Links to the on-demand content from the day will be linked to from this page shortly.
Thank you for joining us today, at the end of the day we kindly ask that you take a few moments to complete the questionnaire on the link here to help us shape the programme for 2024.
With special thanks to our kind sponsors.
Please click here to view exhibitor information and the floorplan.
Anita Goyal MBE
Anita Goyal is the Chair of The Hemraj Goyal Foundation and trustee of the Hallmark Care Homes Foundation. She is the Vice President of Barnardo’s and an Ambassador of the Alzheimer’s Society.
In 2021, Anita was invested with an MBE in Her Majesty’s New Year Honours List for services to Diversity and Female Empowerment. She is an award-winning philanthropist, community champion and author of Voices from Punjab and Voices from Gujarat. She is vice president of Women’s Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry in the UK (WICCI) and chair of the care sector fundraising ball as part of Championing Social Care.
Anita’s passion for teaching led her to become a teacher in science and an Assistant Headteacher. Anita has completed her MA in Special and Inclusive Education in London and is now pioneering personal development workshops in schools across the UK. She is committed in making a difference and believes in doing everything with passion and purpose.
Avnish Goyal CBE
Avnish Goyal qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Coopers & Lybrand in 1991 after graduating from Newcastle University with an Honours degree in Accounting and Finance. He is the Chair of industry-leading care provider, Hallmark Care Homes which he founded with his brothers in 1997.
Over the last 24 years the company has won numerous awards for delivering outstanding care as well as national awards for building some of the best care homes in the country. He is also CEO of Savista Developments and Santhem Residences, part of the Hallmark family.
Avnish is proud to be the Chair of Care England, the largest representative body for the care sector as well as an Advisory Board Director and Ambassador of E2Exchange. Avnish is also Patron of The Care Workers’ Charity as well as an Ambassador of the Alzheimer’s Society. He is also part of the committee who founded the Care Sector Fundraising Ball, which is now part of Championing for Social Care who have so far raised £350,000.00 for charities related to social care.
In 2010 Avnish set up the Hemraj Goyal Foundation in memory of his late father, supporting charities on issues such as trafficking, menstrual dignity, empowerment of women and education of children from disadvantaged backgrounds both in the UK and abroad. Avnish was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Birthday Honours in June 2022.
Ed Balls
Ed Balls is a broadcaster, writer and economist. He is a regular presenter on ITV’s flagship breakfast show, Good Morning Britain and currently appears weekly on Channel 4’s The Andrew Neil Show alongside former Chancellor George Osborne. Ed’s latest TV series – ‘Inside the Care Crisis with Ed Balls’ – aired on BBC2 in November 2021. He is Professor of Political Economy at King’s College, London, a Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and co-Chair of the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation. He is a former member of Parliament, Shadow Chancellor, Cabinet Minister and Chief Economic Adviser to the Treasury. He cooks, sails, plays the piano and is a Norwich City Vice-President and Club Ambassador. He is married to Yvette Cooper MP and they have three children.
UpFront Theatre
UpFront Theatre Company is an experienced, dynamic educational theatre company; specialising in providing interactive workshops & plays exploring the PSHE Suggested Programme of Study for KS2 to KS5.
Deborah Sturdy RN MSc ( Econ), CBE
Deborah was appointed as the first Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care in 2021. She has held a number of previous roles including senior posts in practice, research and policy, in both social care services and the NHS. She was appointed the expert nurse on the Gosport Independent Panel the report of which was laid before Parliament in 2018.
She is a passionate care sector advocate and believes the workforce is its greatest asset. Developing careers, opening new pathways of opportunity and boosting recognition of care colleagues’ skills, value and expertise are, in her view, vital to the future success of the profession.
She holds two Visiting Chairs in Nursing at Manchester Metropolitan and Buckinghamshire New Universities. Deborah has written numerous papers for publications and presented at national and international meetings.
She was awarded a CBE in the 2023 Honours list and an OBE in the 2017. She is a Fellow of the QNI and RCN and received the British Geriatric President’s Medal for her contribution to older people nursing the first nurse to receive this.
Nye Brown
Aneurin Brown is the Managing Director of Hallmark Care Homes which is an established, family-run care provider that has three CQC rated ‘Outstanding’ homes. It provides residential, nursing and dementia care to 1,250 residents across 19 locations in England and Wales and has won 100 awards over the last 25 years including; ‘Residential Care Provider’ at the 2021 Health Investor, National Care and Leaders in Care Awards ceremonies.
During his career with Hallmark Aneurin has been recognised both internally and externally winning the NASHICS (National Association of Health and Safety in Care) Best Practice Award, Wales Care Awards Newcomer Award and Hallmark Care Awards Rising Star Award and Jim Sanders Award.
Aneurin is a Chartered Health and Safety professional with particular areas of focus and specialisms in regulation, risk management, environmental health and policy.
