Your future, your choice
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Staff Bulletin
| December 2015
Choice has got Talent
- what a show!
Dale Daniels and Caroline Hunt both take the title of Winner in our 5th annual contest
PLUS
• Choice Conference 2015
• Friendship in Autism Cooking Group
• Staff Awards 2015
• Taking on a new residential service – the Home Manager’s perspective
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Choice News Round up
New Supported Living in Slough
Choice involved in police training
Spooky Fun
News from the services
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Choice Football Tournament
Lee tells his story
Operations update by Tracy Lanes
Referrals update by Tracy Bridgman
Psychology Update by Peter Oakes
Welcome
Welcome to the Winter 2015 edition of our newsletter which gives you an update of
what’s been happening in Choice.
In this issue we have
stories, interviews and
activity reports from
our service users and
staff as well as updates
about events, home
openings, new team members and
recent initiatives we’ve introduced.
also the staff teams who work with
individuals and their families to make
the transition into their new homes as
smooth and easy as possible. You can
gain some insight into the experience
and challenges of being a new home
manager by reading two of their stories
on pages 13-14.
It’s been an extremely busy time over
the past months with a lot of our energy
focused on the opening of our four new
homes - you can read about these on
pages 5-6. We hope you’ll agree that
these new homes have all been finished
to a very high standard, designed
with thought and consideration for the
people who will live here and most
importantly, that they provide a warm
and welcoming environment. We
are justifiably proud of the staff who
put so much effort into ensuring our
homes are of the highest quality and
For me, one of the real highlights of
the year is Choice has got Talent. This
has grown year on year since we first
started it in 2010 and is such a joyous
occasion. I’m always so impressed
by the effort the staff, service users
and events team put into creating
such a glittering and fun event. It’s
a real pleasure to see everyone
enjoying themselves on the day, the
excitement of those taking part and the
appreciation of the people who come
to support and encourage. I think the
event is summed up beautifully by the
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Your future, your choice
parent of one of our service users who
took part:
I am so proud of my son for performing
at Choice has got Talent. I love the
amount of effort and organisation
that goes into it and this really shows
you all care about the people you
support. Seeing my son on the stage
with his trophy was a very proud and
memorable moment for me.
So well done to everyone who was
involved – it was a fantastic day.
I hope you enjoy reading about all
our events and activities and I wish
you all a very happy and relaxing
Christmas and best wishes for the
New Year!
Edwina Johnston, Chief Executive
Choice Conference 2015…..interesting,
inspiring and good fun too!
We held three regional conferences this year to give as many of our staff as possible the
chance to attend.
The events had a good mix of content
with updates about the company
including vision for the future presented
by Edwina, our CEO, staff development
particularly in relation to CQC standards
presented by Area Director, Mark Luce
and a presentation about the Service
User Committee, their role and the
topics they cover in their meetings – a
very long and comprehensive list!
We also had guest speakers from a
variety of organisations, including Skills
for Care, Care England, the Social Care
Workforce Research Unit and Excelat.
We had some very inspirational talks that
made us pause and think about the job
we do and why we do it.
At the final conference in Gloucester,
Graham Wilson from Excelat gave a very
animated and involving presentation. He
talked about personality types and got
us all trying to decide the type of person
we are which is reflected in the way we
behave and react to the people around
us. It was compelling stuff and for quite a
few it wasn’t easy to decide if they are an
introvert or an extrovert. When we looked
at behavioural styles, most people in the
room decided they were a ‘supporter’
which was both striking and reassuring
given the sector we work in!
The Psychology Team managed to steal
the day for many with their two highly
entertaining team activities – cutting a
business card so a team member could
step through it (how, indeed?!) and a
whole conference game of ‘thumb war’.
All in the name of leadership and team
working – fun and effective!
Each of the conferences finished
with a look at a small selection of the
compliments received by our services
over the past months. They really bring
to life the work we do with our service
users and the commitment of our staff
and it’s very heart-warming to know that
it is appreciated. These are a very small
selection of the compliments:
“I am delighted by the level of care
provided by the staff at the home,
particularly my son’s key worker. It was
a huge leap of faith to entrust my son’s
care and wellbeing to someone else.
I could not be more pleased with how
happy he is and the support that I have
received to help me start to let go.”
“We are so happy with the care our son
receives in his new home, we haven’t
seen him smile so much in a long time.”
“I have 78 clients from up and down
the country and I have never been
to a home that offers so much. The
information and communication
provided by this service is the best I
have ever seen.”
