CareTech

08/04/2026

CareTech Arts, Crafts and Performance Competition 2026 is here!

We’re pleased to announce the launch of this year’s Arts, Crafts and Performance competition on Monday April 13th.

This annual competition is designed to celebrate the talents of the adults, children and young people we support across the whole of the CareTech Group and posters with all the competition details are already on their way to every one of our Services, Schools, Homes and Centres.

2026 is a big year for sport with the Winter Olympics and the World Cup all taking place, so this year’s theme is where “Creativity Meets Sport” and we want you to let your imagination run wild and create something that really inspires you. Whether that’s a drawing, a painting, something made from wool or fabric, a sculpture, model or a piece of pottery. Or maybe its digital art created on a computer or tablet… it could even be a piece of music you have composed, a song you have written or a choreographed dance.

This competition is open to all the Adults, Children and Young People we support across the CareTech Group.

Click the link below for all the details and don’t delay, get creating today!
https://caretech-uk.pagetiger.com/dwinwfi



The Oakleaf Group Cambian Group

02/04/2026

Congratulations to Rochdale Borough Council & Greater Manchester Partners on being winners at the recent iNetwork Innovation Awards in the “Connected Procurement & Commissioning (CPC)” category.

This prestigious award recognises successes in public procurement and commissioning. In particular initiatives that have used innovative and collaborative procurement or commissioning practices to tackle social outcomes that are important to the public sector, delivered savings and efficiencies and generally supported the improvement of public service organisations and the communities which they serve.

CareTech has been an integral part of the GM Partners Complex Needs Project which involves the setting up of new services to enable women to be discharged from long-stay hospital placements into their own homes within the community.

Attending the awards with other CareTech colleagues was Tanya Davis-Walkden (Business Development Manager, North & Midlands) who stated “We are delighted to have been part of this wonderful initiative with the GM Partners that has had such a positive impact and changed so many lives for the better”

Congratulations again to everyone on this amazing award 🏆🎉

25/03/2026

Across our services, colleagues and the adults, children and young people we support have been baking, dressing up and even designing their own Red Noses - all to celebrate and raise money for

We’re thrilled to have raised £2,956.46 so far, boosted by match funding from the CareTech Foundation

Funds raised for Comic Relief help provide food, shelter and safety for people facing tough times in the UK and around the world, supporting vital community projects and crisis services.

It’s a fantastic reflection of our purpose:

🎥 Enjoy the video - full of smiles, creativity and community spirit. See if you can spot the Red Nose on holiday in Australia… as our The Oakleaf Group colleague made sure to join the fun from the other side of the world!

Thank you to everyone who took part and helped make a difference.

17/03/2026

We’re excited to be attending and exhibiting at the Naidex Neuro Rehab Exhibition on March 25-26 at the NEC in Birmingham!

Naidex is the UK’s most established platform for the disability community , bringing together innovators, care professionals, and people with lived experience to connect, share knowledge, and drive change.

At and The Oakleaf Group, we specialise in supporting individuals with acquired brain injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and complex neurological needs. Neurorehabilitation is at the heart of what we do, helping people rebuild independence and improve quality of life.

We’ll be at stand NR-C24, showcasing our services and the impact of specialist neurorehabilitation.

For more information and to register for tickets, please click the link below.

https://www.naidex.co.uk/neurorehab

We look forward to seeing you there, so please come up and say hello — we’d love to meet you!

23/02/2026

It's taken a while to blossom but we are proud to announce the winners for our Blooming Marvellous competition 🏆🌻💐

Congratulations to our winners below, who have all been notified... your prizes are making their way towards you as we speak!

Adults & SSD
Winner : Faycroft
Runner Up : Dugdale House

Children's
Winner : Sissay House
Runner Up : Tyldesley School

Thank you and well done to everyone who took part and shared their amazing gardening achievements with us 😊

12/02/2026

From Hospital to Home, to Inspiring Future Carers

Two of our wonderful residents from Adult’s North (Amy and Katrina) received a lot of attention with their video “from Hospital to Home" where they shared their journey from long term Hospital placement through to moving into a Home together and living more independent lives on their own terms, supported by staff.

Their incredible success story has been inspiring to many and has been shown to Local Authorities, Commissioners and other practitioners as an example of the positive impact that good quality, person-centred care can have.

Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board had previously shown the video as part of the GM Mayor’s Housing First programme, where they wanted to show their partners and stakeholders the real-life impact of having the right home and the right support for people to live independently.

Helen Simpson from the NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board stated: “The CareTech videos, shared by NHS GM, enabled us to show real stories and experiences of residents in their own homes."

Most recently Amy and Katrina were asked to share their journey with Learning Disability Nurses and Student Social Workers in their final year at Salford University, appearing as Guest Lecturers to show their video, speak with attendees and take questions.

The day was an overwhelming success, with Amy and Katrina clearly making a lasting impression and inspiring future practitioners within the Sector:

One of the attendees remarked: “I really enjoyed today's lecture, it has helped me look positively into the future and reminded me of the passion I have for this career”

Amy and Katrina continue to have a positive impact everywhere they go as they embrace their independence and go from strength to strength enjoying

Click below to watch From Hospital to Home and stay tuned for more updates:

https://youtu.be/bOwyRhUfBGo?si=d-pMyTLIhmz0ofLD

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 ...