Whittle Hall’s fabulous dynamic duo win Hero of the Month award
There were tears and laughter all day long after L&M Healthcare’s Whittle Hall announced that ‘Dynamic Duo’ Faith Hughes and Joanne Trueman won the inaugural Hero of the Month Award, at luxury care home, Whittle Hall on Friday 29th May 2020. When asked how it felt to win, the ladies said they were “Chuffed, choked and overwhelmed.” “There’s no tissues left!” added Joanne.
“These special ladies have been working at Whittle Hall since just after it opened 3 years ago and have always been committed members of the team,” said home manager Deborah Payne. “At the height of the pandemic, when lots of staff were having to stay at home and self-isolate, Whittle’s housekeeping team went from a team of 5 to a team of 2 overnight and that is when Faith and Joanne really stepped up to the mark.”
For five weeks Faith and Joanne were both doing 60 hours a week, working from 6.30am to 6.30pm, then the same again for a further 3 weeks, but this time with a part time helper. When the laundry supervisor also had to self-isolate, the Dynamic duo stepped in again, going into the laundry after their shift had finished and making sure that staff had enough clean towels and linen to change beds and wash with on the night shift.
‘These two ladies are like the Ever Ready Bunnies; they are full of energy, full of enthusiasm and not only did they do an excellent job under immense pressure, they did it with good grace, a sense of humour and a smile of their face throughout. They are undoubtedly our Heroes of the Month at Whittle Hall.” said Jeanne Davies, managing director of L&M Healthcare.
But the fabulous Dynamic Duo are very humble about their actions; “We just mustered through it” said Faith. “We didn’t think we were heroes we just rolled our sleeves up and got on with it. Cleaning, caring, laundry anything that needed to be done, just got done. But I couldn’t have done it with anyone else other than Joanne, she is my rock.” Joanne had a similar response, “We didn’t bat an eyelid” she said “We just got on with it.”
Outside of work both ladies live locally in Warrington and are great friends. Faith has 2 children and 6 beautiful grandchildren. Joanne is married with 2 children and also has 2 beautiful grandchildren. Both ladies enjoy walking, and both say their grandchildren are their favourite hobby. “You love your children,” said Faith, “but they say you are in love with your grandchildren, and that sums it up really, they are the light of our lives.” Joanne is also a lover of Bingo.
The Dynamic Duo and now Heroes of the Month, are pictured here receiving their award. Faith Hughes left, Deborah Payne home manager centre and Joanne Trueman right. As well as their certificates they have also been given £100 worth of vouchers of their choice.
Congratulations ladies, what a sterling job you have done and what special ladies you are.
The Hero of the Month awards is a new initiative introduced L&M Healthcare and is now open across all our homes in North West of England. It is a public award, where members of the public, residents, family members or colleagues can nominate who they think is a deserving winner and the home manager selects the winner. It has been specially set up to recognise the extraordinary efforts that staff are putting into their work throughout the current pandemic. There are also two other awards schemes running which recognise the daily contributions staff are making to the running out their homes; ‘Go the Extra Mile’ GEM awards and Employee of the Month awards.
“We are so proud of all our staff’ said Jeanne Davies, managing director of L&M Healthcare, ’These are challenging times to work in and staff like Faith and Joanne have really stepped up to the challenge. It’s only right that they should have the recognition they deserve.”
The Hero of the Month Award nominations close on the 28th of each month, the winner is chosen and will then appear on the company website and Facebook page. If you would like to nominate one of Whittle Hall’s staff for the award, please contact the home manager.
