A WOMAN who works on the “coal face” of caring for elderly people has won a second award for designs to ease their lives.

Brenda Currill, 64, picked up this year’s National Care Award for innovation — five years after she won it for creating adaptive nightgowns and pyjamas.

This time, her idea has been to design special micro-beads to help ease pressure points.

The small tubes can be used in pillows, as heel supports, or as finger separators and exercise pads for stress relief.

Mrs Currill picked up her Care Innovator award from TV presenter Tony Robinson, both pictured, at a ceremony in London.

The champagne reception and gala dinner contrasts with the source of her creativity, in old people’s homes, where she still works odd night shifts as a care assistant at Spencer Court, in Woodstock.

She said: “I started by looking after my husband’s elderly aunt, and I enjoyed the work.

“I’ve been doing it for six years, and though it’s not well-paid, it is a good, satisfying career.

“It is what I call my coal face, where you see what can be improved.

“Care assistants often get a bad press, but they do such a tough and good job for people who can be very lonely.”

She added: “When you’re involved so hands-on, you can see what can make their lives more convenient and comfortable.”

Some of her ideas are turned into reality by the small company, Medoris, she runs with her husband, David Currill, at the Crawley Mill industrial estate.

Manufacture is outsourced, and the micro-beads are now being made in China, with orders coming in from the United States.

The couple live at Wychwood Close, Charlbury, and moved into specialist aids and clothing for the elderly after the collapse of a previous business venture in the fashion industry several years ago.

Mr Currill said: “Brenda has the practical basis as a care assistant. You have to be in business to know how you can change things, but because she sees how things work or don’t work with the elderly, she has a very special talent.”

Medoris has produced a range of about 90 products, including bed pads, specialised napkin bibs, tray cloths, and cushions.

The National Care Awards, set up ten years ago and organised by care management magazine Caring Times, attracted several hundred entries this year.

This year’s event supported the work of the Alzheimer’s Society.