“Welcoming environment, cheerful,
good evidence of activities in the
community, records are well prepared
for my clinical input, thanks to all the
staff and leadership within the service.”
“I am very impressed with the
promotion of the service users’
independence, daily routine and
how staff actively support them with
this. It is the most proactive service
we have seen and the paperwork
is spot on. The staff are very
professional.”
“The staff working in this home are
lovely, polite and friendly. They make
me feel welcome when I visit and it’s a
pleasure to come here.”
www.choicecaregroup.com
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Friendship in Autism Cooking Group
Excel has been running a series of topic groups for people with Autism in Bracknell.
The groups are outcome-based,
comprise four sessions each over a four week period and cover key topics including Cooking Healthy
Meals, Managing Relationships,
Budgeting and The Effects of Alcohol/ Drugs.
This is part of an ongoing programme
that Choice will participate in, twice
a year.
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The cooking group was the first to
run and has been a great success.
We hired Bracknell’s Open Learning
Centre Kitchen for the four sessions
and worked with a group of six service
users to cook healthy meals. It’s been
such a success that three of the group
wanted to continue. As a result, and with
encouragement from their support staff,
they have now gone on to do a weekly
cooking session at each other’s houses.
Your future, your choice
They get together on a Wednesday
evening and take it in turns to purchase
the ingredients and use one of their
kitchens. The guys are supported to
cook an evening meal and then enjoy
eating it together. It’s great to see a
growing friendship and mutual support
develop between the guys in the group.
The groups are funded by Bracknell
Forest Council.
Lee tells his story
Lee came to Parkwood Lodge in April 2013. He suffers with Paranoid Schizophrenia and
substance misuse. He shared his story through his keyworker Katrina.
Katrina said that when Lee first
arrived at Parkwood Lodge he hadn’t been taking care of himself,
looked shabby and had poor physical health. He was also very under-weight.
Lee said that his past wasn’t easy –
he had made wrong choices, had
bad influences throughout his life,
spent time in prison and had been
homeless. His life had often been
hectic and traumatic.
Coping with everyday activities
was often incredibly difficult for
Lee. He lacked self-confidence
and self-esteem and always thought
the worst was going to happen, saying
things like, “what’s the point in trying,
when nothing good happens.”
At Parkwood Lodge, the team
supported and encouraged Lee,
teaching him coping skills, promoting
his independence and helping
him to deal with daily life. Lee also
attends the Orion Centre recovery
group. Together these have given
him the determination to start
thinking positively and moving
towards recovery.
Since living at Parkwood Lodge, Lee
has come a long way. He now takes
pride in his appearance, has improved
his health through a more balanced diet
and, even more impressively, has not
abused any illegal substances for many
months. He keeps his room tidy and
only occasionally asks for support. Lee
now helps around the house and with
the shopping and even does some of
the cooking – everybody says his meals
are great!
Lee is very active and sociable,
enjoying outings and day trips. He
loves clothes shopping, going to the
cinema, bike rides, leisurely walks and
going out with his dad who he has built
a good relationship with. Lee has also
discovered his own creativity and is
passionate about anything to do
with art.
There are still setbacks for Lee and
he can find daily life a challenge.
In these situations Lee uses his
goals, including the ones he has
already achieved, to help him focus
on his recovery journey.
The staff team at Parkwood
Lodge are incredibly proud of Lee
and how far he has come. Lee
wanted to share his story to give
hope to anyone in a sticky situation
or who might be having difficulties
in their life.
www.choicecaregroup.com
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Choice News Round up
New homes
We opened four new homes in the latter half of this year – two in Compton near Winchester, one in Bournemouth and one in Addlestone, Surrey. All these new residential services provide
24-hour support for people with learning disabilities, autism and complex needs.
Compton House and Otterbourne House, situated just south of Winchester, opened in September. Although they are beside each
other they are quite different properties.
Compton House was an existing, character property that has been completely refurbished and updated internally to provide eight en-suite
bedrooms, spacious lounge and dining areas and three separate self-contained annexes, each with their own lounge and kitchenette.
Read the interview with Ewa Golabek, Manager of Compton House, on page 14.
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Your future, your choice
Otterbourne House is a new build home and looks very different. Single storey, with seven en-suite rooms that each open
onto their own private terrace, it provides contemporary residential living tailored to meet the needs of the individuals who
live here. It also has two separate self-contained annexes.
