Each year across the Excelcare family, we dedicate a week to stepping back and appreciating the hard work and dedication shown each day by each and every team member.
This special week is dedicated to everyone who has chosen a career with Excelcare – from our care homes and Regional Offices to our Homecare Service and our Central Support Office, with each Region having a day of celebration.
This year, Team Appreciation Week took place from 3rd to 7th October and the theme was ‘Excelcare Superstars’, with each region theming their day around a decade of music from the 50’s to the 90’s. Everyone worked hard to make sure their teams felt as appreciated as possible by throwing parties and filling the week with surprise treats and gifts.
Stanley Wilson Lodge in Saffron Walden celebrated by throwing it back to the 1980’s with props, music and colourful outfits. One of their highlights was the ‘Who’s Who?’ quiz, where they displayed team members baby photos, and everyone had to guess who was who. Some people hadn’t changed at all, but for others they had absolutely no idea!
At Windmill Lodge in Brixton, the team celebrated with a 70’s theme and really leaned into the music. They had their favourite live entertainer – Derek Aidoo from Healthy Happy Music – perform for them, who has the voice of Bing Crosby and Dean Martin rolled into one. He performed a variety of throwback songs, including ‘Rockin Robin’, ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?’ and ‘My Girl’, to name a few. The team members absolutely loved it, with Shelly-Ann saying “It was a very nice performance. Very vibey”, and so did the residents! Jonathan said “It was brilliant, well presented and we all enjoyed it.”
Hunters Down in Huntingdon celebrated the week with treats and puns. On Monday, the team were greeted with breads and pastries and a sign that read ‘No one’s BUTTER than you’, on Tuesday they received candy with a sign saying ‘Thanks a CHOCO-LOT for everything that you do’, on Wednesday they had a ‘SUNsational Wednesday’ with refreshing juices as it was too cold for ice lollies, on Thursday they were told they were ‘CEREAL-LOUSLY amazing’ and given cereal bars, and on Friday the poster said ‘DOUGHNUT let anyone tell you you’re less than incredible’ and was placed on a table filled with doughnuts.
The team at Glennfield Care Home in Wisbech also planned a different treat for their team each day of the week. Tuesday was cheerful chocolate day where loads of chocolates were distributed to the floors, Wednesday was lollipop day, Thursday was healthy treats day, and Friday was cookie day! Cookie day was particularly exciting, as the team received giant cookies that were iced with the words ‘You’re all superstars.’
And of course, everyone across the group received a box of sweet treats from Ozzie and Sam! They were so grateful for the surprises this week entailed and walked away with big smiles on their faces.
To find out what your local Excelcare home got up to for Team Appreciation Week, please visit their Facebook page!