N E W S L E T T E R I S S U E 8

Meet the Salutes Award Winners

Here are our amazing winners of 2018…

• Registered Manager of the Year, Sponsored by the Succession Group - Tracy Griffin, Manager of Woodford Court

• Support Worker of the Year, Sponsored by Lifetime Training - James Radford, Support Worker at Ashurst

• Hospitality Services Award, Sponsored by the De Vere Staverton Estate - Angela Gardner, Kitchen Assistant at Craig Y Parc

• Newcomer of the Year, Sponsored by eLearning for You – Gabriel Mandal, Support Worker at Sharon Collins Resource Centre

• Team of the Year, Sponsored by Evercom - Orchard House

• Central Support Employee of the Year, Sponsored by Perkbox - Lola Richards, Regional Manager

• Outstanding Contribution to Education, Sponsored by Squire Patton Boggs - Rachel Diss, Occupational Therapist at Beaumont College

• Outstanding Contribution to Care, Sponsored by Stephenson Harwood - Samira Von Brevern, Support Worker at Sharon Collins Resource Centre

• Service-User Choice, Sponsored by Perkbox - Viktorija Sileryte, Support Worker at Mill Lane

• Chairman’s Award, Sponsored by Watson Farley & Williams - Spencer Cowling, Support Worker at Sharon Collins Resource Centre

IN THIS ISSUE

Corporate News

A New Year’s Messagefrom John Godden, Executive Chairman

Salutem Annual Managers Conferenceby Kirstie Jones, Group H R Director

From aroundour Services

A to Z ofSalutem ServicesEdward Street

A mash up montage offun, celebrations andfestivities from aroundour services

Positive outcomesTy Cwtch, Godfrey Olsen House and EastMidlands CommunityServices

Alexa tothe rescue! by DebbieHaydon, BDM

10 QuickfireQuestions Rhianna Hunter

Kudos Ballby Ian Morley

Long termService,Laverneo

My Experience as a BirchwoodVolunteer,by Stuart Ottley

AmbitoEducation

Positive EducationalOutcomes - BeaumontCollege and IngfieldManor School

Ofsted InspectionCongratulations toIngfield Manor School

Walton Nursery,Liverpool - Termtime update

Rachel Diss

“I was delighted to have won the Outstanding Contribution to Education Award at the Salutes Awards evening. It had been an intense and challenging year setting up the Duke of Edinburgh scheme

and supporting staff and students to take part. It was so positively received by the college and the benefits to those involved continue to grow. It is great to be acknowledged in this way and to also raise the profile of the college and its brilliant staff and student team.”

James Radford

“After the ceremony I discovered that family members of one of the people I support had nominated me. I felt truly honoured that they took their time and energy to highlight what they feel I do for their son/grandson -

whom I am privileged to care for.”

Vikki Sileryte

“It was a huge surprise and honour just to be nominated for the Customers Choice Award. I did not expect to win at all as there were are so many more experienced staff throughout all of the services.

Winning this award gave me a great satisfaction of knowing that our customers understand how hard we work towards their wellbeing and to help their dreams and wishes to come true - even if it takes a bit of time.”

Tracey Griffin

“For me getting the award brought home the level of hard work that goes on here at Woodford Court. After all, a manager is only as good as the team that they lead. I am very proud to have received this award and thankful to

those who nominated me.”

Spencer Cowling

““I felt truly honoured and proud to win the award not only for myself, but for everyone at our Service. I am also really happy for Samira and Gabe.”

Lola Richards

“To know that I had been short listed was great. To then actually hear your name called out and realise that you have actually won is truly humbling. Thanks to all those whovoted for me!”

Gabriel Mandal

“I was very grateful that I could represent our wonderful centre at the awards, but winning the Newcomer award says more about my amazingly talented co-workers than it does me. I’m lucky to be surrounded by people

that are exceptional at their job and I’ve learned so much from watching them. I want to thank both my co-workers and our amazing customers, I feel very humbled and could not ask for a better beginning to my career in care.”

Luke Cunniff

“I was so proud of my team for receiving the Salutes award. It was great to see that all the hard work that they do to support our young people was recognised by the company. The award and certificate

have taken pride of place in the home for all staff and visitors to see.”

