Past Accolades

History of the Accolades

where we are now…

The Accolades are now in their ninth year in 2011. They continue to recognise and celebrate best practice in social care workforce development and reward organisations for the support and development of individuals, rather than rewarding the individuals themselves.

The Accolades 2011/12 will take place on Thursday 8 March 2012 at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate.

how we got here…

The Accolades was first launched in 2003 to commend and celebrate best practice in social care workforce development. The competition was launched by Topss England, now called Skills for Care, the strategic body responsible for workforce development of the adult social care sector in England.

It was the first awards scheme to reward organisations for the support and development of individuals, rather than rewarding the individuals themselves. The awards categories were designed to commend workforce development activities that demonstrated various aspects of Topss England's national training strategy, 'Modernising the Social Care Workforce.' This training strategy was endorsed by government ministers at the Department of Health and the Department for Education and Employment in 2000.

Sixteen social care providers were named winners and runners up in the first awards ceremony at a gala event that took place on 8 October 2003. Winners were presented with their awards by the then Minister for Community Care, Stephen Ladyman MP.

Since the first Accolades award ceremony was held, the popularity of the competition has grown year on year to become one of the major highlights of the social care calendar. To achieve an Accolade proves an organisation's success in achieving the highest standards of workforce development within social care.

As well as celebrating best practice, the Accolades provide an excellent platform in which to showcase best practice to the wider sector - especially when a nomination describes a new initiative or a relatively new way of working.