‘Tis the season for celebrations: Frontier Support hosts Annual Awards Ceremony
‘Tis the season for celebrations: Frontier Support hosts Annual Awards Ceremony
Celebrations were in order this month as Frontier Support marked its annual Awards Ceremony.
Held on Thursday 19th October at Atesh, a fine dining Turkish restaurant in Croydon, there was food, fun and a chance to take a moment to hear first-hand about all the amazing work Frontier employees have been up to over the past 365 days.
Employee of the Year
We relaunched our Employee of the Year Awards in March 2023. The awards recognise those who have gone above and beyond in their role. For example, maybe they’ve taken the initiative to introduce a range of new activities into the life of the person who they support. Or perhaps they have gone to great lengths to take a client on holiday.
Throughout the year we’ve handed out 8 awards in total and these winners all went into a pot in a bid to be crowned the overall Employee of the Year Winner, the Newcomer of the Year and the Team of the Year.
And the award goes to…
On the day, it was Esther Akinyemi who won the coveted Employee of the Year prize.
Esther was nominated for the work she did with one of our clients who was served notice to move out of his accommodation. This client has agoraphobia and had not been outside of his front door for 6 years.
Handing over the £250 voucher and award plaque, Tony Piercy, Frontier Support’s CEO, said: “Esther worked tirelessly alongside the Clinical Team to support him in finding the right hypnotherapist and help him overcome his fear. And it’s for this reason, she is the well-worthy winner of this award.”
After just four sessions of hypnotherapy, the client went outside for a walk and completed his own food shopping with Esther right by his side. This is something he has not done for 7 years.
Tony added: “This client moves out in the coming months and he will be able to do so with his dignity intact and his head held high. We look forward to supporting him further and to see where his new found love for the outside world takes him.”
The Newcomer of the Year
In the past 12 months, we have welcomed just under 30 new recruits to the team — many of which have showed promising potential.
But if there’s one person who stood out, it was newcomer Stephen Adeyemi who joined Frontier from overseas as part of our recruitment drive via the government’s Health and Care Visa Sponsorship programme.
Stephen was nominated for this award for his proactive working with two brothers who we support, making sure they had access to the right medication. In this instance, their medication supplies were low. So Stephen was advised by a pharmacist to cut up the medication. “But that’s where Stephen’s initiative and his training kicked in,” Tony explained. “He knew this is not something we do.”
He challenged the pharmacist multiple times and managed to secure the right dose of medication after going from one chemist to another and back again. “This showed bravery, courage and dedication to the people we support,” Tony added. Stephen was awarded £125 in vouchers.
Team of the Year Award
The third accolade went to the brilliant crew Paulette Johnston, Eunice Oguntuase, Yeama Zack-Savage, Oluremi Okinola, Nonye Denson and manager Clara Burfutt who scooped the Team of the Year Award.
The team rallied together to provide support to one of our clients who was admitted to hospital with respiratory problems earlier this year. To make sure she could breathe, this client had to wear a full face mask to allow for oxygen to be administered, but she wouldn’t allow hospital staff to place the mask on her.
To deal with this conflict, the team took it upon themselves to work out a rota between themselves to stay with her 24/7 during her stay in hospital. “Travelling miles to Eastbourne every day, they were committed to supporting her and protecting her privacy and dignity,” Tony said.
Long Service awards
We also handed out Long Service Awards to Lee Elkin, Clara Burfutt, Lorna Bromfield and Adesola Olanipekun who have been with the company for 15 years.
While 12 other employees were congratulated for 10 years service and were awarded a prize for all their hard work over the past decade. So a special thanks goes to Wendy Daniel, Earle Hudson, Karmella Atim, Odette Thomas, Angela Barry, Olorunshola Okeowo, Grace Mbah, Wilfred Ogugua, Michael Ahamefula, Jo Cooper, Callemore Golding and Peter Chioba.
“It was a brilliant day all round,” Tony said. “We know we have a caring, compassionate, honest and patient team of employees. And these awards celebrate all the work they do in helping the people we support live life to the full.”
Our nominations for November’s Employee of the Month have just opened. So if you know of an employee who deserves some recognition please do send your nominations this way.