Winton Lodge, Bournemouth and Wey View in Surrey were both older properties that have been extensively refurbished and
updated to provide stylish, spacious, high quality residential living. Winton Lodge, situated in a pleasant residential road close to
Bournemouth town centre, has seven en-suite rooms and two separate, self-contained annexes. Set in a leafy road in suburban
Addlestone, Wey View has eight en-suite bedrooms in the main building plus two separate, self-contained one-bedroom annexes.
It also has a very large garden with dedicated activity room and plenty of space to create a sensory area and vegetable patch,
which manager Christine Howley hopes to have by next summer.
Read her interview about opening a new home, on page 13.
www.choicecaregroup.com
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Psychology Update
by Peter Oakes
Recovering recovery?
This project in our Hampshire services
is about reviewing how we use the
Recovery Star to see how people with
mental health problems are making
progress in Choice services. The
Recovery Star comes from an approach
to supporting people with mental health
problems that encourages collaboration
and involvement and always seeks to be
hopeful about the future.
The idea is that people think about
what recovery means to them and
then work towards it – always trying
to stay hopeful. We are working with
the people we support and the staff
to see how using the Recovery Star
helps us to work positively and
hopefully with people.
Hellos and goodbyes
Hello to Anna
It has been great to say hello to
Anna Thake who is a qualified clinical
psychologist and will be focussing on
the services around Gloucestershire and
Oxfordshire. She will also be helping us
think more about research.
Goodbye to Calum
PBS, PBSPs and other
acronyms
As I’m sure you know PBSP stands
for Positive Behaviour Support Plan
and is based an approach that is very
popular in services for people with
learning disabilities – Positive Behaviour
Support (PBS). Everyone who lives
in Choice residential services has a
PBSP to help guide staff in how to
support them, especially when things
are difficult.
There has been lots of research
and some new ideas about Positive
Behaviour Support in the last three or
four years, and we want to make sure
the PBSPs are still up to date and that
staff still find them useful. A project
group, with a mix of Service Managers
and Assistant Psychologists (APs) met
for the first time in October. Watch
this space…
We are sorry to say good bye to Calum
Murray who left this November. Calum
has been a brilliant member of the team
and will be a real asset to the forensic
service he is joining in Somerset. We
wish him all the very best.
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Your future, your choice
Other News
We are doing some work to help make
sure the Mental Capacity Act is being
followed properly in the services and
helping people to understand what it is
all about! We also want to make sure it is
as straightforward as possible.
And of course members of the psychology
team are doing all they can to support the
day-to-day work in the homes and other
services. Do get in touch if you have any
questions or any ideas to help us to
help you!
News from Excel Support Services
We said farewell and good luck to
Estelle Christmas, Supported Living
Business Development Manager who
has moved on to a new position. Estelle
worked hard to develop the supported
living side of Choice Care Group (Excel
Support Services) which has opened up
in new areas for us. Estelle said that she
had really enjoyed working for Choice
Care Group and would miss everyone.
Excel now operates in Bracknell, Dorset,
Gloucester, Hampshire, Reading, Slough,
Sutton Coldfield and West Berkshire.
New support and accommodation
arrangements will also be operational
soon in Birmingham and Surrey.
New supported living in Surrey
St John’s Road, Farnham is Excel’s
new supporting living service for people
with learning disabilities. The service
will support seven people with learning
disabilities, autism and complex needs
and was developed to enable people
from Surrey to be supported in their
own local area.
The property has been completely
updated and refurbished to provide
contemporary supported living. It
has four large en-suite bedrooms on
the ground floor, kitchen, spacious
dining area and a lounge with access
to the large, secluded rear garden.
There are three further bedrooms on
the first floor.
The service will open in spring 2016.
Support to find housing
Increasingly Excel is assisting people
to find housing solutions and
move towards more independent
arrangements, either moving on from
residential provisions or leaving education
and wanting to have a home of their own
to move into.
The philosophy and values
underpinning the supported living
practice are based on the 11 REACH
standards which are:
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2
3
4
5
6
7
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I choose who I live with
I choose where I live
I have my own home
I choose how I am supported
I choose who supports me
I get good support
I choose my friends and
relationships
I choose how to be healthy
and safe
I choose how I am part of the
community
I have the same rights and
responsibilities as other citizens
I get to help to make changes
in my life
www.choicecaregroup.com
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Referrals update
by Tracy Bridgman
Since the last Staff Bulletin, a lot has
happened across Choice Care Group.
New homes
New homes, Compton House and
Otterbourne House opened this summer
and have welcomed their first service
users – see profiles and photos on pages
5-6. All of the rooms at Otterbourne have
now been allocated as have all but one at
Compton House.
