The Care Workers’ Charity was the deserving winner in this category, standing out from the crowd due to the unrivalled can-do attitude of its leadership and persistent determination to provide much-needed support to the sector, particularly its workforce, at a time of great need.
Continuing in a series of features celebrating this year’s winners, Karolina Gerlich, Chief Executive at The Care Workers’ Charity, explains how the organisation has responded decisively to meet the financial needs of the social care workforce throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
Clear lack of support
The Care Workers’ Charity has over a decade of experience in giving out crisis grants to prevent social care workers from falling into financial hardship. Despite their incredible work, those in the social care workforce are often undervalued and underpaid. Too often, their wages barely cover the costs of the basics: household bills, childcare, food and rent.
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the existing challenges faced by care workers, as they put themselves in harm’s way to care for others – often lacking Government support, access to testing or PPE to keep themselves and their loved ones safe from infection. It is estimated that half a million care staff were off sick or self-isolating during the early months of the pandemic – without proper sick pay compensation. This was a catalyst that saw many care workers fall into poverty and crisis – as they struggled to survive on this meagre income.
Our COVID-19 emergency fund was set up in response to pleas for help from our social care workforce who were unable to access support elsewhere. Through this grant, The Care Workers’ Charity provides emergency funding:
- To support care workers who have to self-isolate, shield or are unwell themselves with COVID-19.
- To pay the funeral costs of a care worker who has passed away – the expense of which their own next of kin is unable to meet.
- To contribute towards the cost of additional childcare incurred as a result of the pandemic.
- To cover costs of shifts lost as a result of potential side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The amount given varies depending on circumstance, but can be up to £2,000 per applicant.
Still work to be done
It is important to us that we are as responsive as possible throughout the grants-making process, as crisis situations can rapidly snowball in their severity. Our COVID-19 emergency grant stream has been consistently fine-tuned since its launch and we are proud to say that we boast a high quality of support and quick turnaround for all applicants. Demand since the grant launched has remained at an all-time high and the charity has ensured it is responsive to influxes of applications as a result of:
- New waves of infection (leading to a dramatic increase in care workers infected by COVID-19, and thus having to self-isolate).
- Changes to Government policy and guidance (e.g. the policy limiting the movement of the social care workforce which threatens livelihoods and salaries).
- The limitations of existing provision (e.g. the Infection Control Fund) in supporting social care staff.
- The need to mitigate the impact of care workers having to take time off work due to post-COVID-19 vaccine side effects.
Visible results
As a result of our innovative, new COVID-19 emergency grant stream, and the continued provision of our long-standing crisis grant fund, the charity paid out an incredible £2.2m in 2020 – representing an increase of 1,150% in grant-giving activities compared to the previous year. This has had a life-changing impact for our applicants and benefited the social care sector more broadly by ensuring our social care workforce is supported.
One of our successful grant beneficiaries, John, who faced financial crisis when he tested positive for COVID-19, said, ‘For the two weeks that I had to self-isolate, I was only entitled to Statutory Sick Pay of £92 a week, which barely covered rent, never mind anything else. With this grant, I can actually now go food shopping and not have to rely on food banks. I really thought that care workers were the forgotten kind and then you guys turn up… I honestly cannot thank The Care Workers’ Charity enough.’
A team effort
Such immense achievements would not have been possible had it not been for the dynamic team working behind the scenes. Joining the charity at the very start of the pandemic in March 2020 in my role as CEO, I sought to reshape the charity and its team, bringing on new staff members in grant-giving, fundraising and social media roles – ensuring the survival of the charity and, moreover, support for care workers. The Care Workers’ Charity team went on to optimise internal processes, making operations more efficient, and building our capacity to support more of the social care workforce with grants. These changes included improvements to payment processes and a new CRM database. We also sought sustainability in cutting down our overheads, including by securing free office space so more of our income could be directed towards our beneficiaries.
Bumps in the road
However, this period of innovation has not been without its challenges. COVID-19 drastically affected our fundraising capabilities, as over 20 in-person conferences were cancelled and all high-value fundraising events were postponed. Furthermore, care providers from whom we receive partnership funds were themselves experiencing financial difficulties.
It was against this backdrop that we had an increase in grant applications of more than 1,000%. Nevertheless, we utilised this period to dedicate significant time towards creating and building on relationships with new and existing care provider partners, social care organisations, corporate entities and funders (among other stakeholders). The generosity of donations given through these relationships is a point of pride for the charity. We look forward to nurturing these valued relationships in the months and years to come.
Additional challenges included the employment of numerous new charity staff members and having to work digitally in lieu of the ability to collaborate and meet in person. Despite this, the team rose to the challenge and, with their dedication to the charity’s mission, have worked phenomenally together to facilitate a life-changing impact for our beneficiaries.
In addition, we made the most of our reliance on technology, using it to further optimise and increase the efficiency of our internal and grant-making processes. In particular, our focus on growing our social media presence has been central to creating awareness of our organisation and the support we offer – in addition to increasing fundraising potential and opportunities to connect and collaborate with a variety of stakeholders, inside and outside of the social care sector.
Moving forwards
Over the past year our platform has increased exponentially, as has the need for the assistance we provide. Just as the social care sector has shown incredible resilience in the face of the pandemic, so will we to strive to positively impact on care workers throughout the UK. The Care Workers’ Charity will continue to support as many care workers as possible, in as many ways as possible, creating an holistic offer of support through the provision of our crisis and COVID-19 emergency grant streams, alongside our recently launched mental health and wellbeing programme. We are proud to champion the social care workforce as the skilled and talented professionals that they are – and we will continue to advocate for them to be valued and supported in the way they deserve.
Karolina Gerlich is Chief Executive at The Care Workers’ Charity. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @KGerlich777