Dan Blake, co-founder of healthcare platform Florence, has joined awareness-raising charity Championing Social Care as an ambassador.

Florence, which uses technology to help tackle the global shortage of healthcare staff, recently became a Founding Partner of the charity.

Championing Social Care is a volunteer-led group of leaders from across the social care sector focused on delivering positive stories and initiatives about the sector.

The charity’s campaigns include Care Home Open Week, which encourages local people to visit care homes in their community, and Care Sector’s Got Talent, a virtual event to showcase the rich talent in the social care sector.

As a Founding Partner, Florence will provide both financial and physical support. The organisation is primary sponsor of Care Sector’s Got Talent and is also supporting the charity’s operations on the ground.  Other founding patrons include CareTech Foundation, Majesticare, Sekoia and Hallmark Foundation.

 “Our aim is to help shine the light on the sector and open peoples’ eyes, to make sure people know about social care and help people understand the career opportunities available,” said Blake. “Working in social care may not be for everyone but the reality is most of us and our families will rely on social care for support at some point in our lives. For too long social care has been under-staffed and under-funded, which has resulted in staff feeling overworked and suffering from burnout.” 

A survey carried out by Florence, which fills more than 100,000 shift hours every week by connecting care providers and care workers, found 51% of healthcare staff have had to take time off to recover from stress and burnout.

Niharika Noakes, director of Championing Social Care, said: “Florence has been supporting our flagship programmes over the past couple of years and we are grateful for their guidance and expertise in the care sector. We are pleased to welcome on board, Dan Blake, COO at Florence, who joins us as Championing Social Care Ambassador. With the support of Florence, we hope to continue supporting the community through our initiatives, to the best of our abilities.”