As we know, staff and recruitment is an
issue right across the care sector at the
moment and we applaud Ewa (manager
of Compton) and Donna (manager of
Otterbourne) for doing such an excellent
job in setting up the homes under quite
difficult circumstances. It is very much
recognised that staff at these homes and
right across the Choice Care Group have
been working really hard to support their
colleagues to ensure that the people we
support continue to receive the best care
possible – so a huge thank you to you all
and well done!
we open new homes. This is invaluable
and enables us to ensure that we continue
to imprint the Choice Care Group
standard of care on our new services.
Wey View is our first home in Surrey. We
welcomed our first service users from the
middle of November. Manager Chrissy,
former deputy at Little Heath Court has
taken over as manager at Wey View. You
can read her interview on page 13.
Winton Lodge, is our new Bournemouth
home and is managed by former
Twynham deputy manager Mona.
A huge thank you to everyone at our
Central Support offices who has helped
to make these new homes operational.
Referrals Team changes
Eva is a qualified marketer with a great
deal of experience gained in a number of
business sectors and also spent time in
an advertising agency where she worked
on well-known brands such as British
Airways and Hamleys Toy Shop. Just
before coming to Choice Eva worked in a
small housing association that specialised
in housing and support services for people
with disabilities and mental health issues.
The opening of new homes not only
helps us to find comfortable, safe and
good places to live for even more people
but it also provides opportunities for the
many Choice staff who are looking to
progress in their professional careers.
We very much want to support their
career development through excellent
training opportunities like the Choice
Care Group academy and then through
offering opportunities for promotion.
Staff development
As we continue to develop new homes,
we are ever mindful of the services that
are already in operation. As a senior
management team, we regularly discuss
how we can ensure that these homes
continue to be great place to live in and
to work. This is not always easy given
the age of some of the homes but it
remains high on our agenda. We are also
really pleased to see staff progressing
through the Choice Academy and rising
up through the organisation to share their
skills and knowledge with new staff when
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material such as leaflets and service
profiles for our new services as well as
press advertising and this newsletter!
She will also manage our new business
tender submissions.
Elaine Pidgeon-Kellas, who joined
Choice at the beginning of 2015 takes on
responsibility for all supported living and
community support packages of care –
although she will also continue to manage
the referrals for Winton Lodge until it is full.
In May we welcomed Eva Boyd
who joined Choice as our Business
Communications & Marketing Manager.
Eva will manage all Choice’s marketing
communications including updating the
website and intranet, producing publicity
Your future, your choice
Eva said, “Choice is a really refreshing
place to work – I have found everyone to
be kind, helpful and supportive. There’s a
strong sense of commitment to doing the
best we possibly can for all our service
users and a real sense of pride in their
every achievement. It’s a pleasure to
work here and to feel part of a company
and a group of people who really care
about what they do.”
We are also really pleased to welcome
Louise Carter as Deputy Referrals Director
who will start on February 1st 2016.
David Spencer continues to oversee the
referrals for our mental health services
with Becky Green and Patryk Zastepowski
working with the managers of the learning
disability services.
Operations update
by Tracy Lanes
Choice Care Group Academy
Earlier this year we finalised the work we
were doing on the Choice Care Group
Academy which is a whole approach
to recruiting and developing excellent
staff. Most staff will have been appraised
using the new system which scores
overall performance out of 50. We have
reviewed the results of the scores across
the organisation and the average score
for staff is 38.41 and the average score
for managers is 40.76.
The results show that as an organisation
we need to work on improving our
communication and we need to become
better at openly reflecting on our practice.
However we scored very strongly on
working with external colleagues, working
in a values driven way, respecting each
other and our culture is very important
to us. This system is allowing us, as
individual professionals, to work on our
own development but also to look across
the organisation more globally to identify
trends so we can continue to improve
wherever possible.
Conferences
We delivered three very successful staff
conferences this year with a theme of
staff development. This required a lot of
work and time but we wanted to involve
as many staff as possible from across
the organisation and it was definitely
worth it. We had some excellent external
speakers – read the full report about
the conferences and see the photos
on page 2.
Choice Care Group valuing
staff strategy
We value our staff very much and we
have been working on a strategy looking
at the benefits we have in place for staff
and ideas for further creative benefits
going forward.
We want to set ourselves apart as one of
the best employers in our sector so we
need to have an intelligent strategy for
valuing our employees that makes people
want to work for us and makes them want
to stay.
