SPONSORED BY PLASTIC PROCESSING
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Home Instead Cleveland’ s Brenda Plowman received the Making A Difference award from Plastic Processing CEO Kevin Hannant.
WINNER
BRENDA PLOWMAN( HOME INSTEAD CLEVELAND)
After 19 years working in a bank, Brenda Plowman’ s career shift to the care sector has proved a successful and fulfilling one.
And now she’ s an award-winner too, having picked up the Making A Difference trophy at the 2025 Tees Business Awards.
Brenda is registered care manager with Home Instead Cleveland – a home care service staffed by more than 150 people and rated“ outstanding” by the Care Quality Commission.
For 19 years, she worked at Santander. But after being made redundant, she joined Home Instead six years ago and has never looked back.
She said:“ It was a huge change. I worked in complaints and as you can imagine, I dealt with various stressful situations. When I got made redundant, it was time to make a change. I wanted to find something where I could give back and not have to deal with negativity.
“ I went through lots of change, training and qualifications and I’ m still learning and developing, but my life and management skills that I learned over the years have definitely helped me.
“ The commitment that you give – it’ s a 24 / 7 job, not nine-to-five. For me, being in people’ s lives, especially towards the end of life, is a privilege – it’ s the most vulnerable time that any family will ever go through. My job is to make sure that it’ s the most calm and peaceful period of their lives because it’ s a time their families will always remember.
“ The world’ s a big place now so lots of children have careers abroad and further afield, so they can’ t look after mum and dad like they used to 20, 30 or 40 years ago. So our job is to fill that gap – to make sure we keep mum and dad safe, communicate between them and be their lifeline. We’ re there to take the pressure off them and make it comfortable and stress-free.”
Event host Hayley McQueen had already told the 350-strong audience how her late dad Gordon – the former Scottish international footballer who died in 2023, aged 70 – had been wonderfully cared for by Home Instead Cleveland. And it’ s that sort of feedback, says Brenda, that makes her relatively new career so rewarding.
FINALIST
STEVEN CLEMENTS( PHOENIX DESIGN MANAGEMENT)
Architectural leader for Darlington-based Phoenix Design, Steven has offered his design services free of charge to help transform the life of a severely disabled young lady who, because of a severe spine condition, can’ t easily access the upstairs of her home any longer.
With her condition deteriorating, the Phoenix team is redesigning her home to feature a ground-floor space she can use as a bedroom and bathroom. Steven has selflessly spent hours voluntarily attending building meetings and securing planning permissions and volunteers.
He has also offered his staff to help project manage and secured a disability access grant to fund materials – all of which will, ultimately, enable the girl to live a more independent life.
FINALIST
STEVE SOUTHERN( SOUTHERN ASSET MANAGEMENT)
The driving force behind an award-winning Stockton-based business, Steve has implemented an innovative apprenticeship programme that has opened doors for young people on Teesside – transforming their career prospects and contributing to the region’ s economic growth.
Former serviceman Steve’ s commitment to supporting veterans resulted in a prestigious Covenant Award for his efforts to provide meaningful pathways for ex-military personnel. But beyond professional achievements, Steve’ s courage in sharing his personal mental health struggles has made him a beacon of hope and inspiration.
By speaking openly, he has broken down stigma and encouraged others to seek help, fostering vital conversations around mental well-being in the workplace and beyond.
SPONSOR’ S REFLECTIONS:
Kevin Hannant, CEO, Plastic Processing:“ We’ ve all needed a helping hand at some time or another, whether in our personal or family lives, and we generally rely on these people to help and inspire us. We couldn’ t get behind this award quickly enough and Brenda is an outstanding winner.”
The voice of business in the Tees region | 117