Ten caring staff members at Kingdom Support and Care have been congratulated on earning their SVQ qualifications and presented with their certificates at a celebration lunch.

The group are the first employees of the new company, which came into being on April 1, to complete their SVQ awards.

Bill Banks, chief executive of the Kingdom group, presented the certificates.

Congratulating the team, he said: “This is an exciting time for Kingdom Support & Care and staff should feel proud to be the first group to have completed their award as part of the new organisation.”

Senior support worker Lauren Moffat, who achieved her SVQ3 in Social Services and Healthcare as well as Professional Development Award in Health and Social Care Supervision, said: “I am delighted to have completed 2 awards, which thankfully I found quite easy to achieve. This has allowed me to complete my registration with the Scottish Social Services Council as a supervisor.”

Senior support worker Bernadette Smith achieved her Professional Development Award in Health and Social Care Supervision while support workers Stacey Robertson, Stacie Hunter, Carmen McArthur, Susan Sweeny, Kamala Green, Elizabeth Ballie, Ann Horsburgh and Dominie Ma all successfully completed their SVQ2 Awards in Social Services and Healthcare.

Ann Horsburgh and Elizabeth Ballie are support workers in Kingdom’s Kennoway service.

Ann said: “We have both really enjoyed completing our awards and it was thoroughly worth all the hard work.”

Elizabeth added: “I am new to support work, but what other kind of job could bring a smile to my face every day?”

Norah Smith, director of care, who also attended the celebratory event, said: “I am delighted Support Workers are achieving their award in preparation for registering with the Scottish Social Service Council, when the register for Support Workers opens in October this year.”

Norah added: “We consistently have high percentages of staff achieving their awards. Due to growth in services and extensive recruitment, it is more important than ever to keep a focus on this. We therefore continue to be committed to ensuring staff gain a professional qualification and have an ongoing SVQ strategy in place to address this.”