Alison Isherwood, experienced day support worker and former volunteer at local state-of-the-art care village, Belong Atherton, has won the Outstanding Care Home Staff Award from Wigan Council as part of their Age Well programme.

The programme has been introduced to champion and recognise the high-quality care provided by local care workers, Ms Isherwood won the award among nominations from care facilities throughout the Wigan Borough.

Ms Isherwood was nominated by Claire Bibby, Belong Atherton’s registered manager, who said Ms Isherwood stood out for her compassion, diligence and has ‘the best approach to understanding customers living with dementia [that] I have ever seen.”

During the award ceremony, the ‘Butterfly’ model of care that Ms Isherwood champions, which rests on the belief that for people experiencing dementia, feelings and emotional intelligence are the core competencies for staff working with them in a person-centred environment.

Ms Isherwood said: “I am absolutely thrilled to have won the Outstanding Care Home Staff award from Wigan Council. I’ve been employed at Belong Atherton for just over a year now, and I feel very humbled to have received this prize.”