EXCLUSIVE: CARE badge launched as symbol of pride for carers

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everyLIFE Technologies chairman Robin Batchelor and Care England CEO Care England Martin Green have given CHP a sneak preview of the CARE badge, a new initiative designed to provide a unifying symbol of pride and quality for paid and unpaid care workers that will officially launch at the Residential & Home Care Show at ExCeL, London June 26.

The genesis of the CARE badge came about when Robin was listening to Martin talk at the Future of Care conference on March 19.

“Martin was highlighting the state of care, including the positives as well as the challenges facing the sector,” Robin told CHP.

“There was a bit towards the end where Martin highlighted the messaging that the Secretary of Health and Social Care gives by just wearing an NHS lapel badge. I turned to my colleague from everyLIFE and I said ‘we should work with Care England to change that’.”

After Robin put his idea to Martin, the Care England CEO jumped at the opportunity to get on board.

“It made complete sense to me,” Martin said. “I wished I had thought of it.

“There’s been a real desire to see this in the care sector. We need to have something that unifies us.”

With Care England fully on board, Robin immediately went about putting his idea into action.

Together, the two organisations formed the CARE badge Community Interest Company (CIC) with the purpose of designing and providing the badges to care related companies, including care homes and domiciliary care providers, and national corporations such as banks, supermarkets, pharmacies, insurers and petrol stations.

“The CARE badge CIC will make a profit from selling the badges but all of that goes to charity – there are no extra costs or payment to anyone involved other than the badge manufacturer and cost of postage,” Robin highlighted.  “Neither everyLIFE nor Care England get any money for doing this.

“Purchasers will distribute the badges for free to their employees and more broadly from their stores and offices to members of the public.

“They want it because they want to show their employees who care for somebody that they care and they want to put them out in areas where members of the public can get them because you have got people doing unpaid care work.

“If you have 7m unpaid carers and 1.6m paid care workers you have 13% of the UK population. Any large employer is going to have carers in their company and this is a way for them to say ‘we recognise some of the pressure you are under and we support you’.”

With everyLIFE funding an initial stock of 10,000 badges, care providers and corporations are being invited to buy the badges at £1 each in minimum orders of 500.

As the campaign progresses carers will be able to share their images wearing the badges as well as their views on what care means to them on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram accounts that will go live with the hashtag #badge4CARE

CARE badges can now be ordered online at www.thecarebadge.org and will be delivered ahead of the public launch at the Residential & Home Care Show on June 26.

For more information on the initiative, contact: [email protected]

The post EXCLUSIVE: CARE badge launched as symbol of pride for carers appeared first on Care Home Professional.

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