CareTech

27/01/2026

Postcard From Romania

Vali came to The Oakleaf Group for rehabilitation in December 2017 following a Road Traffic Accident, starting his rehabilitation journey at Hilltop House and progressing through to the community houses in May 2021 where he has the opportunity to practice activities of daily living, accessing the local community and actively promoting positive risk taking and independence.

Vali is very happy living at the community house in Weston Favell and had several visits over the years from his parents and some of his extended family in the UK. However due to some physical health issues and the day to day difficulties he faces as a result of his accident, he had not been able to return to his native Romania to visit his family.

The staff at Oakleaf have continued to work closely with Vali, supporting him and assisting at every stage of his rehabilitation until finally in November he received the news that everyone had been hoping for and working towards, Vali was given the all clear to fly from his Consultant.

A best interest meeting was held with staff, Vali’s Case Manager and Deputy where it was agreed that it was in his best interest for Vali to spend time in Romania with his family, who mean so much to him.

Flights were booked, plans were made and Vali went home to Romania for Christmas!

Some of the difficulties Vali faces as a result of his injury remain, so a detailed support plan was written with Vali to enable his trip to go ahead safely and for him to feel supported. This included his Case Manager and cousin traveling with him to meet with his parents and carry out a home assessment before leaving him in the care of his family.

Vali’s GP in the UK also provided a letter containing details of his physical difficulties and his Acquired Brain Injury which Oakleaf staff translated into Romanian along with his support plan and details of his medications, in order to support Vali’s family to support him whilst at home.

It was agreed with Vali that staff from the unit would have regular video calls with him whilst he was away and that if he became unwell, or if there were any difficulties that he or his family would contact his Romanian speaking Support Worker who would alert the team and an urgent meeting would be called with the Oakleaf team, his Case Manager and Deputy to ensure the right support could be offered to him.

Vali’s trip home was an emotional one for him, he was able to see many members of his family he hadn’t seen for years including his elderly Grandmother.

Vali said that he had the time of his life, but was also happy to return to Oakleaf and get back to his ‘work’, meaning his rehabilitation sessions and artwork. He appreciates all the hard work of the Oakleaf team, his wider support network and family that have enabled this trip to happen…. Speaking of which, he's already started planning his next trip! ☺️✈️

31/12/2025

Happy New Year!✨
Wishing all our staff, residents and everyone across the whole of Adults & Specialist Services, as well as the wider CareTech Group, a very Happy New Year!
Thank you for all your continued hard work and dedication in ensuring for the individuals we support 🙏
Wishing everyone a fantastic year ahead filled with joy, laughter, good health, and success 🥳🎉

22/12/2025

Wishing everyone across the whole of Adults and Specialist Services, as well as the wider CareTech Group, a very Merry Christmas full of peace, love and happiness! 🎅🏼🎄🎉

04/12/2025

Our 10th annual, National CareTech Care Awards were held on the 20th of November at the Hilton in Watford.

These Awards provided us with a wonderful opportunity to reflect on an amazing year full of high points and celebrate the inspirational staff we have across the group that go above and beyond in providing extraordinary days every day for the individuals we are privileged to support.

All the national winners from every area of the business were recognised and celebrated and we were proud to have so many of them join us on the day.

This year we received a record 1350 nominations in total from across the whole of the CareTech Group, presenting the Judges with an incredibly difficult task of choosing the winners, as the quality of nominations received was also higher than ever!

After much deliberation our two overall National Winners for 2025 were announced and presented with their Awards:

The Overall National Winner for Children’s is Josh Barreto from Cambian who was originally a Winner in the category of "Children’s Champion Award”

The Overall National Winner for Adults and Specialist Services is Colin Davies from Whitecliffs in the South Region who was originally a Winner in the category of “Team Leader/ Deputy Manager of The Year”

Our Group CEO, Haroon Sheikh opened the Awards with an inspiring and heart-warming speech reflecting on the successes of the year and praising the commitment, hard work and dedication of our staff before handing over to this year’s host, Mike Adams OBE (Founder of Purple and Enable All as well as a Group Executive Director of CareTech)

Mike welcomed a number of guest speakers and presenters who we were fortunate to have in attendance on the day, including:

Mr Naif AlSudairy, CEO from Jazala Holdings who presented Certificates of Achievement to three Teachers from The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, who have been in the UK to complete the CareTech Scholarship Programme.