Staff turnover costs us a lot financially in
terms of time, adverts, training etc. but
it also costs in other ways such as poor
morale, staff stress, and poor outcomes for
the people we support because new staff
are less skilled initially and the people we
support really miss good staff when they
leave. High staff turnover breeds high staff
turnover and results in a vicious cycle where
we never quite catch up with ourselves.
Therefore we have presented a report to
the Board of what we have in place at the
moment and what further initiatives we
want to implement to improve employees
benefits. This will be shared with all staff
once we have a definite action plan.
Regionalisation
As part of our growth strategy we have
decided to make some changes to how
the business is organised and structured.
This is to enable us to more effectively
manage our growth and ensure that we
keep the focus on quality throughout
the organisation, as well as providing
the opportunity to develop further the
relationship between services and the
senior management in the organisation.
We are dividing the residential services
into three regions. Each region will be
managed by a Regional Director who will
be Mark Morgan, Mark Luce and Frances
Love. Each region will have dedicated
Assistant Regional Directors and a
dedicated psychology team.
This may mean that for some managers
their line managers will change but this
restructure means that there will be
fewer changes in the future and therefore
greater consistency.
We will be recruiting a Head of Human
Resources and Director of Supported
Living to enable Mark and Mark to move
into their new roles.
Martin Prescott will become the Quality
Director of a new Quality Department
and we will be recruiting a new Quality
Manager to assist him in his role. Peter
Oakes will be moving into a part-time
consultancy role. These changes are likely
to take place early in 2016.
Quality Assurance
We completed our annual survey of
service users, families, care managers
and staff and the results are published
on our website. Looking at the main
strengths and weaknesses identified by
the respondent groups we found:
Service users strongly felt that staff were
kind and respectful and cared about
them. However they would like to get out
more and they would like to see more of
their families.
Relatives strongly felt staff were kind and
respectful; their relative had choice and
the staff helped service users to maintain
good contact with families. However they
think communication could be better and
promises need to be followed through and
service users could be supported to be
more independent.
Staff said they enjoyed working for CCG
and feel listened to and think the training is
good. However they don’t feel they know
enough about what senior managers do.
They feel they have too much paperwork
to do and that recruitment is a problem.
Care Managers said they feel the
services treated people with compassion,
dignity and respect. They said we
achieved good outcomes and we
provided safe services. However they
think we need to invest more in quality
standards and the environments. They
think we could be better at retaining staff,
communication and leadership.
For all the groups surveyed, we have listed
the actions we need to take to address
shortfalls and will be working on these as
our business plan for the year.
You can read the full report on our
website: www.choicecaregroup.com
(under About us)
www.choicecaregroup.com
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Staff Awards
2015
2015
Awards
2015
This sparkling event took place in the impressive Madejski Stadium in Reading this September.
This is a key event in the Choice
calendar when we celebrate the
achievements of staff who make a real
difference to the lives of the people
we support. This is the second year
we’ve held the event which provides an
opportunity to recognise and reward
staff nominated across 13 categories
(detailed below).
This is also a great opportunity for
Choice staff to come together in a social
setting to celebrate the work of the
organisation and their teams.
Chief Executive Edwina Johnston said:
“We are proud of our staff and the
role they all play in delivering positive
outcomes for service users and so it is
an honour to be able to recognise their
achievements.”
Award categories and winners:
Leadership award
Won by:Eve Little
Eve leads by example, dealing with
everyone in a caring and professional
manner. With her hands-on approach
she is an effective role model, much
admired for her ability to remain calm
and confident in every situation. A highly
regarded manager, Eve enables those
around her to progress and develop.
Made a difference – Team Award
Won by:Stroud Lodge
In the absence of an Activities Coordinator,
Stroud Lodge set about developing a
team approach. As a result, individuals
are included in the planning and choosing
of all activities which has enabled them to
make new friends and contacts in the local
community. They will be the first team to
put themselves forward to help with fetes
and parties in their local area.
Most positive outcome for a service
user – Individual award
Mental Health Recovery
Won by:Tracey Edmond
Won by:Victoria Lodge
Tracey helped an individual to realise
their lifelong dream – to move from a
residential placement into their own
flat. Tracey worked tirelessly with the
lady concerned who is now living in her
own home and beginning a new, more
independent life.
To get the best outcomes for the
people they support, manager Sharon
McClintock encouraged the team to
embrace the Recovery approach.
With Sharon’s leadership, the team
focused on applying the Recovery Star
to develop the lives of the people they
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Your future, your choice
support and help them engage in their
recovery journey.
