Q&A with Martin Gould, Ambassador of Care Home Open Week 2025
In this Q&A, we speak with Martin Gould (Head of Brokerage – Care at Christie & Co) who sheds light on the importance of Care Home Open Week and why you should get involved.
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Image: Photo from the Care Home Open Week 2024 launch event
Ahead of this year’s Care Home Open Week (CHOW), we spoke with Martin Gould - Head of Brokerage in the Care team at Christie & Co and an Ambassador for CHOW in 2025 - about the event itself, what it means to the sector, and why you should consider taking part.
What is Care Home Open Week (CHOW) and what makes it so special?
Founded in 2013 by Championing Social Care, Care Home Open Week (CHOW) is a unique, week-long event that celebrates the brilliance of the UK’s care homes and workforce. This year, it’s taking place between 16 and 22 June.
CHOW is special because it’s all about the sector coming together to promote their homes and the communities that live within by inviting others into their care homes. This benefits their residents and brings the community together whilst showing what life-enhancing places homes can be.
The biggest highlight of the event for me is hearing all the stories about open days that have been run and seeing the photos from events around the country. It’s a fantastic event and it’s great to see so many taking part and enjoying the activities.
Why is Christie & Co sponsoring CHOW for the third year in a row?
We’re always looking for ways that we can help support the sector and when we were first asked to sponsor the event three years ago, it made perfect sense to us. It’s a brilliant event to be able to support and to see grow year-on-year.
My colleague, Lee Howard, and I are also very proud to sit on the CHOW organising committee and help promote the event through our day-to-day conversations with operators.
How is CHOW different this year? Is there anything special you want to highlight?
The brilliant organising committee at CHOW works really hard to improve the event each year. In 2025, CHOW has a new partnership with Music for Dementia, there are new tools for participating care homes to use to plan and deliver activities, and CHOW is also joining up with the Glad to Care campaign to make the event a true celebration of all that’s great about care.
How can people get involved?
The best way you can get involved is to run an open day at your care home between 16 and 22 June. You can sign up through the CHOW website which will give you access to all sorts of information to help you arrange an event that best suits your home and residents. The number of homes signed up so far this year is growing week by week, but we want to get as many homes involved as possible, so please don’t hesitate to take part.
Secondly, there has been a big effort this year to increase the coverage and accessibility of the Great British Care Cycle Relay which is part of CHOW and involves regional cycling events throughout the UK, starting in Scotland and finishing in London which kick-starts CHOW. This event is for anyone to join, so please get involved and sign up on the website, here.
If you’re considering signing your care home up for Care Home Open Week this year, you can do so at the link here.