Angela Gardner

“I was very pleased but also a bit shocked when I received the letter to say that I was short listed for the Hospitality Service Award 2018 - I was shocked when I actually won the award and would like to thank

everyone who nominated me. My working life has been at Craig Y Parc School for the last 42 years and it was lovely to be recognised. It was an experience that I will never forget and again a big thank you to you all.”

Samira Von Brevern

“It made me feel very proud to work for a place that is recognised as providing good support. I am proud that my customers like what I do. I feel blessed to be recognised for doing something that I love and

that doesn’t feel like work.”

2 I S S U E 8

Welcome to our first Newsletter of 2019 - a year that will present a significant number of challenges to be dealt with.

Ensuring that we have the people we need to deliver the right care will be tested by the changes

brought by Brexit, coupled with an increasing focus on skills and the need to show that working in the care sector is a fulfilling career choice.

Expectations of care standards are rising rapidly, along with the knowledge and awareness of the need to enable great outcomes for those with challenging issues. The Regulators are, quite rightly, raising the level of expected standards of care and outcomes, which will push us to strive for ever better daily experiences in our services. We should continue to be very ambitious about making the lives of all in our care, and all providing that care, as fulfilling as possible with a constant focus on ensuring that everybody can move along our Pathway to fulfil their potential.

I see a lot of sharing of good practice, advice, resources and intelligence taking place around the group and would encourage you all to reach out to learn from, and help, each other. We have some amazing people doing great things around the services - we have provided a number of forums for us all to get together, make comments and get involved in decision making.

Further systems are being introduced into the services, all having the aim of giving us more time to care and less time needed on admin.

So, challenging times ahead to bring out the best in us. The group will continue to invest in our staff, training, the fabric of the buildings and specialist support to enable us to continue to be the most ambitious care company.

Best wishes,

John Godden,CEO, Salutem Healthcare

Wishing you every success in your endeavours.

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4 I S S U E 8

Salutem 2018 AnnualManagers Conference

Kirstie Jones, Group HR DirectorSo, I am sitting here about to start writing this article and there are so many things to say about the conference, that I do not know where to start.

I guess I should start at the beginning. Wendy Pipes our

Group Head of Learning & Development and I were asked by the Board to pull together Salutem’s inaugral annual conference in the Autumn of 2018. We were also asked to arrange our very first internal awards – The Salutes.

Our remit was to hold a two-day conference that pulled together the Salutem values and gave every one of our Managers more information about who we are as a business and what we are all trying to achieve – with our Managers at the heart of everything. Oh yes, and one more thing – it really must not be rubbish!

So, first things first. Where were we going to hold such an event and what were we going to put on the agenda? We had our first planning meeting together and suddenly the ideas and outline for the conference started forming in our minds. Positivity was the word that resonated with both Wendy and I.

Why? – Well Salutem had pulled together four different business in little over a year, and although we have had teething problems, everyone we had come across and supported had always been so positive about finding a solution and a way forward. Consequently, that was it and our theme was Positivity.

Several planning meetings and many project plans later, we arrived at the De Vere Staverton Estate for our inaugural conference. As we set the tables up and got all the goodies ready for you (all our Managers) to enjoy, the excitement started to build.

Everyone began to arrive, and after a spot of lunch we were off. John Godden and Ian Morley started us off in great style, giving us a potted history of where we had been and our vision for the future. This was followed by Manda Targett, our Group Head of HR and me with our little spot, talking about change management and our values. We were followed by Lawrie Lee, Chairman Ambito Education who expanded a little more on the change curve.

Gary Laville our Quality & Governance Director gave us an amazing talk about compliance and quality and why it all matters and he rounded it off

with my favourite tune – This is Me from the Greatest Showman. All of this was interspersed with some rather interesting and certainly very friendly team building exercises from our compere Dan Collins of Fresh Tracks. John Godden closed the first day and we all trotted off to get spruced up for our dinner, dance and awards evening. We had a little surprise in store for everyone after dinner - our celebrity guest. Francesca Martinez arrived duly and gave us a great start to the awards evening. We then went on to celebrate each winner and dance the night away.

