A group of residents have been recognised by Boandik Lodge for their involvement in the facility’s quest for quality.

Boandik Lodge announced its 2021 winners for the Quality Quest Awards to deserving nominees Wendy Telford, Kevin Walters and Janine Norman.

Boandik Lodge chief executive officer Gillian McGinty was full of praise for the trio’s efforts.

“We have a continuous improvement system at Boandik, where we encourage everyone to put in suggestions of ways that we can improve on what we’re doing,” she said.

“We then asked for nominations for the best improvements or the improvements that have really provided outcomes for the residents or for the organisation.”

Ms McGinty said there were two awards offered – the quality-of-life award which was directly related to improvements for clients and a continuous improvement award, which was connected to something with the organisation, the environment or human resources.

Ms McGinty said this year there were five nominations for the quality-of-life award, with joint winners being named due to the difficulty in selecting a solitary winner.

Ms Telford is a Boandik representative and a family member of one of the Boandik residents who made bags and seat covers for the residents’ walking frames.

“It has made people notice their walking frames and she tends to try and match the material to their interests, so they have something that is instantly recognisable,” Ms McGinty said.

“A lot of the seats on the walking frames start getting well-worn so it is making them look like new frames and residents have got a bag to carry things around with them when they are using their walking frames.”

Ms McGinty said the project started off at the Boandik Lake Terrace site but had now spread to the St Mary’s and Crouch Street facilities.

Mr Walters is a Boandik resident who was recognised for his recommendations for wheelchair-friendly activities.

“Mr Walters is confined to a wheelchair therefore he is unable to be involved in a lot of physical activities, so he suggested that we had a wheelchair race down the Boandik linkway which turned out to be a fantastic event,” Ms McGinty said.

“We had lots of people enter and heaps of staff and volunteers helping the residents to get down the wheelchair obstacle course.

As a result of Mr Walter’s suggestion, Boandik Lake Terrace held competitions during the Olympics with the linkway becoming a swimming pool in which a race was held in a similar style.

“It has actually become an annual event, because of his suggestion people in wheelchairs can be involved in competitive activities,” Ms McGinty said.

“There were cheer squads and everyone was involved, it was a fantastic event.”

The continuous improvement award went to personal care assistant and current Crouch Street acting lifestyle coordinator Ms Norman who is part of the Boandik wellbeing team.

The wellbeing team focuses on trying to put things in place to improve the mental and physical well-being of staff.

“During COVID-19 everyone’s mental health was affected in some way because they were separated from others or in lockdown it was Ms Norman’s idea to create a sparkle pack for staff with little bright things in it to improve their day,” Ms McGinty said.

“She put them all together and donated or accessed a lot of the items.

“She made a sparkle pack for each of the 440 staff members who were very appreciative and did a fantastic job.

“Congratulations to all the winners and nominees.

“We really appreciate everyone that contributes to our organisation and to making it a better place for our clients to live and receive services so we are always working on ways that we can improve on that. We have a great team of people who contribute to that every year.”