Sustainability - who cares? Abbey Care does.

Abbey Care Direct 

Last month I was greeted by Sharon Aston, the manager of Abbey Care Direct, with a flurry of excitement. She was eager to tell me what they had been doing over the past few of weeks to achieve their sustainability action plan, for their care home - Sabrina house in Shrewsbury.  It took me by surprise and quite frankly, I wished all my clients could be this enthusiastic.    

Earlier this year (2025) Abbey Care Direct decided to become more sustainable. This was in line with the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) Sustainability Policy.  E4environment Ltd are sponsors of Partners in Care and we were delighted to help them.  Knowing where to start is the hardest part.  From our point of view, the very least you can do is comply with any relevant environmental legislation; anything else shows real progress and a game changer.     

Process 

Sharon registered with our scheme “Sustainable Leaders in Business”, designed to help busy managers make the first steps to becoming environmentally sustainable.  Once she’d registered, she was invited to complete Step 1.  Step 1 guides the user through a maze of legislation by asking a few straightforward yes/no questions. These help filter out the environmental legislation that is relevant to their particular business.  The report gives a description of the legislation and who needs to comply. There is an option to download the actual details of the legislation.  Once Step 1 is complete the online report is automatically updated as and when we do any legal updates.  This is such a bonus for those organisations that need to demonstrate that they are keeping up to date with relevant legislation.  

Sharon then went on to complete Step 2 – Goal setting. The feedback was again, the process is easy to complete. The aim for Step 2 is to provide ideas of changes that can be made to reduce their environmental impact, or make a positive contribution such as to biodiversity.  

Achievements  

When I visited Sharon, she had been completing some of her biodiversity goals. She decided to install bird boxes and plants into the garden.  She also thought that it would be a great activity to get the care home residents involved.  With paintbrushes in hand, they all took part in assembling and decorating the boxes. "They loved it".  This was such a positive thing to do, not only for the environment and biodiversity, it created a great deal of fun, satisfaction and interest for the residents.   

A great big well done to Abbey Care Direct at Sabrina House for making a strong start.  We will be following their progress over the next 12 months.

If you’re interested, sign up to our monthly newsletter check our website. Or even better, join Abbey Care Direct and become a Sustainable Leader too.  

Dr. Mandy Stoker