Most improved home or supported
living service
Won by:Ocknell Park
The team at Ocknell Park has worked
really hard over the past year to improve
its services, focusing on the people
they support as well as making vast
improvements to the cleanliness and
décor of the home itself. The hard work
has paid off – well done Ocknell Park!
Expert Auditors Award
Won by:Fairview
Expert Auditors live in our services
and are also employed by us to help
monitor quality. Fairview won this award
because they had the highest overall
score from the audit visits carried out by
our team of Expert Auditors. Ratings are
based on the following categories:
• A good atmosphere
• Staff that positively engage with the
people supported
• Good activities
• Good staff that are helpful, friendly,
have a sense of humour and are
caring and kind
• Homely and tidy environment
• Offers nice food
Most positive outcome for a service
user – Team Award
Won by: Red Roof
One of our service users at Red Roof
had spent much of his life in and out of
hospitals due to the complexity around his
behaviour. This made it very difficult for him
to find a suitable place to live. Red Roof
offered him a place in one of its annexes –
as a result this person is beginning to make
progress and develop new skills which
previously hadn’t been thought possible.
Made a difference award – Individual
Won by: Nadine Goodson – Excel Support Services
For a long time this individual spent his
life online - socialising with people he
hadn’t met. Through hard work and
helping him build confidence, Nadine
has supported this man get to the
stage where he will go to his local shop,
previously a no go area for him, and to
do everyday things like getting his hair
cut and meeting new people.
This has changed this person’s life
dramatically and is down to the care and
patience that Nadine has shown in her
support for him.
Rising Star
Won by: Amy Gubbins
Amy started at Stoke Lodge in August
2015 and has made her mark in a number
of ways including taking on the role of
Living the Life Champion and getting
involved in many projects to help the
people supported at Stoke Lodge engage
in new opportunities. Amy has been
particularly proactive with one person
who requires a lot of intensive input; she
accompanies him on many outings and
always comes up with new ideas to keep
him interested and engaged.
ensuring events, such as Choice has
got Talent, are a great success and can
be enjoyed by all. This takes a lot of
energy and dedication which Deb has
in abundance!
CEO’s award
Life time achievement
Won by:Choice has got Talent Judges
Won by: Debbie Arnett
Debbie has worked for the company
for over 20 years and has worn many
hats including payroll, personnel and
maintenance. She now heads up the
Purchasing Team. Debbie has built up
solid, effective relationships with internal
staff, external contractors and suppliers,
always working to the highest professional
standards. She is also an active and
valued member of the events team.
On winning the award Debbie said, “I
am truly honoured to have received
my award and thank my colleagues for
nominating me.”
Support services A team
Won by: Maintenance
The maintenance team is always on
hand when needed. The process is
extremely quick and streamlined and
telephone messages are always followed
up promptly. All the team members are
happy, friendly and can be relied upon to
provide detailed and useful advice.
Support Service Super star
Won by:Deborah Kendall
Deborah commits a lot of her personal
time to organising events for Choice.
She works to a very high standard
CEO, Edwina Johnston said, “It is
always very hard to identify a winner
as there is so much that is worthy of
recognition. However, there is one
particular group of people who year in
and year out have demonstrated real
passion in celebrating the talent of the
people we look after.
The CEO award goes to the judges of
Choice has got Talent, Becky Wardell,
Amy Ranger-Pitt and David Spencer.
They demonstrate such passion and
compassion and a real skill of thinking
on their feet. Their enthusiasm is
infectious.
Another person who gives it his all as
compere of this event is Paul Gold who
was CEO of Choice before me and who
gives willingly of his time for which we
are very grateful.”
One of the winners, Amy Ranger-Pitt,
said: “What a fantastic evening
was had by everyone who attended
Choice Care Group Awards. It was an
extremely well organised event and in
a fabulous location. I was thrilled to be
one of the award winners – a complete
surprise to me but very touching,
honoured and emotional to have
been chosen.”
www.choicecaregroup.com
12
Taking on a new residential service –
the Home Manager’s perspective
Taking on the role of manager at a brand new home can be a daunting task. Here two of
the new managers tell us what it’s like.
Interview with Christine Howley, manager of Wey View
Christine said she is really excited
about having a brand new home to
manage and also a bit overwhelmed
at the thought of organising a service
from scratch and making the dynamics
work for a group of different individuals
who will be coming together for the first
time. She sees this as her main priority
– managing a smooth transition for her
service users and helping them settle
into their new home. The people moving
into Wey View are likely to be quite a
young group so Christine is keen to have an ‘open door policy’ and get as
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much family involvement as possible.
