Lifeways team members Highly Commended across three categories at 2026 Social Care Leadership Awards

Three Lifeways team members have been Highly Commended across three categories at this year’s prestigious Social Care Leadership Awards.

Run by Care Talk, the awards recognise outstanding contributions across the social care sector, highlighting the passion, expertise and commitment of those who support people to live their best lives every day.

Lifeways received recognition in The Executive Care Home Leader (Small to Medium), Workforce Development Leader and Digital Innovator categories at the awards ceremony, held on Tuesday, 13 October, at the London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square.

Anna Jones, Registered Manager - The Executive Care Home Leader (Small to Medium) 

Nominated by her Deputy Manager, Michelle Causer, Anna Jones was recognised for her exceptional leadership, with her passion, innovation and commitment helping to transform her Lifeways residential care service in Stoke-on-Trent since joining in 2025.

Recognising that a motivated workforce is fundamental to delivering high-quality, person-centred care, Anna identified team morale and engagement as key priorities. She introduced innovative initiatives, including “social batteries”, which allow colleagues to communicate how they are feeling throughout the day.

Toni Meadows, Area Manager – Workforce Development Leader Award

Toni Meadows has made a huge impact across a complex mental health portfolio in Merseyside since taking over the area in April 2025. During a period of organisational transition, regulatory pressure and workforce challenges, she has led a sustained transformation, quickly bringing stability and driving meaningful improvements.

By strengthening teams, developing future leaders and embedding high standards, Toni has improved service quality, strengthened commissioner confidence and helped deliver better outcomes for the people Lifeways supports. 

Andy Ferrington, Chief Information Officer - The Digital Innovator Award

Lifeways’ nomination for the Digital Innovator Award recognises its innovative use of technology to improve the quality, safety and consistency of complex adult social care, championed by Chief Information Officer Andy Ferrington.

Through its Insights through Data programme, Lifeways developed a proprietary AI Support Plan Quality Checker, transforming manual, time-consuming and inconsistent care plan reviews into a scalable quality assurance system. The tool assesses support plans against defined standards, generates quality scores, identifies gaps and provides targeted recommendations. Integrated into operational workflows and Power BI dashboards, it gives managers greater visibility of quality, safety, risk and performance across services.

View the full list of winners and runner ups here: Winners of the Social Care Leaders Awards 2026 – The Social Care Top30