Aneurin is fluent Welsh speaker and his spare time is Chair of the National Eisteddfod of Wales Technical Committee.
Liz Kendall MP
Liz Kendall has been the Labour MP for Leicester West since 2010. Since 2020, she has served as the Shadow Minister for Social Care, having previously held the role of Shadow Minister for Care and Older People from 2011-2015.
Prior to becoming an MP, Ms Kendall held a number of high-profile positions in the think-tank and charities sector. She was Director of The Maternity Alliance (now Maternity Action), a national charity that promotes the health and well-being of pregnant women, their partners and young children. In this role, she campaigned for improved maternity and paternity rights, and more rights to flexible working. She has also been Director of the Ambulance Service Network, for whom she worked alongside patients’ groups and NHS staff to ensure full access to good emergency care services.
Ms Kendall has also held the position of Associate Director of the Institute for Public Policy Research where she led on health, social care and children’s early years, and she was also a researcher at the King’s Fund where she focused on measures aimed at tackling local health inequalities.
Q&A Panel
Charlie
“My name is Charlie and I am the General Manager at Anisha Grange Care Home. I am a registered nurse and qualified in 2013 after spending three years at university. I spent the first 6 years of my career working in Accident and Emergency before moving over to care homes. I enjoy being able to make a difference to people’s lives.
I did not particularly enjoy school and did not do very well at school. When I left school I started working in a care home for children with learning disabilities, which is where I found my passion for looking after people. I completed my NVQ whilst working full time, which gave me the qualification I needed to embark on my nursing career. Whilst doing my nurse training I also held down a full-time job as a healthcare assistant in the hospital. After qualifying I have completed many different courses that have led to be becoming a General Manager.”
Sarah
“My name is Sarah and I’m a senior care assistant at Greenhill Manor. I started there when I was the young age of 18 and have progressed my career throughout 15 years of being employed at Greenhill. I work with elderly individuals living with dementia.”
Courtney
“I started a career in Care when I was 17 years old, I worked in domiciliary care working alongside young adults and children. I then started a new career in Greenhill Manor and have been here for 8.5 years. I started as a care assistant, become a senior care assistant and then a nursing assistant, which is my current job role. I am a manual handling trainer and a fire safety trainer, which I really enjoy as I love to have a challenge and enjoy the thrill of gaining more knowledge and skills. I have just recently been accepted to study with the Open University to become a nurse with the support and guidance of Hallmark.”
Chelsea
“My name is Chelsea and I am the Deputy Manager at Hutton View Care Home. I have spent the last 7 years in the health and social care industry. My journey started when I finished college at 18 after studying Level 3 Health & Social Care. I originally wanted to become a midwife, but after not being accepted into university due to lack of experience, I decided to start working in a care home and can gladly say that I have never looked back, I feel privileged to be able to do the job that I do.
After getting my first job in a residential care home as a care assistant, after two months I was promoted to senior care assistant, I really enjoyed my job and loved caring for the elderly. After two years I decided to leave to go to Manchester for an adult nursing degree, but unfortunately after a year I had to leave due to family circumstances. When I came back to Essex I was a team leader in a specialised dementia care home and shortly became the deputy manager, due to long distance travel I decided to leave this home and that is when I came to Hutton View as a senior care assistant. The thought of supporting a commissioning home was exciting to me and within 6 months I was promoted to deputy manager. I have also worked for a domiciliary care company, which was very different and made me realise that care homes are where I want to be. I am very lucky that I get to do the job that I do with likeminded people, who all have the same values and beliefs for supporting our elder generation. I am now also studying for my Level 5 Management Course and one day soon hope to become a general manager and beyond!”
Jermaine Harris
It took a major car accident – and then one year later nearly having his leg amputated – to turn Jermaine Harris’ life around.
Prior to this, Jermaine had been living a self-destructive lifestyle of excessive drinking, over-eating and gambling. At times, he drank as many as 24 bottles of wine and vodka per week, was in nightclubs 6 nights of the week, and was extremely unhealthy.
Since then, Jermaine, who has a Psychology BSc (Hons) and MSc (Dist), has read over 400 self-help and business books in the space of 4 years and left behind his destructive lifestyle. In this time; Jermaine, lost a stone of body fat, put on 10 pounds of muscle, cured himself of asthma, ran a half marathon and the London Marathon, started a business, wrote a book, became an award winning speaker, met the woman of his dreams and is now a father.
Jermaine is now the fastest growing Inspirational Speaker in the UK, a firewalk instructor and the leading provider of Empowerment Training in the Care sector
Overcoming, further adversity, Jermaine is a keen fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust after his son was diagnosed with the condition at 4 weeks old in 2015.
Jermaine, who is based in Cardiff, has condensed his experience and wisdom into his book ‘THE RUT BUSTER: The Secrets to Taking Control of Your Body, Money, Career and Life’.