In case you aren’t aware of who won, the list and photos are to be found in the Award Winners article in this newsletter. Well done to all our finalists and winners. The judging day was amazing, and I don’t mind admitting it, quite emotional. Next year please keep nominating so that we can recognise the fantastic work you all do. The dancing then started although some of us retired to bed earlier than others, but we were all up again in the morning for a spot of breakfast and day two. I hear the Salutem Chairman Ian Morley is quite the dancer! The second day was equally as much fun. I think one of my favourite moments was when we had to build a tower from single spaghetti strands and jelly babies. Each strand of spaghetti was worth £1 and each jelly baby £2. The task was to build a tower and balance a balloon on top in the most cost effective way. I had lucked out and was on the education table - those educators sure know how to use their imaginations. Our children and young people are very lucky to have such fabulous educators. We produced a tower costing only £6 in materials (well jelly babies and spaghetti strands!) Not everyone was a cost effective as us -ask your friendly Finance Teams!

We had another great talk from Simone Sasson, Director, Research and Analytics and Richard Williams, MD telling us all about our Senior Living division. John and Ian came back at the end of the day to give us a recap on the two days and wish everyone a safe journey. I felt extremely proud of Wendy and her team for pulling this together and making it a great event. I was also extremely proud to be part of Salutem and the amazing group of people who attended who lead our teams and ensure that the people that we support have the most fulfilled lives possible. It was a privilege to spend time with you all.

I also felt immensely proud of our values, which we should and do embed into our everyday practice. Overall, it was brilliant and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. To capture the day we had an amazing team from Creative Connections who put together visual minutes of the day. We are looking to get the artwork made ready for each service, so they will be with you soon - and yes, a few people have mentioned

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“Tracey and her team have pulled off a fantastic ‘Outstanding’ rating for the Residential service following a 3 day inspection in the last full week of term.

The inspector tried doubly hard to find anything to criticise. But he clearly found the whole place to be as remarkable as we know it is. Huge congratulations are due to Tracey and her colleagues!”

John Godden

Thelma and Scooby Doo! You can see from this what a fun couple of days it was. All we have to do now is get ready for next year’s one and make it even better (or as Mr Godden puts it – it can’t be rubbish or words to that effect).

Thank you to everyone who attended and made it such a special experience. I really hope you are all sharing the values with your teams so we can all start living and breathing them. If anyone would like any more posters or booklets, please just let me know.

Kirstie Jones, Group HR Director

Excellent news fromIngfield Manor School

An Outstanding Ofsted report

Edward Street service consists of two, 3-bedroom bungalows nestled in the heart of the friendly community town of Widnes, Cheshire. Consisting of 6 wonderful customers, 2 female and 4 male creating a diverse set of personalities.

Edward Street is welcoming and warm with a real sense of fun and happiness as soon as you’re invited through the front door. With our lovely gardens, elegant decor and a warm welcoming smile from our customers Edward Street really is an amazing place to live, work and visit.

Moira Sloan, who lives in Laverneo, recently had a holiday in Blackpool staying at the Bond Hotel. While she was there, she entered a fancy-dress competition which was held in the hotel dressed as ‘Little White Dove’. Moira said she felt nervous in the line-up when the judging took place as there was some other really good entrants in the competition. It was a unanimous decision by the judges to award Moira with first prize! The prize was a holiday which she plans to take in April. Moira is thrilled as she has never won anything like this before and she loves going to Blackpool, it’s her favourite place to visit. The A-Z of Salutem Homes

E IS FOR EDWARD STREET

Fancy Dress WinnerMoira Sloan, Laverno

Salutem Engagement SurveyWe want you to tell us what you really think about working as part of the Salutem Group. We have created a short survey asking you to tell us your opinion. If you have access to a computer or smartphone, you can complete the survey online, by visiting: www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/YD8KKVX

Printed copies of the survey will also be available within your service and you will be able to post completed surveys into the sealed post box located within your service. Please complete the survey by February 13th.

