A nationwide group of franchise-owned home care agencies, Guardian Angel Carers, has seen remarkable success over recent years, owing not least to the leadership and strong focus on values and ethics brought to the group by founder Christina Handasyde Dick OLY MBE.
Having been presented the esteemed accolade of an MBE in 2022 for services to home care and voluntary and charitable services, Christina has used this recognition to reinforce the philosophy and quality standards prioritised by the Guardian Angel Carers group, leading to rapid and sustained expansion.
An Overview of the Drivers of Growth Behind the Guardian Angel Carers Network
First founded in 2012, the home care agency began in Chichester, where Christina and the firm’s head office remain.
Rather than conforming to industry trends, the vision was to effect positive, sustainable change in the home care space and work on extending access to at-home, professional, regulated care to enable adults and families to remain safe and independent at home.
After establishing the company and seeing huge demand for home-based care, both locally and further afield, Christina decided to launch a franchise model to engage with other like-minded leaders and innovators who wanted to create a similar transformation within their local communities.
Today, the company has expanded from one branch to 16, traversing the UK, with territories spanning Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, West Sussex, Hampshire, Surrey, Dorset, Berkshire, and South Wales over the space of just 13 years.
Each franchise offers a variety of care services, from visiting care that can include domiciliary, personal and companionship care to extended live-in and overnight care assistance and specialist support for families coping with conditions like dementia, frailty, and Alzheimer’s and requiring help with post-hospital recoveries and respite care.
Guardian Angel Carer’s Role in Leading the Pandemic Response in a Vulnerable Home Care Sector
Throughout this period of expansion, the values that underpin the company have remained front and centre. Christina went above and beyond during the pandemic, using her compassionate, energetic approach to tackle challenges head-on.
That included localised sourcing of PPE to keep care recipients and workforces safe from day one onward, the recruitment of a ‘reserve army’ of trained care professionals to step in and bolster capacity, and sector-leading safe working practices and ‘cells’ similar to bubbles, well before lockdowns, guidelines and limitations on social distancing were introduced.
These efforts did not go unnoticed and culminated in the presentation of an MBE, partly due to the sector-leading and substantial improvements in safe working conditions made under the most pressured of conditions and also due to Christina's charitable work.
In 2011, she set up the Golden Angels charitable scheme to address isolation and loneliness in the community, and Christina has also run fundraising initiatives to support charities like Duty to Care and been involved in countless community events and awareness schemes.
Guardian Angel Carers Founder Shares a Vision of Home Care for the Future
Commenting on her MBE, Christina says, ‘Looking back, it has been a whirlwind few years, but while being awarded an MBE was an honour and a privilege, it is really down to the entirety of our incredible workforces who work diligently to support some of the most vulnerable people in each of the local communities we serve.
I passionately believe that change is possible and achievable and that the work we do across Guardian Angel Carers acts as a real-world case study, showing how proper training, above-average pay, active career progression support, and development pathways to help carers gain skills, confidence, accreditations, and knowledge benefit the entirety of the sector.
We know that carers can be undervalued and unseen, with assumptions that low pay and poor standards should be accepted as part of a career perceived as vocational.
However, it is clear that introducing regular mental health support, 1:1 mentoring, flexible working, job security, and new care technologies doesn’t just help our carers—it makes a profound difference to the quality and continuity of care we provide to every care recipient.
I'm very much looking forward to the next few years and showcasing how values-based, family-feel and personalised care isn't an unachievable aspiration but a strategic choice and something we hope to see rolled out throughout the public and private care sector.’
Read more about Guardian Angel Carers - Guardian Angel Carers Shares Insights on Current and Upcoming Government Reforms Impacting the Home Care Sector
About Guardian Angel Carers
Guardian Angel Carers is a leading home care provider dedicated to delivering compassionate, personalised care services. With a strong focus on independence, dignity, and quality of life, the company supports individuals in the comfort of their own homes, offering a range of services from companionship to complex care needs.
Media Contact:
Vikki Craig-Vickers
03333 660550
www.gacarers.co.uk
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Source Company – https://www.gacarers.co.uk/
