Country Court is delighted to announce Steven Ireland has been voted the winner of the Care Home Chef Award at the 2020 National Great British Care Awards. The awards were announced at an online award ceremony on Friday 30th October having been postponed from March this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Great British Care Awards recognise the crème de la crème of the care industry with finalists undergoing a rigorous selection process to win at their regional level before going on to the National Awards.
“We are absolutely delighted for Steven,” said Anwar Kajee, Head of Hospitality at Country Court. “Steven thoroughly deserves this very prestigious award, there was a lot of excellent competition but his passion and commitment to involving residents and their families in developing menus, alongside his consistently high standards of presentation and creative approach have set him apart”.
The judging panel was especially impressed with Steven’s use of social media to showcase resident’s meals to family members. The judges said that Steven is “An inspirational chef who has introduced a five-star dining experience for all residents. Steven has set up an Instagram account so residents and families can share the five-star experiences, which has 100’s of followers.”
“Paying tribute to our social care professionals is of course particularly poignant this year. Never has there been a better time to say ‘Thank You’ to our frontline workforce and celebrate your tremendous achievements before, during and beyond the pandemic.”
Commenting on his award Steven said “I was so excited to win, I was watching the virtual awards at home with my wife and children so it was very different from winning the East Midlands regional award when all the nominees were together in black tie!"
"We opened a bottle of Champagne to celebrate though and I got lots of calls and messages from colleagues and friends.”
Steven Ireland joined Country Court in 2018 as Chef Manager at Ferrars Hall Care Home where his high standards and quality of food had a positive impact on resident’s lives. Steven is always keen to get feedback from residents directly and will often chat with them in the dining room after meals. Steven’s resident-led approach has seen him promoted to Catering Operations Support Manager in which he shares best practices and supports Chefs in the thirty-three care homes across the Country Court group.
For more information about Hospitality and Catering at Country Court please contact Anwar Kajee on 01733 571 951 or email careenquiries@countrycourtcare.com. You can follow Steven’s Instagram account @chef_steven_ireland.
