Care staff in Wigan celebrate pay hikes

Residential and dementia care provider, Ideal Carehomes, which operates Ash Tree House in Hindley, announced a £1.5m per annum investment in its team by awarding a five per cent salary increase to all hourly paid staff.

This is on top of the two per cent increase already applied in April this year and takes all salaries above the current real living wage.

All frontline care staff will benefit from the rise, which will mean over £1,000 extra per year for a Care Assistant before tax, and Ideal Carehomes has put the increase in place as a thank you for their continued dedication.

And Community Integrated Care said it was responding to the cost of living crisis by investing all of its annual surplus into a landmark pay increase for its frontline workers. Colleagues working for the charity will receive a nine per cent pay rise – a market-leading pay rate of £9.70 per hour.

Ideal’s MD Stacey Linn said: “I am so proud of the whole Ideal Carehomes team. They put themselves on the frontline throughout the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and were full of courage and commitment at a time when we all knew very little about the virus. Our pay rates were already higher than average but this five per cent extra is a thank you for everything our dedicated and highly skilled teams have done and continue to do.”

Lorraine Harris, activities co-ordinator at Ash Tree House, said: “The last 18 months have been difficult to say the least but I have always felt supported and valued. Working in the care sector is a vocation and we don’t do it for money, but to know that you are appreciated by your employer means a lot.”

Community Integrated Care said that its pay increase will be a welcome boost for both local care workers and job seekers in Wigan.

Chief people officer Teresa Exelby said: “This is by far the biggest investment in colleagues our charity has ever seen, but it’s something that we know is absolutely justified and needed. Our workforce has continued to deliver the best lives possible for the people we support throughout the toughest of circumstances and we want to ensure their pay recognises this.”

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