Country Court is delighted to announce that their hospitality team have been awarded the ‘Triumph over adversity’ award at the National Association of Care Catering Awards (NACC). The award recognises and celebrates teams and individuals from the care sector who have overcome significant business difficulties to ensure the continued delivery of services for residents since the Coronavirus pandemic. The Hospitality team were also shortlisted for ‘Hospitality Team’ of the year. The Award was presented to Country Court’s Head of Hospitality, Anwar Kajee.
“We are delighted to be recognised for our work during the pandemic.” said Anwar. “The team went above and beyond to support staff during the Coronavirus pandemic. I am very proud to work for Country Court, who have been incredibly supportive and generous to their staff, especially during the first difficult months of the pandemic.”
Staff at Country Court’s 33 care homes received a ‘Care Package’ consisting of over 20 items including food, drink and basic provisions to help with day to day life during the first weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic. The company has over 2000 staff, all of whom received the packages as thanks for their work caring for some of the most vulnerable people in society. The packages, which include items such as toilet roll, dried and tinned goods, and hand sanitiser, were arranged courtesy of the Kachra family, owners of the Country Court group, after seeing their staff struggle to get the provisions they needed.
Country Court Hospitality Team
With homes situated as far south as Brighton and as far north as York, it has proved a big operation to ensure all staff are looked after. A team of volunteers from the group’s head office coordinated by Anwar Kajee spent several days sorting and packing the boxes which were delivered directly to each care home for staff to take home and share with their families.
Sue Cawthray, National Chair of the NACC, said it was "a real privilege" to be a part of the awards and that the shortlist were "inspiring". “What a tremendous evening! A very big congratulations to all the NACC Awards 2021 winners," she said. "It was a real privilege to recognise the extraordinary contributions so many have made to care catering and joyful to be able to present our worthy winners with their awards in person.”
Country Court Co-CEO Alykhan Kachra said, “The first few months of the pandemic were particularly challenging times for everyone in our homes. Coping with the unprecedented changes to everyday life was difficult enough and we were humbled by the great strength people have shown turning up to the workplace and taking on the additional responsibility of keeping our residents safe every single day”.
He added “When the pressure on buying everyday goods increased, we saw our teams across the company struggling to strike a balance between delivering their part in the overall care service and adapting at home. We hoped the care packages would go some way to making life a little bit easier for them”.
Chairman of Country Court, Abdul Kachra said “We are a family business and our staff are very much part of our extended family. We wanted to do something to acknowledge all of them for all the hard work, compassion and dedication that they show every day in our homes”.
Country Court operates 33 care and nursing homes and plans to open a further three homes by mid-2022. It remains a family-run business to this day, with the company philosophy “Our family caring for yours” at the heart of every home.
