Michelle named for carer award

4:09pm Thursday 22nd November 2007

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NOTHING is too much trouble for carer Michelle Collins, who has been nominated for the Daily Echo Carer of the Year Award which is supported by Southampton Lions Club.

Every weekday she helps 98-year-old Mary Hollis to get up, wash and dress, and also pops in for a coffee and chat during the week.

Michelle, 41, has been nominated by Mary's son Norman, 71, who lives with his mother in Litchfield Road, Midanbury, South-ampton.

He said: "Michelle is very attentive and understanding and courteous in every respect. She is very diligent. These traits these days seem to me to be in short supply."

A mother-of-two and grandmother-of-four, Mary, who suffers from osteoporosis, said that Michelle was a truly exceptional carer.

The extra mile' "She is very, very good. Nothing is too much trouble for her," she said.

Mary, a former housekeeper, added that Michelle most definitely went "the extra mile" in everything she did.

After learning that she had been nominated, Michelle, 41, who works for Care at Home and has been a carer for eight years, said: "I do enjoy my job. I don't think it is the sort of job you can do if you don't enjoy it. It is very rewarding."

Nominations are still open for the Daily Echo Carer of the Year Award, which has an adult and a junior section.

The Daily Echo is running the competition in conjunction with the Southampton Lions, a group of community-spirited volunteers who raise thousands of pounds every year for local good causes.

The adult carer of the year will win £200, plus £500 to a charity of their choice, as well as a special prize courtesy of the Southern Daily Echo.

The junior winner will receive £100 plus a special prize. There will also be prizes for every junior nominee.

Send your nominations to Clare Kennedy, Southern Daily Echo, Newspaper House, Test Lane, Redbridge, Southampton, SO16 9JX, e-mail clare.kennedy@dailyecho.co.uk or call 023 8042 4500.