Council colleagues receive special commendation at local awards ceremony.

Members of the Learning Disability Day Services team recently celebrated after receiving a special commendation at the Cardiff & Vale Parents Federation’s awards ceremony.

The ceremony took place on 6 December at Cardiff Yacht Club and is run by the Understanding Disability Group, which includes parents of people with a learning disability from Cardiff and the Vale Parents Federation and representatives from other organisations in the two counties.

The team was nominated for an award in the ‘Professional’ category.

Recognition of the team’s hard work was given to ‘recognise efforts in helping make the world a better place for people with a learning disability.’

The team was nominated by Sarah Sidman-Jones who said: “I nominated the team because when our day centre buildings temporarily closed at the start of the pandemic, we found new ways of working to provide vital assistance to some of the Vale’s most vulnerable citizens with complex health and support needs.

“Day Service Support Workers provided an outreach service to individuals within their own homes, supporting them in a variety of tasks, such as personal care and mealtime assistance. This time enabled family members to receive some respite from their role as full-time carers during the lockdown.

“We sent out activities and resources to individuals, to prevent boredom during their time away from the day centre.We also worked closely with third-sector organisations, such as Innovate Trust, using digital technology to engage people in online activity, so people stayed connected to their peers, preventing social isolation.

“All of the highly valued team went above and beyond to provide a crucial service during the most challenging of times.”