THREE more sponsors have been announced for the Daily Echo Proud to Care awards 2018.

And the deadline has been extended to give people more time to nominate their care heroes.

Roostr is sponsoring the Care Home Worker of the Year award and a spokesman said:"This award honours the values that Roostr holds in such high esteem – the delivery of an outstanding service to vulnerable residents in a care home setting.

"Roostr asks employers to evaluate the self-employed nurses and carers that fill their temporary shifts against five criteria - reliability, professionalism, knowledge, communication and kindness. We are confident that the person that wins Care Home Worker of the Year would achieve the highest possible score against all these criteria."

Care UK, which runs The Potteries, is sponsoring the Dementia Care Worker of the Year award.

A spokesman said: "Here at The Potteries, personalised care is at the heart of all we do, so we’re proud to support these awards, which pay tribute to those carers in the local community who go above-and-beyond.

"Our dedicated teams take pride in delivering the very highest quality residential, dementia and nursing care, and we understand how rewarding it is to offer great care. We believe this should be focused around understanding each resident’s unique needs and preferences, to support them to have enjoyable activities and meaningful experiences every day. We look forward to seeing the awards give both paid and unpaid carers the recognition they deserve."

Bournemouth Rotary club has chosen to sponsor the Young Carer of the Year category and a spokesman said: "Many young carers are often not recognised for the incredible amount of work that they do. Their daily sacrifice goes unnoticed

"Undoubtedly being carer can be physically and emotionally exhausting. The impact on a young carer's life can be profound and have far-reaching consequences. Often these young carers are unsung heroes."

Nominations are flooding in for the awards, which recognise all the good work going on in the care industry across Dorset and the New Forest.

We are urging members of the public to put forward the unsung heroes of the caring world in a total of 13 categories.

One of the judges has been revealed as Dee Swinton, the Income Generation and Marketing Manager for Dorset Mind.

And there's still an opportunity to get involved by sponsoring one of the categories.

They are Home Worker of the Year, Care Home of the Year, Home Care Worker of the Year, Dementia Care Worker of the Year, Young Carer of the Year, Palliative Care Worker of the Year, Volunteer Carer of the Year, New Professional Care Worker, Family Carer of the Year, Learning Disability Care Worker, Home Care Provider of the Year, Special Recognition Award and Apprentice of the Year.

Members of the public have until October 23 to send in their nominations.

Judging will then take place and a shortlist will be published in the Daily Echo and online on November 8.

Shortlisted nominees and their guests will be invited to a ceremony and lunch at the Marsham Court Hotel in Bournemouth on Thursday, November 15 where the winners will be announced.

To nominate go to bournemouthecho.co.uk/careawards