A CARER at a Lower Earley home has been crowned Care Practitioner of the Year for the South Division of the Barchester Care Awards 2025.
Josephine Shingwele, who works at Austen House, will now go through to the national round of judging.
Barchester Care Awards celebrate staff members who go the extra mile for the benefit of the 13,500 residents living in its 267 care homes and private hospitals across the country.
Categories range from Registered Nurse of the Year, and Carer of the Year, to Dementia Care Champion, and Activities Coordinator of the Year.
More than 5,000 nominations, all of which, say Barchester, were of a very high standard, were received from homes and hospitals across the UK.
Josephine is ‘over the moon’ to have been named the winner for the South, beating hundreds of other nominees.
She said: It’s a great honour to be nominated and to have won this award.
“I love working for Barchester and it means so much to me to be recognised.”
As the winner for south, Josephine is through to the national finals in which the overall winner will be decided.
She will join winners from across the UK at a special awards event in October to celebrate their outstanding achievements and discover if she has won a national award.
General Manager of Austen House, Katherine Mahoney, said: “This is an amazing achievement and the whole home is supporting Josephine.
“We are so proud of her.
“She is a dedicated and incredibly hard-working individual, and we are beyond lucky to have her at Austen House.”
Austen House Care Home provides Nursing, Dementia and Respite care, and is run by Barchester Healthcare.
For more information, visit: barchester.com
