{"id":202,"date":"2016-10-22T14:55:38","date_gmt":"2016-10-22T13:55:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/walescareawards.co.uk\/?p=202"},"modified":"2016-12-15T16:14:28","modified_gmt":"2016-12-15T16:14:28","slug":"singing-carer-rob-hits-high-note-at-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/walescareawards.co.uk\/cy\/singing-carer-rob-hits-high-note-at-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"(English) Singing carer Rob hits high note at awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mae’n ddrwg gen i, mae'r cofnod hwn dim ond ar gael mewn English<\/a>.<\/p>

A singing care worker\u2019s night in the limelight at the sector\u2019s \u201cOscars\u201d ended on a high note \u2013 after he won a top prize.<\/p>\n

Rob Thomas, 31, from Bridgend, had his musical theatre dream dashed by major brain surgery at the age of 18 but he still goes out of his way to bring a smile to the residents of Picton Court, at Nottage, near Porthcawl,<\/p>\n

His job as the activities organiser at the home, which provides residential, nursing and dementia care, is to brighten the lives of the 76 residents aged 60 to 103, by arranging activities and entertainment.<\/p>\n

But recently Rob let someone else do the organising when he was nominated for a prestigious Wales Care Award. A glittering presentation evening at Cardiff City Hall saw him rewarded for his hard work and enthusiasm with a silver Promoting Fulfilled Lives Award, sponsored by Boots.<\/p>\n

Rob\u2019s tenor voice is in much demand, particularly for the old favourite songs and he also organises quizzes, takes residents out for meals \u2013 25 of them were guests at a Rotary lunch recently \u2013 and arranges other activities.<\/p>\n

He will often take a wheelchair-bound resident shopping or for a coffee and a chat and he hold raffles and other events to pay for some of the treats.<\/p>\n

Rob loves his job and is a real \u201cpeople person\u201d having previously worked as a manager for McDonalds at Cardiff and managed pubs.<\/p>\n

Music was his first love and he trained at Bridgend College with the West End and musical theatre in his sights. But major brain surgery at the age of 18 curtailed his professional singing career.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cBasically my brain was too big for my head and was causing major problems with my spinal column. I made a good recovery but performing professionally would have been impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n

He still worked in pubs and clubs and toured in cabaret shows and he still occasionally performs locally. He recently joined Porthcawl Male Voice Choir.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI absolutely love the job and I\u2019m very honoured to be short-listed for the awards even if I\u2019m a little embarrassed, to be honest.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy role is to make people happy, to show them that this is just a new chapter in their lives and to give a bit back to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best part is seeing the smiles on the residents\u2019 faces when they\u2019ve enjoyed something I do \u2013 that means the world to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cCare homes sometimes get a bad press and you don\u2019t hear about the wonderful things they are achieving. What attracted me to this job was to be able to make a difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been three years in the care sector and I enjoy what I am doing. I arrange everything from armchair aerobics to outdoor activities and to see people happy and enjoying their surroundings is reward enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kath Beakes, of the care staff at Picton Court, said Rob included colleagues as well as residents in his activities. \u201cNothing is too much trouble for him,\u201d she said. \u201cHe is very dedicated and likes to brighten up the day whether by bursting into song or telling a joke.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most important thing when you work with the elderly is that you care, a very simple word with a big meaning, and I can say that Rob cares.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is a lovely, gentle and kind man who has made a difference to our residents\u2019 lives since he has been at Picton Court. He brings a smile to everyone\u2019s face.\u201d<\/p>\n

Volunteer Eileen Torkington said : \u201cThere is never a dull moment, he gives the residents something to look forward to every day. We are lucky to have such a caring person who does a tremendous job for the residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cRob arranges all the activities \u2013 bingo, quizzes, keep-fit, singalongs, parties and church services.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe also brings in outside entertainment such as choirs and musical groups, books meals out and arranges raffle parties so we can have spare cash for more activities. He works hard to ensure that the home is full of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rob was nominated for the award by Hafod Care home manager Shajitha Augustine who said : \u201cHe provides a wide variety of activities from games and quizzes to old-style cinema afternoons and armchair aerobics. He also brings in regular singers and arranges art classes and music for health.\u201d<\/p>\n

The MC for the Wales Care Awards was opera singer Wynne Evans, aka Gio Compario from the television adverts for Go Compare.<\/p>\n

Mario Kreft, the chairman of Care Forum Wales, said the standard of entries was extremely high.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThere are only winners here tonight so it is only fitting that the finalists will receive a gold, silver or bronze Wales Care Award.<\/p>\n

\u201cI trust that they will continue to inspire those around them as role models and encourage others to aspire to even greater heights in the months and years to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis awards ceremony is our opportunity to pay tribute and to celebrate the talent and commitment that is improving the quality of life for thousands and thousands of people throughout Wales.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe take our hats off to them.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mae’n ddrwg gen i, mae’r cofnod hwn dim ond ar gael mewn English.A singing care worker\u2019s night in the limelight at the sector\u2019s \u201cOscars\u201d ended on a high note \u2013 after he won a top prize. Rob Thomas, 31, from Bridgend, had his musical theatre dream dashed by major brain surgery at the age of… Darllen mwy »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[179,177,176,11,180,10,62,178,182,181,5,24,26,32],"class_list":["post-202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-at-nottage","tag-brain-surgery","tag-bridgend","tag-dementia","tag-near-porthcawl","tag-nhs","tag-nursing","tag-picton-court","tag-promoting-fulfilled-lives-award","tag-residential","tag-social-care","tag-wales-care-awards","tag-wales-care-forum","tag-welsh-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/walescareawards.co.uk\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/walescareawards.co.uk\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/walescareawards.co.uk\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walescareawards.co.uk\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walescareawards.co.uk\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/walescareawards.co.uk\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":306,"href":"https:\/\/walescareawards.co.uk\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions\/306"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walescareawards.co.uk\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/walescareawards.co.uk\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walescareawards.co.uk\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walescareawards.co.uk\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}