Christmas is a time of celebration at SweetTree!

It has been another challenging year, not just due to the pandemic but also Brexit and our nation’s recruitment crisis that has been felt harder in our sector than any other. Despite the adversity, our teams have continued to thrive and a key cog of the SweetTree machine is our office team. So, for a bit of office fun at HQ, we raised a toast to our colleagues, presented some awards and much more on “Festive Friday Fun Day!” Keep reading to find out what we got up to…

The Great SweetTree Bake Off

Our excellent judges Matt, Michelle, Denis and Nicki had the REALLY tough task of testing the bakes this year! Each one was rated on taste, texture and appearance and although the numbers were close, Sandra won with her vanilla, fruity sponge and was happy to receive her prestigious golden wooden spoon!

The Team Awards

It’s so important to recognise and reward a team that work as hard as our SweetTree family do, which is why this year we ran a series of Directors & People’s Choice awards nominated by our colleagues and senior team alike. Here is the list of winners and why they stood out this year:

Stand out performer of the year: the person who has consistently delivered greatness
Evone: Evone quietly achieves greatness without any fuss, delivering on all her targets – never leaving anything overdue, keeping on top of her significant case load, all whilst delivering fantastic support to those we look after.
Reyhan: Throughout out the past year Reyhan has done an amazing job at managing SweetTree’s track and trace system which has helped keep team members and clients alike healthy. Although everyone at SweetTree is a carer in their own way, rarely does an office team member have such a direct and meaningful impact on those we serve. Reyhan has truly saved lives and kept people well this past year and needs to be recognised for that.

The extra mile and mover of mountains award: the person who has gone above and beyond
Polly: Polly is relentless in her pursuit of quality care for her clients working on weekends and often late into the evenings to make sure that her clients get the support they need.  Polly’s love for what she does is infectious.  Her heart is bigger than her whole being.  Unless the mountain is a computer, it doesn’t stand a chance against her.

Most improved award: the person who has grown the most
Tali: Going from senior coordinator to coordination manager in a pandemic is a massive ask. Tali has not gone the year without any issues, challenges and confrontations, but with every problem that has come up, Tali has worked on it, learnt from it and moved on in a stronger more positive way. Never giving up and always striving to do the best she can and this has shown in her growth as a manager and as an individual.

Best Team Player: the person who is always willing to help out
Zoe: Zoe’s well-know quote is “there’s no I in team” and she certainly doesn’t disappoint! She’s the person with the biggest smile and stays on any task until the job is done.

Teacher/coach of the year: the person who has been the best mentor
Corrine: Corrine was labelled as an inspiration to others and her comments came from people who stated they simply could not do their job without her.

The Iron Pillar: the person who is dependable, reliable and there when you need them
Bianca: Bianca’s most notable quality is how calm she is when providing the support and advice she does to so many of us, she’s the go-to person and the voice of reason.

The Brainiac: the person who has all the answers or creates the most solutions
Denis: Denis has a wealth of knowledge, very solution focused and has a wonderful way of supporting through offering lots of different options to our challenges.
Francis: Francis has been coined the walking encyclopaedia, he really impresses everyone with his forward-thinking mentality and business brain!

And just for a bit of fun, our “Most likely to” winners were…

Make everyone laugh! Matt
Dress to impress! Marianna
Talk on mute during a video call! Polly
Calm the storm! Cid
Make your day! Jess R

and of course, our Best Dressed Jonathan (pictured!)

Congratulations again to all of our winners, it truly is a sign of how remarkable you all are and we can’t wait to see everyone shine throughout the year ahead.

After our Secret Santa swaps, we had some lovely snacks and drinks to round off the festive fun and, to be honest, I’m already excited to do it all again next year. So with that, Happy Holidays from us all at SweetTree and wishing you a successful and Happy New Year!