Each of Blackwood’s 284 care staff received a £90 Aldi voucher to help with their essential shopping, as a token of the appreciation of their dedication to their job through the pandemic.

The donation from Blackwood is part of its continuing #ImInAwe campaign, which is dedicated to shining a light on the important front-line role care employees are playing, and to encourage more people to look at different ways to show their gratitude.

Fanchea Kelly, Blackwood chief executive, said: “We’re so immensely proud of all of our staff who have continued to provide excellent care to all of our customers during a difficult time.

“We have so many incredible stories of how our staff have helped customers manage during this national lockdown and have worked hard to keep spirits up along the way, use technology to keep families in touch and come up with some innovative ways to fill days with fun where possible.

“The vouchers are a token of our appreciation for our staff. They are a way of recognising the hard work our carers do, and saying thank you to everyone for continuing to inspire us and keep our staff and customers safe.

“One of the reasons Aldi was chosen was its range of supermarkets across the country and their dedicated opening hours for care staff – both of which will hugely benefit our team.”

Natasha Murray, interim care services manager at Blackwood, added: “The staff truly deserve the vouchers as they have gone above and beyond to support all our customers.

“Care staff have worked extremely hard through the pandemic and are putting our customers first, before anything else. We’re proud of each and every one of them.”

Fritz Walleczek, managing director of corporate responsibility at Aldi UK and Ireland, said: “Care workers remain an essential support for communities to ensure vulnerable people are looked after at this challenging time, and we’re delighted to play a part in this initiative from Blackwood to recognise the important contribution their staff make in the field.”

It is estimated that up to 150,000 staff work in the social care sector across Scotland, providing vital care to people in care homes and retirement developments as well as care-at-home services.

Blackwood believes it is essential to publicly recognise the important work of its care staff, showing support and keeping morale high at a difficult time.

Ms Kelly added: “Often, the work of carers can go unnoticed. We would love it if more people got involved in supporting the #ImInAwe campaign, by sharing and resharing our efforts to show our carers how much they are valued and how important their work is.

“If you or your business would like to get involved and help, we’d love to hear from you to continue to show a collective sense of support across the country.”

• Read all of our articles relating to COVID-19 here.