“A journey rooted in love, compassion and commitment to serving our community with dignity and care.”

The words our Registered Manager and CEO Cathy Naigow at a very special event to mark the 20th anniversary of Vincentian Care Plus.

​We were proud to gather at a highly prestigious Westminster location on Saturday (September 28th) to celebrate an incredible 20 years, and, most importantly, to celebrate the incredible people who make what we do possible.

​It was a chance to bring together our team members, stakeholders and service-users with our founding sisters from the Daughters of Charity, to shine a light on VCP and its continued and growing importance.

Our charity was founded to provide exceptional care to the elderly and in need within our community in the London borough of Westminster. The ‘plus’ in our name reflects our commitment to doing more for the people we support and is driven by a clear social mission to address emerging poverties.
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In the last 20 years whilst household wealth has tripled in the UK, poverty has continued to increase and deepen. Despite the input of 6 prime ministers, poverty has continued to grow at unprecedented levels.

It's estimated that around one in ten people over the age of 65 are malnourished or are at risk of malnutrition – that's over one million older people in the UK today.

2.1 million (or around 1 in 6) pensioners are living in poverty, 8.1 million (or around 2 in 10) working-age adults, and 4.2 million (or nearly 3 in 10) children.

​Over 28% of people with informal caring roles live in poverty, 4 in 10 Asian families and a shocking 42% of black African families.

​We are proud to provide more than 150,000 hours of care each year, supporting 250 people.

None of it would be possible without our dedicated staff members, the heart of everything we do, and we’re immensely proud to have one of the lowest staff turnover rates in the care sector, with 25 of our team receiving long service awards at our celebration.

We were privileged to welcome the sisters who founded our charity 20 years ago, including Sister Ellen who spoke of the values we were founded on, and which remain at the absolute centre of VCP.

“Everyone who encounters VCP knows that the service is built on relationships, one to one relationships of love and laughter, or joys and sorrows, shared respect and dignity for everyone. The holistic approach intends to envelop each person with whom it comes in contact, yes the people we support in their homes are the centre of our lives, but this approach also includes staff, partners, funders, and the way we conduct ourselves as an organisation internally and externally, in every arena. The integrity of the organisation demands that we proclaim our values in every layer of our organisation. Today we celebrate 20 years of the unbroken stream of caring delivered with distinct values, reaching back to the beginning.”
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To everyone who joined us, thank you. 

Shared values and going the extra mile – we were honoured to give thanks to some of our long-standing team members at our 20th anniversary celebrations.

“As I always say, one tree does not make a forest. The staff are the pillars of VCP,” our Registered Manager and CEO Cathy said.

Sentiments echoed by our Chairman Glen von Malachowski: “Our staff are our most important asset, the quality of what we do is determined by the commitment and consistency of our staff, to them it is not just a job. We are committed to the professionalisation of the carers’ role, and we will continue to fight for improvements in pay, training and recognition of the importance of their role.”