Previous National Winners: Joseph Gumbo,who was the winner of the first ever CareTech Care Awards. Lucy Arciuolo, winner in 2017 and Gyorgy Budi who was the overall National Winner for Adults in 2024

Guest Speaker – Jess Smith, Paralympian and Global Ambassador for Purple

Ela Sherlock who is an individual we support in North Wales, Ela graciously told us her story and performed a song

Sarah Ezekiel who is an individual that uses Smartbox Technology extensively.

Mark Wright a resident from Oakleaf who, shared his story and took questions.

Leo Storey from Cambian Somerset School who detailed his journey with Cambian and also took questions with Mike.

Special Recognition Awards were then presented to 17 staff from across the business who have made a valuable contribution and been integral to CareTech’s success and growth over the last 32 years.

The day was an overwhelming success with a strong emphasis on the individuals we support and our amazing staff that care for them. There were many smiles all around as the Awards were warmly brought to a close by our Group Executive Chairman, Farouq Sheikh OBE

Congratulations again to Josh, Colin, all the National and Regional Winners and Nominees as well as everybody else recognised and honoured on the day… Thank you for everything you do, we are so incredibly proud of you all! 🙌🏼🙏🏼⭐️

Our 10th annual, National CareTech Care Awards were held on the 20th of November at the Hilton in Watford.These Awards provided us with a wonderful opportuni...

25/11/2025

On Thursday, November 20th we came together for the 10th annual, National CareTech Care Awards at the Hilton in Watford.
These Awards provided us a wonderful opportunity to reflect on an amazing year full of high points and celebrate the inspirational staff we have across the group that go above and beyond in providing for the individuals we are privileged to support.
All the national winners from every area of the business were recognised and celebrated and we were lucky to have so many of them join us on the day.
This year we received a record 1350 nominations with 869 of those coming just from Adults and Specialist Services Divisions, presenting the Judges with an incredibly difficult task of choosing the winners as the quality of nominations received was also higher than ever!
However, “there can be only one” and this year’s overall National Winner for Adults and Specialist Services was Colin Davies from Whitecliffs in the South Region who originally won in the category of Team Leader/ Deputy Manager of The Year.
Colin embodies so many positive aspects of what a winner should be, stepping up to support the Manager at Whitecliffs, taking on additional responsibilities far beyond his role and improving the service significantly, all whilst supporting colleagues and the individuals we care for… a truly worthy winner!! 👏🏼🏆👏🏼
Congratulations again to Colin and to all the National and Regional Winners and Nominees.
Thank you for everything you do, we are so incredibly proud of you all! 🙌🏼🙏🏼⭐️

29/10/2025

On October 9th we came together at the Hilton Hotel in Watford for the CareTech Care Awards where we recognised and celebrated the dedication, hard work and commitment of the individuals within the Adults & Specialist Services Division.

This year is a very special year as its the 10th Anniversary of our Awards and a record 1706 nominations were received in total from across the whole of the CareTech Group, of which a massive 839 were from the Adults and Specialist Services division.

Colleagues came from the length and breadth of the country and we were honoured to have some very special guest speakers join us to tell us their incredibly honest and inspirational stories.

Our nominees from each area of Adults and Specialist were all welcomed to the stage and our overall winners for each of the 15 categories were announced and presented with their awards, certificates and trophies. 🏆

Well done to everyone and a huge congratulations to all our nominees and winners! 🥳🎉

We now look forward to announcing our overall national winner for Adults and Specialist Services, along with the national winner for our Children’s Services at our National Awards event on November 20th.

On October 9th we came together at the Hilton Hotel in Watford for the CareTech Care Awards where we recognised and celebrated the dedication, hard work and ...

