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Welcome to my new column – and a celebration of our workforce
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Welcome to my new column – and a celebration of our workforce

| Sarah McCarty, our Chief Executive

Hello, I’m Sarah, the new Chief Executive of Social Care Wales.

I started in the role at the end of July, so I’ve been in the job just over six weeks now, and I was hoping to use this column in the Western Mail to share the importance of the social care and early years and childcare sectors.

You’ll find social care, early years and childcare services in all our communities.

You might not see them because they work in a range of places including community buildings, people’s homes, care homes or nurseries.

But they play an essential role in enabling people to do what’s important to them and supporting them to stay safe.

These services support people of all ages and we will all need to use them at some point.

Celebrating and sharing the excellent work our social care and early years and childcare workers do is something I’m keen to focus on.

We know from what workers have told us that many don’t feel appreciated by the public for the invaluable work they do. I’m determined to change this by raising awareness and improving the profile of our workforce

One of the ways we try to do this is through the Accolades, our awards that recognise, celebrate and share excellence in social care, early years and childcare in Wales.

This week, we’ll be launching the 2025 Accolades and asking organisations and teams to put themselves forward for an award or to nominate workers who provide exceptional care and support.

The award ceremony next May will mark the 20th anniversary of the Accolades.

The awards have gone from strength to strength, but I’d like to get more applications and nominations than ever for 2025, especially as it’s a special anniversary year.

So, if you work in social care, early years or childcare, please think about applying for this year’s awards.

Or if you know of a worker who deserves to be recognised for the work they do, why not nominate them for an award?

You can find information about the awards and how to apply or nominate a worker on our website, later this week. The closing date is 1 November 2024.

In future, I’ll share some of the great work we find through the Accolades.

To finish this celebration, I wanted to mention one of the first events I had the pleasure of attending, the Caring in Welsh award ceremony, which took place on 6 August at the National Eisteddfod in Pontypridd.

This award recognises social care, early years and childcare workers who make a positive difference to people’s lives through their use of the Welsh language.

Being able to receive services in your language of choice is an important factor in quality care.

This year’s awards gave us some fantastic examples of inspiring and dedicated workers who are providing excellent care and support through the medium of Welsh.

The winner was voted for by the public and I was delighted when more than 5,200 people took part in the public vote.

Many congratulations to the winner Elain Fflur Morris, a senior care worker from Conwy, and to the four highly commended finalists, Abbie Edwards, Leone Williams, Myfanwy Harman and Sian Jones.

I’d like to thank Elain, Abbie, Leone, Myfanwy and Sian, and the tens of thousands of other social care, early years and childcare workers in Wales for supporting our communities.

If you want to make a difference, head over to WeCare Wales where you can learn about the different careers available.