Christine brings a great deal of experience
to her new role. She started as a support
worker for Choice in Bramerton and has
also been a Day Activities Co-ordinator
before becoming Deputy Manager at Little
Heath Court in 2014.
One of Christine’s main tasks has been
putting together the staff team for Wey
View who welcomed their first service
users from mid-November. To ensure
everyone is ready and equipped, the new
Your future, your choice
staff team had a three week intensive
induction during October which included
Makaton training delivered by Christine.
Although the task of setting up a new
home is a daunting one, Christine said
that she feels she has the support of
Choice around her. From her own home
team to Amy, Assistant Area Director for
new services and the head office team in
Bracknell, Christine said she has a strong
team of people that she knows she can
rely on to help her deliver a successful
new service.
Interview with Ewa Golabek, manager of Compton House
Compton House opened in August.
Here Ewa answers some questions
about her experience of taking on a
brand new home:
What was your initial reaction when
you were asked about taking on the
role of manager and setting up a
brand new service?
I was excited and happy (I got the news
on 24th December). I thought I must
have been doing something right to be
trusted with such a big responsibility and
a large home.
Was is easier/harder than you
thought it would be?
Definitely harder. There is so much
to think about. As an internal trainer I
got to know a lot of people around the
company so was able to get help with
things like finding the correct forms,
seconding staff, etc.
What were the challenges?
Trying to figure out what to do first,
what is more important, where to begin,
which meetings I needed to attend
etc. Although I had a lot of experience
working for CCG it was eye opening in
terms of the amount of work managers
have to do as well as the responsibility
we have.
thought to myself “Why am I putting
myself under so much stress?”, I
look back now and see all the service
users smiling and all my staff getting
on – makes me proud. And it’s still
early days.
What was your worst moment during
the set up?
Is there anything you would have
done differently?
I have to say it was the CQC inspection.
When I was preparing for it I realised that
if I didn’t pass we wouldn’t be able to
open the house and the service users
wouldn’t be able to move in and my staff
wouldn’t be able to start…. I felt like
there were so many people relying on
me. The pressure got to me at that point!
What was your best moment during
the set up?
That was when I got my CQC
registration through!
Now that the service is up and
running are you pleased you took on
the role?
100%. Although there were times I
It’s been an amazing journey and we
only have two spare bedrooms now.
When I get the home to the point I
am comfortable with I will definitely
do this again with all the experience
I already have; I learnt so much in the
last six months. I will definitely do
things differently!
Now that you’ve done it, what advice
would you give to a manager setting
up a new service?
Be patient and stay strong. There is
so much pressure and stress. You
need to be strong mentally to get
through the difficult periods. And
don’t be afraid to ask for help from
other managers.
www.choicecaregroup.com
14
New Supported Living in Slough
Upton House, is Excel’s new supporting living service in central Slough for people with
learning disabilities.
The property has been completely
updated and reconfigured to provide four
en-suite rooms and one self-contained
flat as well as communal space for
organised activities and socialising.
The service will support five people with
learning disabilities and was developed in
partnership with Slough Borough Council
to enable people from Slough who have
been supported elsewhere, to move
back into their local community.
Choice involved in police training
Choice is again taking part in this training programme run by Hampshire Constabulary for
its student officers.
The programme aims to train a group of officers to give them the skills to work with witnesses who have learning disabilities and enable them to communicate their
evidence effectively. As part of the programme students will visit
eight Choice services and will also
have briefing sessions with the Choice Psychology Team. Service
users will take an active role in working
with the students and will visit police
to feedback on their experiences.
15
This is part of an ongoing
programme that Choice
will participate in
twice a year.
Your future, your choice
Choice has got Talent - what a show!
On 25th May, Choice’s service users, friends, family and staff members gathered together in
Swindon for an event that has rapidly become one of the highlights of our year.
This is the 5th year we’ve run
Choice has got Talent and it gets
bigger every time. This year we had
an impressive 26 finalists and 300
people in the audience. It was a
fantastic and fun day as these event
photos show..!
and deserving acts but, after long
consideration, the judges chose
two winners:
It’s always difficult to pick a winner
when there are so many impressive
Caroline Hunt from Stokewood for her
beautiful version of Thank you by Dido.
Dale Daniels from Argyll House for his
excellent rendition of the Monkees’ song,
Day Dream Believer.
