Reflection on International Families Day

Yesterday marked the United Nations International Day of Families.?This day is designed to raise awareness of the issues faced by families throughout the world and recognise that family structures undergo many changes due to all sorts of reasons.??

Here at Care More we thought we would take the opportunity presented by this day to reflect on the theme of family and what is means to us as a company.??

Care More is a family owned and family run care business.?The definition of family is a group of persons united by the ties of marriage, blood or adoption, although when you consider the words that define family such as clan, kin, kindred and kinfolk, it can easily embody a wider group.?Care More wants to and tries to encompass the wider family group to incorporate and include every member of the team.?We honestly believe that the members of our company are part of a much-loved family.??

The sense of family is really important to us all.?Family offers support, security, safety and love.?Families try to look for and bring out the best in each other, which is something we value very much.?We want Care More to be a fun, friendly, warm, caring place to work, just like a family.?

We work together with a family culture and our amazing team lives and works together within our company family values.??

Just as in any family, our company values are traditions that pertain to the family’s structure, function, roles, beliefs, attitudes, and ideas, encompassing the moral and ethical principles of honesty, truth and most importantly care.?

It's important to us that every member of our family feels comfortable, has a feeling of belonging, feels supported, is able to be themselves and uppermost to thrive.??We aim for a place of work where there is a sense of trust, stability, a culture of wanting to do the best we can and provide exceptional care that exceeds expectations every time.??

As our family team has grown and we have spent more time together, and have got to know one another better, it’s only natural that we have learnt and recognised each other’s personalities and quirks.?This continues to develop into an atmosphere where we genuinely care how we treat each other.?Encouraging treating other colleagues in a manner we wish to be treated ourselves is one of our goals and the company fosters this attitude with effective, kind, communication and quality feedback.??

Having a genuine interest in the entire team is paramount and we celebrate personal milestones, birthdays, new babies, family weddings and life events.?We encourage strong team relationships and know that a better dynamic within the team, helping people to work together more effectively, also establishes that family feeling and sense of loyalty.?Showing gratitude is one of our guiding factors and we are completely aware that we couldn’t do what we do without everyone in the team.?Excellence that occurs every day is recognised, we award and celebrate carer of the month and express our thanks for hard work in various ways throughout the year.??

Self-expression is encouraged, creating an environment where all new ideas and suggestions are welcomed and engaged with.?Feeling satisfaction at work is crucial, as we all know happy satisfied people work well together.?We support aspirations, listen to personal goals and support and motivate where we can.?Honesty is held in high esteem and we have an open-door policy where any concerns are given genuine weight.

When things do go wrong, as a family we value good coping skills and stick together, standing firm and supporting each other in times of crisis.?We try to embrace obstacles that may come our way and work through them together.?In this way the family team builds great respect for each other and plenty of resilience.??

Ultimately looking at our team as a family, we want each family member to be known, respected, recognised, be listened to and feel secure and happy.?We are committed to our family atmosphere and truly believe Care More is another home for our team, where we hope they can all come and feel they belong.??

To celebrate our wider family a bit more, we wanted to share a few pictures and words from some of our Amazing Care More Family Team, when they go to their ‘other’ homes:??

Krisztina is our amazing trainer. Here she is with her family, Her daughter Luca lives in Hungary and works as a secretary in a private school. Arpad her son lives in London and is studying to be a massage therapist. Krisztina says that alongside her partner, Edozie, her family give her belief in herself and encourage her to aim high. She is so proud of all of them.

Veronica, one of our brilliant Field Care Supervisors, is pictured here with her sister and Father. Veronica says her father was the best Father in the world, the reason she works in care and she misses him every moment of her life. Her sister and her live apart and don't see each other very often, so looking at the photo brings tears of joy and sadness all at the same time.

Lisa, another one of our marvellous Field Cares, is pictured here with several of her family members. There are five generations that all love spending time together. Lisa says she is lucky to have her Nan, the Queen of the family, with her along with her parents, two children and two grandchildren. They all like nothing more than to spend time having afternoon tea or visiting parks or beaches. They all pull together to make everyones lives happy, and are just one big caring family.

One of our many awesome carers Lily has recently had a beautiful baby boy, she has been kind enough to share the pictures with us. He was born on the 14th April to a proud Mum and Dad weighing in at a perfectly healthy 6lb 6oz. We are so lucky she shared the news and pictures with us and we can't wait to be working with Lily again in the future, and meeting David in person for hugs.

Other members of our team sharing family photos are our fabulous Deputy Manager Amanda, having a fun filled day out at Chessington World of Adventures with her family. Amanda titled the pictures, great day out with my three, my world. And we can see why she says that.

Claire our terrific Manager, who shares a picture of her having a great time with her two gorgeous girls.

And finally the family behind it all, Prash and Karen and our incredible, glorious and awe-inspiring four children. Jake, Kent, Abi and Lois. We could not be prouder of everything they are and everything they do. Our family is our absolute rock, who have always supported each other through thick and thin. Family is so important and our family is the very reason we want and have a family atmosphere within our business. Here's to family both at home and our home from home Care More.

Written by K Patel for Care More