A Kelso woman, who recently celebrated her 100th birthday, has beaten more than 200 other entries to scoop a major care sector award.
Janet Gray won the Individual Service User of the Year Award at this year’s Scottish Care – Care at Home & Housing Support Service Awards 2013, held in Glasgow at the end of last month.
The awards were judged by Marcia Ramsay of Leonard Cheshire Disability, Claire Dodds of Elearning For You, and Stan Smith of the Government’s Joint Improvement Team. It was Lynsey Bowling, Kelso supervisor for the Scottish Borders (Hawick) Branch of Allied Healthcare, who nominated Janet, telling The Southern: “Janet is an extremely special service user who is an inspiration to us all. Her attitude to life is fantastic – she’s such an intriguing woman.
“At 100 years old, Janet has recently written a Gaelic dictionary. Her achievements in life so far are astonishing – she thoroughly deserves the award.
“I felt Janet deserved to be nominated for this award, as recognition for her ongoing interest in learning and for the contribution she has made throughout her life in this sphere.
“Janet worked as a classics teacher and continues to be passionate about language.
“She attended a Gaelic group at age 99, in order to continue to develop her understanding and knowledge of the language.
“Very recently, Janet and her grandson produced a phonetic Gaelic dictionary – an undertaking which would be ambitious for someone much younger, let alone an individual who has now reached 100 years of age.
“I am thrilled Janet has won this award, as she’s a truly outstanding person and an excellent example of the qualities of hard work, dedication and the drive to live life to the full at any age.” The 2013 awards have been hailed a huge success with more entries than ever flooding in from service users, employers and employees nominating staff and colleagues.
This year, the awards followed a conference and exhibition event for the care at home and housing support sector, organised in partnership with the Scottish Government.
The conference is designed for both those working at senior level in commissioning, developing and planning services and those providing care and support to families, children, older people and adults across health and social care in Scotland.