There were also four runners up prizes
and these were won by:
• Seth Mortimer from Holmhurst
• Lee Hanson from Victoria Lodge
• Indejeet Gill from White House
• Barbie Fraser and Mark Shepherd
from Excel Support Services
Well done to everybody who took part!
Choice Football Tournament
The football tournament continues to be
a big hit. This is the 3rd year it’s been run
by Kevin Arnett from the Maintenance
Team. He does a fantastic job of
organising the matches, encouraging
everyone to get involved and making
sure they all have a good time.
The tournament runs over one month in
the summer and all matches are played at
Sunnyside. Seven teams, a mix of service
users and staff, play 12 matches on each
of the four days of the tournament.
On finals day, 23rd July, the weather was
kind, the teams played well, the barbecue
was a popular finish to the event and
everyone had a thoroughly good time.
This year’s winner was the team
from Stroud Lodge with Sunnyside
taking second place and Appleton
third. Player of the tournament
went to Appleton player, Karl
Hoffman.
Well done to everyone who took part,
here’s to 2016!
www.choicecaregroup.com
16
News from the services
These are just a few of the many visits and outings organised by the teams in our services. Stroud Lodge seem to have been particularly busy!
Who’s behind
the mask?
A stylish Masquerade Ball was
organised by Stroud Lodge earlier in
the year. Service users from all our
homes were invited along and everyone
had a great time.
Just monkeying
around…
Stroud Lodge also organised a trip to
Monkey World and, as the pictures
show, they had a fun day out.
A great day out!
Stephen, a service user from Stroud
Lodge, visited the Natural History
Museum in London earlier this year and
had a great time. Going on a day trip
like this is a massive achievement for
Stephen as he doesn’t normally like
busy places. Well done to Stephen!
A Grey Day at
Elliott House
The 1st October was brain tumour
awareness day, a charity that Elliott
House hold close to their heart. The
theme was ‘wear grey’ so, appropriately
dressed, everyone turned out to support
their fund-raising barbecue which was a
great success and raised over £110.
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Your future, your choice
A sweet
day out
Beech Tree House visited Cadbury
World in September. Everyone had a
great time and of course brought home
lots of chocolate. Wayne, one of the
service users, said that it was a ‘triple
delicious’ trip!
Wonderful
Wales
Twynham organised a weeks’ holiday
in Wales for their service users.
Everyone agreed that they’d had a
thoroughly good time.
Wicked!
Stroud Lodge organised a theatre
outing to see Wicked in Bristol followed
by a trip to London to watch Charlie
and the Chocolate Factory. Everyone
loved the days out and thought the
shows were fantastic.
Argyll House
achievements
Service user Kevin has taken to the
trampoline and is loving it! It’s taken a
few years to persuade him to give it a
go. The first time was with staff support
(see the photo opposite) but now he’s
very happy to get on by himself. The staff
team are all very proud of him!
Jake went to his very first pop concert
to see McBusted and had a fabulous
time. He also enjoyed a trip out to
Bristol Museum.
Dale won Choice has got Talent and is
the proudest person ever!
www.choicecaregroup.com
18
Spooky Fun
On 27th October Choice held its annual Halloween Party at St Joseph’s Catholic College in Swindon.
The event was a great success,
attended by around 300 staff and
service users. The room looked suitably
spooky thanks to the ‘Halloween hands’
table decorations provided by Fountain
View. We also had themed crackers and
glowing fluorescent bracelets. Particular
thanks to Stroud Lodge and Richard
from Fountain View for their help in
decorating the room.
However, three prizes were finally awarded
to Stuart from Sunnyside, Kirby from
Boxgrove and Tahira from Woodlands –
congratulations and well done!
There were plenty of activities throughout
the evening including the photo booth
which was a big hit and provided some
very entertaining results. There was also
the raffle, a dance-off competition and a
buffet to keep the energy levels up for the
energetic dance floor moves!
After monster mashing their way through
the evening to some great music
everybody agreed it was a fabulous event
and they’d had a truly creepy time!
We had prizes for best fancy dress
costume, which proved extremely difficult
to judge as so many people had made
such a huge effort and looked amazing.
And finally…
A huge thank you goes to all our staff, for your hard work and commitment
over the last year.
With very best wishes from all at head office.
www.choicecaregroup.com
Head Office: Linden House, Lime Walk, Bagshot Road, Bracknell, RG12 9DY
Tel: 0203 195 0151
Fax: 01344 867134
Email: [email protected]