Royal recognition for Lancashire's Alcedo Care Group

Specialist Lancashire-based home care provider, Alcedo Care Group, has been recognised and rewarded by the Princess Royal Training Awards for the provision of impressive and impactful complex care training. 

The awards are open to organisations of all sizes and sectors in the UK and Ireland who can prove their training and development programmes have resulted in a positive impact for their business.

It’s not a competition and there are no categories to apply to, recipients must meet the strict standards of excellence and are judged by a team of assessors on their initial comprehensive written application, supporting statement as well as a grilling face-to-face interview on all aspects of the business, with the whole process taking up to six months.

Supported by HRH The Princess Royal, the award gives you royal recognition for outstanding training programmes that have created positive benefits.

Evidence-based, the Princess Royal Training Awards seek figures and statistics that showcase increased staff and client satisfaction, and all entrants must clearly demonstrate the impact the successful training and development programmes have had on turnover.  In depth details of Alcedo’s in house training department, plus its investment in training, development, resource and equipment was also provided.

On being notified of the win on Princess Anne’s birthday (15th August), Andy Boardman, managing director at Alcedo Care, comments: “It was a real labour of love undertaking the application for the Princess Royal Training Awards, but one we enjoyed as we were essentially able to showcase our exceptional training and development programme in our complex care division, which is a must for all staff, not just our carers.

“We invest significantly in every single employee, ensuring all staff have the skills and knowledge to provide outstanding home care in a safe and effective way, with each specifically trained in the health conditions of their clients.

“With a growing number of complex care clients, each with individual health and wellbeing needs, training is a huge part of our business and an area that requires ongoing attention to evolve.

“More and more clients are looking for complex care, so we have introduced a specialised nurse-led training course with over 80 modules currently, and to date we have upskilled 275 members of staff to provide clinical care for a diverse range of complex needs.

“To say we are proud to have received royal recognition is an understatement and it’s hard to put into words how we feel about attaining this most prestigious and sought-after accolade.  But we are beyond thrilled that out of the 600 companies that initially registered their interest, we are one of only 52 to have met the standards required, alongside auspicious organisations such as IBM, Bentley Motor Group and the NHS to name a few who also achieved this award with Alcedo Care Group this year. We are very much looking forward to the awards ceremony at the end of the year.”

Kirstie Donnelly, chief executive officer at City & Guilds, adds: “This remarkable achievement has been confirmed by HRH The Princess Royal, placing you among 51 other recipients in the Class of 2024. Congratulations!  At City & Guilds, skills development is at the heart of what we do – and this prestigious award programme allows us to recognise and celebrate the diverse range and best quality of training that exists. Your dedication to submitting a high-quality application this year clearly reflects your commitment to delivering exceptional workplace training and creating valuable opportunities for your people.”

Multi award-winning, Alcedo Care Group is on track to meet its target of owning and operating 30 branches across the North of England and Wales by the end of 2025.

Alongside its geographical expansion plans, the family-owned Group is also on a mission to continually expand its portfolio of quality home care services with a particular emphasis on complex care, mental health, live-in care, children’s services and young person’s crisis management residential homes.