Care Sector’s Got Talent organisers Championing Social Care succeeded in producing an event which was just as entertaining and professional as a televised talent contest. While there could only be one winner, every single performer showed an impressive commitment, not only to their own talent but to the people they support on a daily basis. Derby Arena had never seen anything like it

WINNER:
Michael & Charlene, Hill View Care Home
Michael Gallagher and Charlene Reeves both work at Hill View Care Home in Glasgow, where Charlene is wellbeing co-ordinator and Michael is a senior care assistant. “I have been doing care now for about ten years and it is a job I absolutely love, it is very challenging but so rewarding,” says Charlene. Michael joined the care sector during the pandemic, and hasn’t looked back. The colleagues blew the judges away with their rendition of Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga’s Shallow, but despite appearances Care Sector’s Got Talent was the first time they had sung together. “We’re just winging it!” jokes Michael. “The home manager asked me to find someone to enter, and when I asked Charlene she said she wouldn’t do it unless I was doing it with her.” Michael sings in pubs “every now and again” but Charlene’s only previous foray into singing was karaoke nights. “This was completely out of my comfort zone, but it has been amazing,” she says. “The organisers make you feel so special. Anyone thinking about entering next year should just do it. One hundred per cent, don’t even think about it.”

SECOND PLACE:
Kayleigh Morgan, Greenhill Manor Care Home Kayleigh Morgan, lifestyles co- ordinator at Greenhill Manor Care
Home in Merthyr Tydfil, sang On My Own from Les Miserables to gain second place. The achievement was particularly impressive, because Kayleigh’s confidence was knocked when she had to undergo two vocal cord operations in her twenties. “I haven’t really sung since until I started working at Greenhill,” she says. “We try to do a concert at least once a week for the residents.” Kayleigh believes her role is one of the most important in the sector. “Being a lifestyles co-ordinator is about enriching the lives of residents, finding out what they like and dislike, and doing whatever I can to add to their lives,” she explains. On the day, Kayleigh was cheered on by her lifestyles team, her general manager and her best friend, while her dad, nan and the rest of her colleagues were watching on the live stream

JOINT THIRD PLACE:
Helena Maskell, Hartwell Lodge
Helena Maskell is another contestant who finds her day job as senior care assistant and her talent for singing go well together. “I’ve sung ever since I could talk, and it is a path I thought my life was going down, but it just never happened for me,” she says. During the pandemic she was asked to bring live music to residents who were not able to leave the home. Weekly performances evolved into a residents’ choir, the Hartwell Harmonies. “It is funny how a gift that I thought was pushed to the backburner has been reignited through the care sector,” she says. Helena decided to perform Billie Eilish’s idontwannabeyouanymore because she felt it highlighted her vulnerability. “We are all self-critical, and what unites people the most is when we all feel in the same boat. When you are working with residents, the most special times are when you are able to relate to each other.”

JOINT THIRD PLACE:
Robert Speker, Sydmar Lodge
Robert Speker is already known to many after his project recreating album covers with photographs of care home residents went viral during the pandemic. He was also a finalist in 2022. This year, Robert showed off his piano skills while images of the covers he had created were displayed to the audience. Robert has worked in the care sector for 14 years, firstly with people with learning difficulties and most recently with older people and those living with dementia.. “I work in activities, wellbeing, life enrichment,” he says. “To come home from work and know you have changed someone’s life is a real privilege and an honour.”

FINALISTS
Frances Gray, Hastings Court
Frances Gray, lifestyles assistant at Oakland Care’s Hastings Court care home, put a lot of thought into her choice of song – Evermore from Beauty and the Beast. “I have ADHD and am autistic – I don’t always understand emotions,” she says. “Music transcends that.” Frances believes Care Sector’s Got Talent is a great way to celebrate the sector. “We work in one of the most underappreciated, under paid sectors in the UK,” she says. “Stuff like this highlights that we are so much more than people give us credit for – we are incredible people, we work incredibly hard and it is nice to just be together.”

Paul Bekamba, Weatherby Manor
Health care assistant Paul Bekamba not only played the piano but also sang a song of his own composition, which he wrote to celebrate the tenth anniversary of his care home. “Residents often ask me to come and play for them,” he says. Paul plays music regularly at church, but says while he is confident on the piano, he is shy about singing. “Care Sector’s Got Talent brings us together, we have an opportunity to meet new people, share success stories and learn from each other,” he says.

Craig Smith, Newcarron Court
Craig Smith, care assistant and occasional Elvis, was supported by his fiancée, small son and future father-in- law. “I started singing in the care home I work in, and then I ventured out singing in other homes in the area,” he says.
“I’ve never sung in a place like Derby Arena before – the dining room of a care home is far as I have got, and even that was a step up from singing in my bedroom!” Craig said singing on stage was “phenomenal”. “I was nervous before I went on, then the music started and I loved every minute.”

Dance and Dazzle, Ty Enfys Care Home
The four members of Dance and Dazzle, from Ty Enfys Care Home in Cardiff, were delighted with the opportunity to share their culture with the rest of the sector. They have been practicing their highly energetic dance routine, incorporating a costume change, in between shifts at the home for the last three months. Dhiya and Angeca are Year 12 students who volunteer at Ty Enfys, while Dost and Mahesh work there. Angeca, the choreographer of the group, says: “I love speaking to the residents and enjoying time with them.”