06 May 2009

A Suffolk woman, who changed career to become a trainer in the care sector after nursing her sick husband, has reached the finals of the Ceretas National Home Care Awards.

Helen Drain works at Suffolk based Christies Care, which specialises in providing live-in care assistants to the elderly and people with disabilities. She is now in the final running for the ‘Home Care Trainer of the Year’ Award, which recognises the best trainer in the industry.

Helen was entered into the awards by Christies Care training manager Alison Hawkins, who has praised her commitment to her work and her dedication to ensuring that employees are trained to the highest possible standard.

Alison Hawkins, Christies Care Training Manager, said:  “Helen puts in a phenomenal amount of work and has made a real difference to the development and delivery of many of our courses, in particular the specialist ones we provide for carers to help them understand and deal with our clients who have Dementia, Alzheimer’s, Strokes and MS. To make it to the final shortlist is an amazing achievement and we are all really proud.”

Helen, who lives in Saxmundham and is a former grocery store manager, changed career and joined Christies Care in 2005 after nursing her husband. Christies Care invested in her formal training and her personal experience and determination has helped her career success.

Helen said: “It was a complete surprise and a real honour to reach the finals. I love the work I am doing and the support shown to me by everyone at Christies Care has been amazing. They put a real emphasis on training our carers and I see this nomination as a real team effort!”

Helen will find out if she has been crowned the winner at a special gala dinner, hosted by comedienne Ruby Wax at the Marriott Hotel in London on June 6th.


Photo Caption: Helen Drain has been nominated for the Ceretas National Home Care awards