6 I S S U E 8

Ty CwtchKristian Cousins, Registered Manager, Ty Cwtch

Leon attended the Bright Sparks Awards in October, along with family and friends. He received an award for “Overcoming Adversity” in recognition of the amount of challenges he has faced throughout his life, from living in foster care, to full time residential care plus his numerous health issues. His foster brother Gareth went up to receive the award from the stage and presented it to Leon, both were delighted!

Godfrey Olsen HouseVictoria Grey, Support Worker at Godfrey Olsen House wanted to share 2 recent very positive outcomes for 2 Ambito customers.

Drew • had put on weight and his parents raised a concern with us that he was getting too heavy for his Dad to help him transfer during visits home. They were worried that Drew wouldn’t be able to go home as often as he currently is if his weight does not reduce.

We have worked on creating a healthy eating plan for Drew and explained why it is important for him to lose weight. Drew started to go to the gym twice a week but progress was slow.

Recently we got in touch with Adam Hayes who is a Boccia coach (wheelchair bowls) and is also in a wheelchair. Drew attended his first Boccia session last month and took to it instantly, even managing to beat some more experienced players. Adam also accompanied Drew to the gym last week and created a personal fitness programme for him to complete twice a week.

Tash • started going to a wheelchair dance class a few months ago after it was recommended to her by a friend’s mum. It is held in a local church every Friday evening and Tash enjoys being able to go there on her own without staff support.

Recently, Tash performed a routine to the congregation of the local church and thoroughly enjoyed it.

East MidlandsGrace Radford, Team Leader 1, Ambito East Midlands Community Services

“We have been supporting a young girl in the community for several years now, and I personally have supported her for the last 4 years. She has struggled with change and anxiety for many years and has always had extreme difficulty regulating her emotions. This young girl used to have tremendous anxiety around visiting new places without months of preparation and suffered a great deal of emotional distress before the visit. She found meeting new people a terrifying experience and would rarely interact with her peers. Over the last couple of years this young girl has found her confidence, and the determination to push herself beyond her comfort zone.

She has started volunteering at a local city farm where she has led ‘animal handling’ sessions for groups of as many as 19 pre-schoolers. She has been taking charge of jobs and responsibilities in the barn and has made friends who she is now meeting up with in her spare time and has even now asked about volunteering there without me chaperoning.

Beaumont CollegeA Collaborative Approach to working towards Educational Outcomes

Julie Park, Education Manager, Beaumont College

For some students working on the ‘Life and Vocational Pathway’ accessing a work placement is an important part of their programme and it provides them with the opportunity to learn relevant work skills in real vocational environments.Without the support that we have from local employers who provide us with work placement opportunities, students would not have access to such rewarding and life enriching experiences.

As such Beaumont College would like to send a huge message of thanks and appreciation to all our

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work place providers - old, longstanding and new in Lancaster, Carlisle, Blackpool and Barrow!

As inclusive employers, you help to change lives by enabling our students to shine, and you help show the wider public the incredible difference that disabled young people can bring to a workforce if given the chance.

Oliver, a young man in his third year, works so confidently behind the counter in a local café serving customers. His customer service is impeccable and he demonstrates the epitome of ‘service with a smile’. The staff at the café are appreciative of the work that he is able to contribute and one customer stated, “Last week he was making drinks and now he is using the till. He is doing so well.”

Sarah, a second year student, is working at a local nursery in Carnforth, amidst the atmosphere of excitement. It is clear that Sarah has her eye very much on the safety of the toddlers and she gives gentle reminders to them to play safely and share with each other. Sarah explains, “The children weren’t so sure about my wheelchair at first, but now they are used to it and treat me like any other person.” She is professional, articulate and clearly proud of how much she has grown in confidence since starting her placement in September. The manager of the nursery gave shining praise of Sarah and explained how she has made a big impact on how the children understand wheelchair users.

Jessica works in the housekeeping department at a busy four-star hotel in Lancaster. She is careful and thorough in her work and is valued by the hotel team. Jessica explained, “I used to feel nervous when I first started going to work but now I know what I’m doing and I like making the rooms look clean.”

