Press Release
United Response is named charity of the year by Advantage Healthcare
16th October 2007
Leading healthcare provider, Advantage Healthcare, has nominated United Response, the charity creating opportunities with people with learning disabilities or mental health needs, as its charity of the year.
This is the first time that either organisation has entered in to a charity of the year partnership and the relationship is expected to generate at least £20,000 in fundraised income as well as creating volunteering opportunities at United Response services throughout the country.
Founded 34 years ago by its chief executive Su Sayer, United Response is a leading learning disability and mental health charity, pioneering new approaches to person centred support and accessible communication.
An established healthcare recruitment specialist, Advantage whose history in the social care sector was strengthened last year with the acquisition of Quantica Healthcare was keen to partner up with a charity whose vision and values so closely fit its own.
Su Sayer, chief executive of United Response said:
"We are absolutely thrilled to have been nominated as Advantage's charity of the year. At United Response we passionately believe that people with learning disabilities or mental health needs have the right to lead fulfilling lives, accessing the same opportunities as everyone else. We are so pleased to be working alongside an organisation like Advantage that so closely shares this vision.
"Our fundraising work means that we are able to offer people the opportunity to experience new things in their lives, whether that's a short trip or access to specialist equipment to make communication easier. By raising money for United Response and volunteering their time, staff at Advantage will be helping us to make these things an everyday reality in more people's lives. We look forward to working with them."
Keith Nurcombe, chief Executive of Advantage Healthcare Group, said:
"This is the first time that Advantage Healthcare has chosen to have a charity of the year and I am very happy to be working with United Response. It is fantastic for our staff to be able to give their time and energy to a charity that helps such a wide range of individuals in community settings. I look forward to this being a long and successful partnership."
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For more information or to set up an interview with United Response or Advantage, please contact Sarah Bartlett or Jaime Gill in the United Response Press Office on email Jaime.Gill@unitedresponse.org.uk or Sarah.Bartlett@unitedresponse.org.uk
or call 020 8246 5122 / 020 8246 5237Notes to Editors:
1. United Response is a national charity that works with people with learning disabilities or mental health needs – including some of the most vulnerable people in our society.
We provide everything from 24 hour care to a few hours of support a week. United Response is community based, working in many localities across England and Wales.
Our mission is to support people with learning disabilities or mental health needs to take control of their lives. We design our care and support around each person and work with them to achieve real inclusion, independence and citizenship for all. We support people across the whole spectrum of learning disability and mental health and have developed a range of specialisms in working with people with the most complex needs, particularly person-centred active support.
We are working towards a society where people with learning disabilities or mental health needs are equal participants and have access to the same rights and opportunities as everyone else.
We have won several awards for our pioneering work and for being a top employer. In 2007 alone, we have been highly commended by the Charity Awards for our “Good To Great” approach to providing support, while the Charity Times named us one of the best six charities to work for in the UK. We are experts in the development of accessible communications.
United Response was founded in 1973 by chief executive Su Sayer. We are a top 100 charity, supporting more than 1,500 people throughout the UK at any one time and employing more than 2,000 staff.
To find out more about United Response, go to www.unitedresponse.org.uk
2. The Advantage Healthcare Group has 25 branches across the UK: Birmingham, Brighton, Cambridge, Cardiff, Colchester, Croydon, Ealing, Edinburgh, Farnborough, Fylde Coast, Glasgow, Halifax, Harrogate, Ipswich, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London WC2, Newbury, Norwich, Nottingham, Peterborough, Portsmouth, Rochdale, Sheffield, Tees Valley, and Wakefield.
Advantage Healthcare is one of the UK's leading providers of health and social care workers, and has a singular sense of purpose - to provide outstanding care and service to all its clients and workers. It was established in 1998, and re-branded in 2005.
With agencies for doctors, registered nurses, carers, support, social workers and allied healthcare professionals, Advantage Healthcare recruits nationally and internationally and delivers their service throughout the United Kingdom; supplying temporary and permanent staff, from carers through to executive senior managers to all areas and specialties of the healthcare sector and industry.
Clients include care homes, Local Authorities, charities, statutory and non-statutory organisations, the NHS, industry, private hospitals, GP Surgeries, the UK Forces and patients in their own homes.