International award wings its way to local care company

Having launched their local care business early last year, Visiting Angels co-directors Nicky and Mark Goodall focused on building a personal, approachable care team, to ensure they made a real difference to the quality of care provision in the area. Now, 16 months later, that is exactly what they’ve done. With 30 carers in their dedicated team, Nicky and Mark’s decision to focus on building those values has more than paid off, as they were recently awarded the Best International Office at this year’s prestigious Visiting Angels International Conference in San Diego with tough competition from 830 other Visiting Angels offices across five countries.

Nicky Goodall began her journey in the healthcare sector in a residential care home in 2007. After working in various roles across the industry, Nicky became determined to improve the quality of support people receive. While she worked at many companies with high standards of care, she felt that there was so much work to be done in the sector to ensure that an exceptional service became a universal standard. Through no fault of their own, carers are often unable to spend dedicated time with the people they care for outside of 15 minutes to do the most vital functions, which often leads to rushed visits, lonely clients and over-stretched caregivers. It was this which prompted Nicky and Mark to launch Visiting Angels, where all visits last at least one hour, carers are paid for travel time between visits and they are rewarded properly for their incredible work.

While Nicky’s background lies in the care sector, it’s a relatively new venture for co-director Mark Goodall, whose experience in logistics and management has helped Visiting Angels to deliver consistent, high-quality care to a community which means so much to him. Oswestry-born, Mark’s family ties to the area means he feels a real connection with the people he has chosen to help and to employ.

Visiting Angels’ ‘carer-centric’ approach sets it apart from other companies in the in-home care sector. Carers working for Visiting Angels feel valued and respected for their commitment to the industry. Through both financial rewards and opportunities for career development, Mark, Nicky and the Visiting Angels team are determined to address issues surrounding the industry, which often leaves carers feeling little to no appreciation.

When asked about what the future holds for their company, Nicky said, ‘’We’re really looking forward to what comes next for care in our community. Having this award wing its way from across the pond is exciting, but what’s really important to us is that our community is cared for close to home.”

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