Chloe, a student at Barrow, has just started her work placement at a local dog kennels and despite caring for and walking the dogs in the wind and rain that Cumbria inevitably hands to us, her passion for animals and eagerness to work never diminishes her commitment and sense of pride to do her job properly. “I just love going to work and being with the animals and the staff at the kennels.”

These experiences are only a small sample taken from a group of young people who are regularly accessing high quality work placements.

Ingfield Manor SchoolAt Ingfield Manor School the curriculum is based on, and firmly embedded in, the theory and practice of Conductive Education, an active learning approach that originated in Hungary.

This Conductive Education ethos enables our pupils to develop independence, living as active and purposeful individuals. It is a holistic approach to the development of the child with Cerebral Palsy and other neurological motor disorders. Every aspect of the pupil’s day is considered a learning opportunity, contributing to the development of their whole personality.

At Ingfield, our aim is not to compartmentalise our pupils’ learning into different areas but rather to embrace all areas of learning within every lesson, finding the links between the different areas in order to maximise progress.

Therapeutic input is integrated into the curriculum via a trans-disciplinary team which includes conductors (the professionals trained in Conductive Education), teachers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists.

Motor learning programmes are embedded within the school day and the skills learnt are applied throughout the day. An example of how this works in practice and improves the outcomes of our pupils is being demonstrated below by Boris.

8 I S S U E 8

Q & A with Rhianna HunterBACKGROUND: My name is Rhianna Hunter. I am 23 years old and I work as an office assistant in the Windsor office, through the DS Workfit scheme.

Q. What are your 3 most treasured possessions?A. My best friend, a happy family and Ralph!(My cat who is sadly no longer with us).

Q. Who did you last text?A. My mum.

Q. What is your favourite TV series?A. Hannah Montana.

Q. What’s the favourite thing about your home?A. I love doing the housework!

Q. Lemon drizzle or chocolate brownie?A. Lemon drizzle cake!

Q. Favourite take away dish?A. Chinese, pizza or Indian!

Q. If you were Prime Minister for the day, what one thing would you change?A. Brexit

Q. Music that instantly cheers you up?A. Glee

Q. Dogs, cats or horses?A. I love all of them!

Q. What is your screen saver?A. Myself.

Three mandatory questions!

Q. Marmite, love or hate?A. Love it

Q. I couldn’t get through the week without...A. My iPad.

Q. I never leave the house without...A. My handbag!

Anthony has lived at Ash Lea House for 11 years and is registered blind. He used to suffer from health anxiety, was reluctant to participate in activities and he didn’t like attending the day centre. Anthony and Lorraine (the Manager) discussed how he wanted to improve his life, as he was only focusing on health and being ill. We involved his social worker and were able to agree some 1-1 funding to enable him to try new activities and make new experiences with more support. Anthony started going out and about, signing up for adult education classes and showing an interest in technology. Anthony was seeking more and more information to help him improve his life.

I visited the service and met Anthony and had a long conversation about the changes that had happened to him and how much better life was getting. He told me that he was keen on using new technology to help him be more independent. I suggested an Alexa and explained what this was. Anthony was very keen on this idea and decided to start saving up. Anthony also gave me some good ideas to improve the service for both residents and staff at Ash Lea House. Anthony then put these ideas in a letter to John Godden.

I shared the positive experience, the conversation and forwarded Anthony’s letter to John. As saving up for an Alexa was going to take a long time, and to thank him for representing the staff and residents at Ash Lea House, John brought Anthony an Alexa. I presented it to Anthony on John’s behalf. He now uses his Alexa and a tablet to research all sorts of information. He can look into opportunities and has become more independent.Anthony chooses how to use his 1-1 and budgets his hours to ensure that he gets the most out of these. He feels that Ashlea House and the company are very person centred. He feels that he has a good quality of life and staff, managers and the business are all listening to individuals and putting them in the centre.

Anthony’s storyby Debbie Haydon,

Business Development Manager

Alexa to the rescue!

