Outstanding Contribution to Care

Derek Law MBE, Group Chairman of Coastline Housing, has been presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Social Care accolade at the Great South West Care Awards.

Derek, from Perranwell Station, attended a glittering ceremony in Bristol for the award finals, along with over 400 of the very best professionals in the field of social care.

The outstanding contribution accolade was awarded to him following a 40-year career in the social care sector with trusts and local authorities across the country.

This included several years at North Yorkshire County Council where he held the position of Corporate Director of Adult and Community Services when the area was officially defined as a ‘good place to grow old’ by the Audit Commission. At the time, it was one of only two places in the country labelled as such, and this was largely due to the services and strategies delivered by Derek in partnership with the voluntary and independent sectors.

Derek also spent 13 years working within Cornwall County Council as both Deputy Director and Acting Director of Social Services.

On receiving the honour, he said: “I was taken aback but delighted and honoured to receive this recognition and feel humbled by the wonderful response from the hundreds of front line staff and managers who were present at this event. I strongly feel that these are the people who matter most. It is the front line staff who deliver the strategies that people like myself orchestrate and, without them, the excellent care services for people in need simply wouldn’t exist. My thanks for this recognition goes to them.”

Derek was accompanied at the ceremony by fellow Coastline Housing finalist Abby Fox, who is the Registered Manager at Coastline’s Miners Court in Redruth and was shortlisted in the Care Home Manager category.

Allister Young, CEO of Coastline Housing, said: “We are incredibly proud of both Derek and Abby for their achievements. Even getting shortlisted at this level is a fantastic achievement and we appreciate all that they do for Coastline and its customers.”

Derek will now go forward to the national finals of the Great British Care Awards which will take place in Spring 2018.

The Great British Care Awards celebrate excellence across the care sector. The purpose of the awards is to promote best practice within both home care and care homes sectors, and pay tribute to those individuals who have demonstrated outstanding excellence within their field of work.