The Isle of Wight Council is to thank more than 3,400 local carers for their dedication and commitment during the pandemic by giving them a one-off bonus of £250, in the form of a Wight Gift Card.
The local care and support workers will be given Wight Gift Cards which they can use at any of 105 businesses and retailers on the island.
The Wight Gift Card scheme was launched by the Isle of Wight Council in 2020, and was chosen as the best way to get money directly to local carers.
With more than £850,000 in rewards given to carers over the next few weeks, this gesture of gratitude will also provide much-needed support for Island shops and other firms recovering from two years of Covid-19 restrictions.
The funding for this scheme has come from the government's Recruitment and Retention Workforce Grant, which can only be spent on supporting the local social care workforce.
Cllr Lora Peacey-Wilcox explained:
"Over the last two years, we all know that many care staff have worked with extraordinary dedication, often in very difficult and challenging conditions, to give their clients the care, dignity and support that they need.
"It is with gratitude we will be passing this part of the government's Recruitment and Retention Workforce Grant directly on to those hard-working care staff, to thank them for their work, dedication and loyalty through the challenging times faced by the social care sector”.
Businesses which would like to accept the Wight Gift Card as payment can do so by emailing [email protected]