Forward Carers are thrilled to be named as winners of the Best Innovation award by work-life balance charity Working Families, as part of the 2021 Best Practice Awards. The awards celebrate employers whose stand-out cultures and working practices are leading the way in flexible and employee-friendly workplaces.
Forward Carers have won Best Innovation for their Carer Friendly Card. The Carer Friendly Card is a photo ID and discount card which helps Carers to identify themselves and receive discounts and benefits for their role. It also provides emergency contact details and lets blue light services know that someone relies on the card holder for support.
Chantell Marler is the Project Manager of the Carer Friendly Communities scheme for Forward Carers and has been involved with the development of the Carer Card since its conception in 2019. Chantell said, “The new card comes with a QR code, which can be scanned to provide proof the card holder is a registered Carer and will also contain additional information about the Carer Friendly Communities scheme. Businesses who are not part of the scheme already, can scan the card and will be able to sign up there and then offer discounts to carers.
The card is the UK’s first electronic Carers photo identity card accessible on smartphones, the digital version of the card is £10 less than the physical plastic card so it’s affordable to Carers and reduces our impact on the environment.”
Jane van Zyl, Chief Executive of Working Families and chair of the judging panel said: “After an extremely challenging year for working parents and employers alike, we are thrilled to be sharing our Award-winning organisations for 2021, celebrating exceptional best practice and support for parents and carers across a wide range of sectors.
“This last year has shown that flexible, family-friendly working practices are possible in many more jobs and sectors than previously thought, and the breadth of our winning organisations demonstrates that. Whether you are a mother serving in the army, or someone with caring responsibilities working in banking, our winners are shining examples of why supporting your staff team to have a good balance of work and family life isn’t just the ‘right thing’ to do – it makes great business sense too.
“As we move out of the pandemic into the ‘new normal’, we are determined to use what we’ve learned to benefit more of the UK’s 13 million working parents. When employees have more control over their time, we see improved engagement and retention, as well as better organisational performance. Our Best Practice Awards winners 2021 are leading the way in making this a reality for thousands of parents and carers.”
For more information about the Carer Friendly Card please visit: https://forwardcarers.org.uk/carer-friendly-communities/carer-friendly-card/.
