This year we have seen many changes within the Company. Four of our service users have moved on. One has moved back to Guildford to be nearer his family, another has moved into a property of his own to further his independence, the other two were Resource Centre people who have ceased to need a day service. We wish them all well.
Three new service users have joined us this year, one requiring 24 hours support, the others requiring varying support hours during waking hours and are supported by our Peripheral Team of support workers.
Three of our existing service users have also seen some changes. Two have taken the opportunity to move on to a more independent lifestyle, living in their own flats. The other has moved into a shared house and has been able to access a grant to have a purpose built wet room to enable him to be more independent.
The Company now employ 19 full time and 14 part time staff. This includes our newly qualified Registered Managers Katie Mockridge and Gary Bowld. Directors, Jan and Debbie continue to work as part of the support team on a part time basis and support Katie and Gary with administration when required. Jan and Debbie will carry out the quality assurance and continue to write the Annual Report.
NVQ’s are at the forefront of our training with several employees studying at Levels 2,3 and 4. The Company are on track to achieving the required NVQ percentage target set by CSCI.
We have made considerable progress towards all staff achieving mandatory training targets. We have also accessed additional training courses to ensure that our staff have the appropriate skills to manage our service user group effectively. This includes ‘Total Communication’, ‘NAPPI’ (Non-Abusive Physical and Psychological Interventions), ‘Counselling Skills’ and ‘Mental Health Awareness’. We also have an in-house trainer who is working towards her 7303 City and Guilds training certificate.
Our Peripheral Team of support workers is now up and running with the service users that require minimal support.
Our staff team now consists of:-
The above is the total of staff employed by The Company
In addition to this we have several people who regularly work bank shifts to cover staff sickness/ holidays and any special events that may occur.
Our Resource Centre has been scaled down this year our two regular day service clients having moved on. However the Resource Centre continues with weekly groups meeting for Singing and Dancing, Healthy Living and Hobbies. Our allotment is also bearing fruit and veg this year thanks to lots of TLC!/b>
Two of our ladies have joined a local slimming club which they attend each week. With the support from their staff and help and advice with menu planning and recipes from Lynne (Resource Centre Facilitator) have made great progress.
The wet room at Sarum with disabled facilities is almost finished and we have moved our office to the ground floor to be more accessible to all. Our plans for two flats in the roof space have been put on hold for the time being. We have decided to use the space we have already to create living accommodation, this being one bed-sit upstairs and a disabled friendly unit downstairs. Both should be ready for occupation before Christmas.
The majority of our service users have been supported to go on holiday this year they have all had a wonderful time and are planning the next one. Some have chosen to have an activity holiday at the Calvert Trust, which was exhausting for all! Some chose to have a more relaxed time in an easy access cottage in Cornwall. Three of our ladies chose to go to Blackpool with a local coach company, and one was supported to go on holiday with her mother.
Everyone enjoyed the festivities in December 2006; the majority of the service users and several staff attended a luncheon at the Langstone Cliff Hotel at Dawlish Warren prior to Xmas. We held our annual staff “bash” also at the Langstone Cliff and enjoyed an evening with “Magic” and a lovely meal.
Lynne and staff organised a successful party for service users, friends and relatives at Sarum. The party included for the first time an Awards Ceremony where all service users and staff received a certificate for an area in which they excelled during the year. This was organised by Katie and the two Team Co-ordinators, Viv and Victoria. This went down really well and it is hoped that this will be an annual event.
We have taken on board comments made in our Quality Assurance Questionnaires 2005/2006, and feel that our communication between ourselves, and service users relatives has greatly improved. All service users are able to access a computer whether at home or at the Resource Centre and the ability to send and receive photos to and from their nearest and dearest has been a great achievement.
The feedback we have received from this years Quality Assurance Questionnaires are most pleasing, we have changed the format slightly which has enabled service users and their families to be more informative. The overall opinion of the service remains good. Specific areas outlined in the questionnaire were:
Some comments received
“-------- is very happy in his home”
“-------- has become more confident and able to make choices”
“the staff are on the end of the phone for us anytime”
“-------- reluctance to be away from his home and those that care for him speaks volumes”
“The best”
One parent made a comment regarding a particular area of support regarding diet. This is an area that we are learning about all the time and will endeavour to improve.
We have also changed the Quality Assurance Questionnaire for our service users to a more ‘user friendly’ format these are carried out by Jan and Debbie as they are now only part time and not involved in the day to day running of the Company. The service users have enjoyed this exercise and appeared to be very honest in their answers. Once again the overall comments have been very positive.
Both Directors are now working part time as part of the support team. They have both played major roles in the staff team over the past five years, being full time support staff, as well as carrying out the administration and running of the Company. They now feel ready to take a step back and have great confidence in Katie and Gary to take on the Registered Managers positions. Katie has worked for the Company from day one as a part time support worker. She joined the Company on a full time basis in June 2006 in the role of Administrator. Katie is a qualified nurse and has great knowledge and experience of working with people with special needs. She is also Jan’s daughter. Gary joined the Company in July 2005 as Resource Centre Co-ordinator. He has a psychology degree and again has great experience in the special needs field. Both Katie and Gary have recently achieved their RMA qualifications. We are confident the Company will continue to flourish in their safe hands.
Debbie Watkins
Janet Buckingham
Directors