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My Experience as a Birchwood Volunteer

I have been a Volunteer at Birchwood since 2008. My friend Mark Urwin moved there some time previously and as a retired Chesham resident, I now had some time to spend with him. Mark has always been determined to find new things to do and set me the challenge of finding somewhere that he could play the Paralympic sport of Boccia. We discovered that Phoenix, the Epilepsy Society Sports Club, played Boccia and other sports. Having met Mark, the Phoenix Manager kindly invited him to attend a club evening. The upshot being that Mark was invited to join Phoenix and is still a member – playing competitive Boccia most Wednesday evenings. David Bird, another long-standing friend, works as Mark’s Aid. Mark has played regularly as a member of the Phoenix Team. In 2014 he qualified to play in the Boccia National Championships.

Mark uses a special Boccia Ramp made by the charity Demand. Working with Mark I got to know others in the Birchwood Community – residents, families, volunteers and staff. In doing so I began to appreciate the amazing and selfless work done by those who work in the care community.

I also got to know Anita, Barbara and Shiv who set up Birchwood Painters which has been such a great success. They have done a wonderful job of giving Birchwood residents experience and opportunities in art that they could only have dreamed of. Once again Demand came to the rescue, designing and building three special easel’s which present the canvas at any angle which suits the artist.

In 2015 Dennis Jeffrey and I set up and registered Friends of Birchwood to act as a voice for the Birchwood Community. Friends of Birchwood continues as an informal organisation to this day – no Committee or meetings! – keeping everyone updated on events and occasions. Also, it is a tool for sharing concerns and interests.

During my time at Birchwood there have been several changes of manager, but for me, Diane Eastwood and her current team are the best that we have ever had. They face many challenges but do so in good spirits and Birchwood is a happy place. Diane has gone out of her way to develop good working relationships with our volunteers. I welcome the change from Scope to Salutem and Ambitocare. Although it is early days, the open and inclusive Salutem management style bodes well for the future.

Stuart Ottley, November 2018

Kudos BallNovember, 2018 by Ian Morley

The Kudos Ball held in Houghton le Spring near Durham on Nov 29th, was a remarkable, joyous night. It was a night when everyone was both a winner and a participant. Where a Christmas tree and lighting effects created an atmosphere of joy and partying with raucous noise as each service and each resident saw themselves shown on the giant screens. This was the master class for any awards ceremony or party giver anywhere. And the Master Of Ceremonies was our very own Colin Welding and his amazing team of supporters, with a special mention for Colin’s partner Barry, who selected the exciting, appropriate and fun music to go with every film clip of the different services.

The Ball began with a display of outstanding dancing. A Chinese Dragon, an exquisite ballerina, exotic Flamenco dancers, street dancers and then later in the evening a disco for everyone to join. There were nearly 300 people present, including 100 service users. Everyone was dressed in their finest outfits for such a fantastic night out. Colin has also committed to doing a second Ball next year, I for one can’t wait.

My Award in Horse Ridingby Jonny, Woodford Court

In the words of Jonny: “I went with my sister Amanda and I rode the horse, my number was 91. I wore my helmet, came third and was awarded a certificate, which I have in my room. I enjoyed it so much, the ride in the carriage was smooth and my friend and I pulled the reins for the horse to move. The weather was good, we enjoyed the ride and we had lots of big trees along the path.”

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A montage of activitiesChildren in Need, Halloween,

Christmas and New Year’s Eve 2018This is such a busy and exciting time of the year from the end of October (when the last Newsletter came out) until the end of December – please see below a little montage of what has gone on around the Group.

Ashleigh House at ChristmasBlue Cedars (above) raised £70 with

their Christmas Jumper day.

Bullpoint Halloween

East Midlands Day Service - Christmas river cruise! Pudsey Bear at the Highlands for Children in Need

Long Term ServiceBy Sharon Hedley, Manager Laverneo

“We celebrated another member of the staff team at Laverneo reaching a long service milestone in December - with Emma Young reaching ten years working as a support worker in the service.

When Emma came to work at Laverneo, it was her first role in health and social care. It was evident from very early on that Emma had the desired attitude and personality required to support people to live the best lives they can. I asked DC and MS, residents at Laverneo, for their thoughts on Emma. DC said she is ‘kind’ and that she likes to do cooking with Emma and also likes to go to card making class with her. MS said ‘Emma is always very helpful’ and also talked about when she went with Emma to see Brendon Cole in a dancing show at the Sunderland Empire. MS said ‘I had a great time with Emma, it was a lot of fun and we saw Brendon Cole at the end. Emma said ‘Joining the team at Laverneo and gaining my skills and knowledge here has been very rewarding, seeing each of the ladies living happy and fulfilling lives, there isn’t anywhere else I would like to work.”

