Press release: Camden Team win CNWL Team of the Year

Camden Homeless Health Visiting Team wins CNWL Team of the Year award

"The girls are amazing, they've grown up with people telling them that they can't do it but Anneke and I are telling them that they can do it and they do." 

These are the proud words of Kirsty McDonagh, Specialist Health Visitor from our Camden's Homeless Families and Health Visiting Team. The team were awarded Team of the year at the 2018 annual gem awards on Friday. Here, she is speaking warmly about the homeless children and families that herself and her colleague, Anneke De Jung, care for at their clinic. The women look after families, pregnant ladies and babies from 0-5 who live in temporary accommodation. This includes hostels, refuge or supported housing within Camden.

The clinic is a life-line for homeless families, who often suffer from mental health problems and substance abuse. A lot of the families will have experienced some form of domestic violence too.

When asked if they thought the team should win the award, their patients said, "Yes, they're really good with kids and everybody adores them and loves them. Without them we wouldn't know where to go."

Kirsty recalls feeling that way when she was growing up, and explains why working for the team is a job close to her heart:

"When I was a young person, I was homeless myself," she says, "I'm aware of how it is growing up somewhere where you don't have a stable home."

Presently, the team support more than 150 children. They offer weekly drop in sessions, knock on doors of hostels offering support and making sure these children ‘do not slip through the net.'

We've produced a short film which explores the work of the Homeless Health Visiting Team: Team of the Year - Camden Homeless Health Visiting Team.

For further information, contact Jessicacooke3@nhs.net

Editor's notes:

More information about the CNWL Annual Gems

The CNWL Annual Gems took place this year on Friday 15 June. The event is the Trust's Staff Awards and Long Service Awards Ceremony.

This year's ceremony was attended by finalists from each of our 11 award categories, and by our Long Service Award winners who have dedicated 20, 30 and 40 years to working in the NHS.

Over 100 nominations were received across the award categories, and the event saw the introduction on five brand new categories this year including Healthy Gem, Innovator of the Year, Apprentice of the Year, Staff Network Gem and Mentor of the Year.

Read about the event on our website

Take a look at photos from the event on our CNWL Facebook