Not everyone is a fan of Zoom sessions and online learning but digital technology has helped Crossroads Together, a charity which supports unpaid carers and people with care needs, to recruit and train new staff quickly to meet the demanding needs of social care during the pandemic.

Existing staff have also been able to get their refresher training more easily and saved time on travel enabling them to dedicate more time to their role supporting service users. Meanwhile, employees on furlough have been able to log in and keep up to date from home, making them feel more engaged with the organisation.

The large charity was founded in 1990 as Macclesfield & District Crossroads to ensure unpaid carers, and the people they care for, could access the emotional and practical support needed to maintain their own health and wellbeing and continue in their caring role without reaching crisis or breakdown. Today working across Cheshire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Shropshire and Herefordshire, it supports more than 6,000 people a year through services including advice and information, care in the home, respite breaks, support for young carers, end of life care and activity groups for children and young people with disabilities.

Crossroads Together offers flexible working options, a supportive and caring culture and career development. A number of senior management staff have worked their way up through the organisation, including the Operations Director, Christine Aspin, who started 26 years ago as a support worker.