor). Here is what Katie, our Business Admin had to say about how we have supported her with her career: “MCJA have supported me tremendously whilst completing my Business Admin Apprenticeship alongside working with the recruitment team. I am always pushed for career progression within the business, whilst still supporting me with my studies. I couldn’t recommend the company enough.”
Alim also stated “The support MCJA had given me is worth mentioning – they don’t overburden me with work, and they are all very supportive and the staff are very friendly”. Since June, Alim has now become a qualified Doctor, passing all of his necessary qualifications alongside working for MCJA.
July
In July, we continued the theme with fundraisers, raising substantial amounts for charities close to our hearts. On the 6th July, we raised £80 for Alzheimer’s Society, wearing ‘Denim for Dementia’ at our head office.
Now, onto the big one…
On the 20th July, 12 of our team took on Pretty Muddy (Race for Life) raising funds for Cancer Research UK. In total, we raised an INCREDIBLE £5,077.88 for the incredible charity! We ran 5k through muddy water, tackled a number of obstacles, crawled through mud, rock climbed, and much more, all for an incredible cause. Well done to all who took part!
August
In August, we gave a special shout-out and a bittersweet farewell to Doreen, one of our incredible Care Assistants who is retiring at the end of this month, after an incredible 18 YEARS OF SERVICE!
We asked her all about her time at MCJA, and here is what she had to say: “Although I am ready for retirement, the thing I will miss the most is the clients. I will worry about them when I leave, and I will miss that bond I had with each and every one of them. I have thoroughly enjoyed working for MCJA, especially with the support provided by staff like Donna. I have always felt supported by the staff and I will miss working for such a brilliant company.”
What an incredible achievement Doreen! We wish you the best of luck with your retirement, and we will miss you dearly.
September
In September, we celebrated Professional Care Workers week by taking part in the CCS group fundraiser for the Care Workers Charity on the 17th September – in total, we raised over £150 for the charity! PCWW is a celebration of care workers who support those in need every day, regardless of circumstances. This week offers rich opportunities for collaboration, learning, and planning the future of social care. We are proud to support this awareness and raise valuable funds.
We also celebrated 2 long-service awards for our care staff; we congratulated Marcia on 20+ years of service, and Keith on 18+ years of service. Whilst we said a bittersweet farewell to Keith and good luck with his retirement, Marcia is still working with ourselves providing excellent service in the community.
October
To finish off October with a bang, we held Halloween fundraiser for the children and baby’s hospice in Liverpool, Zoe’s Place, who were at risk of closing, meaning families in need could not use their valued services. Across the two branches, we raised over an INCREDIBLE £1000! As a result, we were able to help Zoe’s Place reach their fundraising goal, meaning they were able to stay open to provide essential services to those in need.
We also took ourselves down to the Care Show in Birmingham to collect a VERY exciting award for Assistant Operations Manager, Chloe Kelly…
We are very pleased to announce that Chloe has won the ‘Thirty under 30’ award at the Care Show! Chloe was nominated for her outstanding work ethic and contributions to MCJA since she first started with ourselves as a Graduate, excelling at everything she does within the business. We are incredibly proud of Chloe here at MCJA, and proud of everything she has achieved. Well done Chloe!
November
In November, Operations Director, Jack Gardiner, and Co-ordinator, Donna Crompton, took themselves down to Manchester for the Great British Care Awards to celebrate our Carer of the Year, Mary Prentice, becoming a finalist for the ‘Home Care Worker’ Award of 2024!
Mary received second place, and was nominated as Highly Commended for the award. The Great British Care Awards stated: “Mary is an inspiring leader, whose adaptability and expertise in care have truly stood out. She now plays a key role in upskilling new staff, ensuring they deliver the exceptional care that service users deserve. Her contributions, combined with training from MerseyCare Julie Ann, have had a remarkable impact on new team members.”
Well done on this incredible achievement Mary – you should be incredibly proud.
December
As we do every year, we ended the year with a bang in December. We kept ourselves busy with putting together our annual Christmas hampers for our service users. This year, our staff here at MCJA worked INCREDIBLY hard putting together over 20 Christmas hampers for our fantastic service users. These hampers included a selection of tinned goods, sweet snacks, tea and coffee, blankets, hygiene products and much more. Our staff worked incredibly delivering these hampers, ensuring we spread some festive cheer, putting a smile on our service user’s faces.
Our team also took part in Christmas Jumper Day 2024 for Save The Children – our service users also got involved in the day, wearing their fantastic festive Christmas jumpers, and getting ready for their Christmas parties.
A Thank You
What an incredible year 2024 has been – We want to say a very special thank you to all of our staff who have worked so incredibly hard this past year, and a big thank you to all our service users who have chosen MerseyCare Julie Ann as their care provider.
Here is to many more years of exceptional care to come, and we hope you all have a fantastic New Year, filled with joy and prosperity.
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