Three members of staff have recently been judges at the 2025 National Learning Disability and Autism Awards following a selection process. After Thera was contacted by the awards organiser with a request for potential judges, Sam (Service Quality Director for Thera South West), Estelle (Managing Director for Thera South West), and Clare (Head of Development for Thera Trust), saw it as a great opportunity to contribute to the social care sector and use their unique experiences and understanding to help celebrate the often unsung heroes of social care.
Estelle and Sam spent two days judging on the 3 and 4 June. They spent Tuesday interviewing shortlisted candidates for the Newcomer Award. The second day they were prepared to interview the other shortlisted Newcomer candidates but were instead asked to judge the senior manager award. Estelle explains the impression that sharing in the stories and experiences of so many people had on her:
It was really inspiring to hear all of the stories and meet all of the nominees. It’s one of those things that kind of reaffirms your faith in the future of social care. There’s so much good going on out there.
Sam took a lot out of the networking opportunities made available by judging the awards and saw it as an opportunity to learn and generate ideas in her own role going forward:
Just meeting the people and sharing in all their ideas was brilliant. Honestly, it was like the best day ever.
Estelle mentioned a particularly positive result stemming from the senior manager nominees interviews – a recurring theme that she and all of us at Thera are very passionate about.
There was a real theme of taking people out of long stay hospitals and residential care and supporting them into their own homes. That’s something we’re very passionate about and its good to see it’s a focus sector wide.
They also met one nominee who has lived experience, which again reaffirmed the hopeful future of the sector and reaffirmed Thera’s own co-production model.
Clare judged The Supporting Older People with Learning Disabilities Award, which looks for evidence from providers and individuals who are positive about older people, provide excellent person-centred support, and promote independence, dignity and respect:
I heard some incredible stories around support for older people generally, but some specific ones that come to mind involve end of life support. There were some amazing stories of people continuing to fulfil peoples dreams towards the end of their lives. We could also see the effect this had not only on the person supported, but their loved ones. I was really looking for passion, and also people willing to challenge the status quo when advocating passionately for the people they support to still be able to fulfil their dreams.
Clare believes that judging these National Learning Disability and Autism Awards awards helps the judges to connect with the wider social care sphere and found it a valuable and rewarding experience that she would recommend to other people within the space.
I suppose it gave me a sense of connection to the wider social care sector. I felt like it filled my heart and soul in respect of hearing the stories and bringing social care to life.
Kitty Luscombe, Events Manager at Care Talk, who organises the awards, also points out the benefits of judging:
At Care Talk, we believe judging is a powerful way to connect with those delivering frontline care.
It offers a unique opportunity to hear their voices, celebrate excellence, and share valuable insights across the social care sector.Our next judging days take place this autumn. If you’d like to get involved or find out more, please contact us at [email protected].
We’d like to wish everyone good luck in the upcoming awards!