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Walton Nursery NewsBy Jennifer Williams: “On 13th September we celebrated Roald Dahl day, children came to nursery dressed as their favourite Roald Dahl characters and participated in many exciting activities.

Throughout the month of October, to commemorate Black History Month, we celebrated Living in Harmony and explored a month of multi-

culturalism. Staff and children explored countries, cultures and different foods from across the world.

For Children in Need we raised £288.13! We had a cake sale, staff and children dressed in spots and children had a pyjama day!

We have just had Road Safety Week, children have been learning valuable lessons in road safety! The Green Cross Code has been a prominent

theme running throughout the nursery and children know to stop, look and listen!

Berrywood Lodge Halloween

New Year’s Eve at Rosedene

Vintage Day at Bullpoint House

GREAT BRITISH CARE AWARDS • NORTH EAST FINALSBy David Grayson, Manager East Farm

This has been the most crazy week that I can remember. First the Kudos Ball which I have to be honest, coming down from such amazing success to have to get yourself up for another huge event 48 hrs later was difficult.Well at least until we got there! The Great British Care Awards Regional Finals. Three Pathways candidates, three chances for one of us to celebrate winning an award.

The evening started off with a champagne reception with photo shoots followed by the compere hosting a heads and tails competition which we almost won! Following the evening dinner, we had pre-awards entertainment with “chico time” (yes, he is still around), which really got the place buzzing. Then came the Awards.Our first opportunity was Norma Jewitt (Harmony House) in the “care home worker award”. This was the first time that I had met Norma and had the immense pleasure of sitting next to her on our table so I was able to relax her nerves by telling her that we were all pinning our hopes on her - “no pressure then!” Then came the announcement, “and the winner is NORMA JEWITT, PATHWAYS CARE GROUP”. BOOM!

One down, 2 to go - genuinely, the feeling on the table was so joyous after Norma, that would have been enough for us all to celebrate a great evening. A couple of awards later came the Registered Managers award. I must admit after 2 recent nominations I had my (which is genuine) it’s an achievement to be shortlisted response ready! Decision time, “and the winner is DAVID GRAYSON, PATHWAYS CARE GROUP.” BOOM! I nearly fell off my seat. 2 out of 2!

The very next award was the care home cook /chef award. Eric McLoed (Fairholme) was our shortlisted nominee. Eric was so proud to be nominated and what an amazing character. We are so lucky to have this guy in our homes giving the people we care for and support first class nutrition and what a funny guy to boot. Decision time, “and the winner is ERIC McCLOED PATHWAYS CARE GROUP”. BOOM! Three out of three, I am sure you can imagine the celebrations at our table. Next up, out of hours weekend calls to Colin Welding who was so proud of us all and shared in our excitement.

Here are details for the finals in March...

12 Salutem Healthcare Limited. Minton Place, Victoria Street, Windsor, SL4 1EG • 01753 255 777

MARCH 18TH 2019

THE GREAT BRITISH CARE AWARDS NATIONAL FINALS.BIRMINGHAM INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTRE

GREAT BRITISH CARE AWARDS FINALISTSBy Lisa Deane, Managing Director, Pathways

We hit the jackpot with a fantastic win at the West Midlands Region ‘Great British Care Awards’ and a full house of 3 out of 3 wins in the Northern Region!

The roll of honours is as follows:

Care Worker of the Year • West Midlands • Kelly Russell from Blue Cedars

Care Worker of the Year • North East • Norma Jewitt from Harmony House

Chef of the Year • North East • Eric McCloud from Fairholme

Care Home Manager of the Year • North East • David Grayson from East Farm

It is wonderful that these great people are getting external recognition for what they do (we already know how great they are!) So, congratulations to them all and a big thanks to all of their colleagues who support and enable them to do what they do so well.