Double joy for Pendine Park

We are celebrating a prestigious awards double and our partnership with a high school is being hailed as a blueprint for the rest of Wales.

Pendine Park came out on top in two categories at the Social Care Accolades in Cardiff.

One was for our long-standing relationship with the town's St Joseph's Catholic and Anglican High School and our support to the Health and Social Care GCSE course.

Another partnership with Conwy County Borough Council Council's Social Services Provider Unit also scooped a top honour.

Pendine Park's Teaching Care Centre has developed a course to help local authority staff change from providing care in residential homes to looking after people in their own homes.

Last year the partnership with St Joseph's School helped them gain top marks from a team of Estyn inspectors.

Pupils come to the Teaching Care Centre for modules on various aspects of social care and they go on placements to two of Pendine Park's care homes, Gwern Alyn and Hillbury, which are directly opposite the school.

The Care Council for Wales, which organises the awards, has now asked Pendine Park attend special Best Practice workshops to tell other care organisations about what they do so their methods can be used as a template.

Pendine Park proprietor Mario Kreft said: "It's just absolutely incredible that we won two awards which are ranked as the most prestigious in Wales, recognising the very best of social care.

For his part, headteacher John Kenworthy is "absolutely delighted" with the additional recognition of the Social Care Accolades.

He said: "I know that Mario Kreft has this notion of creating centres of excellence and that's something that really appeals to me because our school motto is excellence in education."

Tracey Evans, the Manager of the Pendine Park Teaching Care Centre, was equally thrilled. "It's absolutely brilliant," she said.