10/10/2025

Yesterday we all came together to celebrate our amazing staff from across the whole of the Adults and Specialist Services Divisions at the CareTech Care Awards… and what a day it was!! 🎉🏆
These awards are now in their 10th year and every year we are blown away by the amazing achievements of our staff and their dedication to the individuals we are privileged to support and care for.
Huge congratulations to all the nominees and winners, stay tuned for more pictures and video to follow soon! 🥳🎉

22/09/2025

Onam Festival comes to Morven House

Morven House is one of our Residential Adult Services located in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, supporting individuals with Learning Disabilities.
Morven House is a busy home that is always bustling with activity and recently staff and residents came together to celebrate the Indian, Onam Festival.
Onam is an annual harvest and cultural festival celebrated mostly by the people of Kerala and is known for being a joyous and colourful occasion.
Service Lead Zoe Lansbury, commented “It was a wonderful celebration with everybody indulging in lots of delicious food, music and games, including an egg and spoon race where a lemon was used instead of an egg with competitors holding the spoon in their mouths, resulting in many laughs and more than a few dropped lemons”

A wonderful day of celebration was clearly had by all 🎉🎉🎉

11/08/2025

Today we want to shine a light on one of our new supported living services located in Englefield Green in Runnymede, Surrey.

Runnymede specialises in supporting young adults with learning disabilities as they transition into adult services, and is located in a quiet residential area with easy access to local shops and transport links.

The service has gone through extensive works and consists of 6 en-suite bedrooms as well as communal areas with a garden to the rear. Runnymede also benefits from having dedicated 24 hour staff support with waking nights.

If you would like any more information or to arrange a visit/ make a referral, please contact:
Daria.Bukczynska@caretech-uk.com or alternatively call: 07776 528066

Runnymede is a brand new supported living service located in Englefield Green in Runnymede, Surrey.The service consists of 6 en-suite bedrooms as well as com...

22/07/2025

Today we want to shine a light on one of our amazing homes located in Hemel Hempsted.

Westbrook House is a wheelchair friendly service supporting adults with Learning Disabilities, Physical Disabilities, Epilepsy and Autism

Situated on a quiet residential street, the home has 8 bedrooms, spacious communal areas, accessible bathrooms and showers as well as a lift and private gardens.

Westbrook is a very friendly and homely service with a well-established and dedicated staff team that provide 24 hour support, it also has its own adapted mini-bus for days out and taking residents to appointments.

Westbrook truly embodies the five CareTech values of being positive, friendly, empowering, innovative and person-centred in the support and care they provide.

The home is also rated ‘GOOD’ in all areas by CQC.

If you would like any further information or to arrange a visit/ make a referral, please contact:

Daria Bukczynska (Business Development Manager) daria.bukczynska@caretech-uk.com 07776 528066

Westbrook House is a wheelchair friendly service located in Hemel Hempsted, supporting adults with Learning Disabilities, Physical Disabilities, Epilepsy and...

18/07/2025

CareTech's Bushwood Road Service in the Midlands believe that the spirit of the recent is something that should be celebrated and practiced every month of the year.

Bushwood is a residential care home located in Weoley Castle, Birmingham that supports adults with learning disabilities, physical disabilities and other health conditions including cerebral palsy and blindness.

The home is extremely active in the local community, supporting many local charities and organisations with a number of fundraising activities. In the past these have included sponsored car washes (whilst dressed as Spiderman) BBQ’s, and on one occasion staff completed a sponsored walk back to the service from Walsall Football Club, equipped with only a bucket to collect donations and sponsorship from the people and businesses they met on their way.

Bushwood Road’s Manager, Karen Neville decided to take it easy on everyone with their latest campaign and staff and residents joined together for a highly successful car boot sale in Halesowen where they raised an impressive £250 for Sands, a charity committed to saving babies lives and supporting bereaved families. A truly worthy cause.

Congratulations to everyone at Bushwood on the success of the car boot sale as well as all the amazing work they do… we’re already looking forward to their next event! 🎉👏🏼

24/06/2025

Talk about extraordinary days every day — we more than care, and this weekend proved just that.

We’re incredibly proud to celebrate The Oakleaf Group, one of our exceptional specialist care services within the CareTech family, for their win in the Complex Care Award at the Stars of Social Care Awards 2025 🌟

And the celebrations didn’t stop there — our very own Kathy Swannell, Director of Oakleaf, was Highly Commended in the Outstanding Director Award category.

These awards are a powerful recognition of the dedication, expertise, and compassion shown by the Oakleaf team in supporting people with complex needs to live full and meaningful lives.

Here’s to the everyday heroes who show up, go above and beyond, and make a lasting difference — day in, day out.

Find out more about Oakleaf here: https://oakleafcare.com/