Proactive. Newsletter Celebrating the lives of the people Active Prospects supports. December 2017

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1 Newsletter Celebrating the lives of the people Active Prospects supports December 2017 CONTENTS People We Support Activities...1, 2, 3, 12 Co-production Update...5 Pro-Active Committee...6 Christmas Party...7 Supported Intern Update...8 Active Growth Project...9 All services Good...9 Award Winners...10 Joint Conference...11 It s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Michael, Alison and James from Beech Lodge took a trip to Nutfield Priory Farm for a spot of festive shopping with support worker, Helen. Michael, Alan and Robin headed to Redhill Aerodrome, with volunteer Jane Ellis, for an exciting day of plane spotting in September. Staff and people we support have donated reverse advent calendars as part of our November community giving co-production theme. Pictured is Beech Lodge s.

2 Treats galore at the Macmillan Coffee Morning There was a fantastic turnout to the fundraising coffee morning on Friday 29 September, run as part of the Macmillan World s Biggest Coffee Morning. The event was planned and organised by the Pro-Active Committee and raised a smashing 90.

3 Celebrating the lives of the people Active Prospects supports A Taste of Politics Members of the Pro-Active Committee went on a trip to the Houses of Parliament with Head of Care, Jade Vallance. Everybody was very engaged and asking lots of questions on the tour. Starting Out Matthew from Community Prospects has just started learning to cook, with support, after moving in to his own flat. Bowling Club keeps on rolling The Bowling Club organised by people we support and staff at Young Prospects continues to prove popular, with new people and regulars enjoying a game. People we support at our acquired brain injury unit, Beech Lodge, are particularly keen on attending.

4 Co-production September - Baking September s Co-production Baking Challenge saw people we support across all services roll up their sleeves and get baking. The picture competition was won by London Road (above).

5 Co-production October - Halloween There were spooky goings on across all of our services at the end of October when people we support were apple-bobbing, trick or treating, dressing up and generally being scary! Celebrating the lives of the people Active Prospects supports

6 Pro-Active Committee Update Pro-Active Committee Update from Chairperson, Pat Lynch Since the last issue of the Proactive newsletter, the Committee has had a very busy time: - It has successfully been awarded a grant of 20,000 from the People s Health Trust. Members can now go on days out and the costs will be reduced because of the grant. It will also contribute to the costs of a number of planned events over the coming months. - Leanne and Elizabeth accompanied Sue Stockman to meet Sam Gyimah, MP for East Surrey. They had plenty of questions to ask him! - The Macmillan Coffee Morning was organised as part of the World s Biggest Coffee Morning. Attendance was excellent and the event raised 90 for Macmillan. - Leanne raised concerns about accessing support to allow her to participate in late night events. Active Prospects is committed to the Stay Up Late campaign and all services have been asked to review and facilitate this wherever possible. - The Committee decided it wanted to organise a fundraising disco and Alex agreed to DJ for the event free of charge. The Committee are in discussions about future venues and dates. - The focus for the Strategic Plan for 2018 was discussed and agreed, and Jade drafted a new version for the Committee s approval. - Everyone agreed they wanted to develop relationships with their local community to ensure there was a stronger and lasting connection. November s co-production theme has been set as Community Giving which ties in nicely with this desire. - Helen and Michael suggested Active Prospects could participate in a reverse advent calendar activity. All services and head office have been encouraged to do this for donation to local food banks, refuges and charities for those in need. Reminder: Everyone is welcome to come to meetings. Minutes and future dates are available in each service, and dates are also on the website.

7 Celebrating the lives of the people Active Prospects supports Christmas Party Time! Our annual Christmas Party was held on 13 December at the Gatwick Holiday Inn. Staff and people we support had a very jolly time, enjoying a great meal, dancing until late, fun with a festive selfie frame and a fundraising raffle!

8 Supported Interns hit the ground running Monday 18th September saw seven interns join our Future Prospects Supported Internship Programme, a work-based study programme for young people aged with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP) the replacement for Statements of Special Education Needs (SEN). The programme, delivered in partnership with East Surrey College and supported by Surrey County Council SEND Enterprise Programme is a personalised programme which aims to help young people transition from college to the world of work. The interns first day was spent at the College, getting to know their peers, followed by a second day of travel training to ensure that they are confident with getting to their placements safely and on time. Following their initial team building and travel training, interns started putting their learning in to practice in a range of roles at Active Prospects, supported by Future Prospects Coordinator, Nick Kinsella, who is a qualified job coach. Nick said: I m thrilled at the success of our Supported Interns! They were all excited to start the internship programme and are now beginning to form friendships and are actively supporting and encouraging each other during learning tasks. They really are an amazing group of young people. We d like to extend a very warm welcome to Jessica, Megan, David, Josh, Anam, Marc and Chelsea!

9 Celebrating the lives of the people Active Prospects supports Active Growth takes root, thanks to Virgin staff We were delighted to have a Crawley-based team of staff from Virgin Atlantic helping out with our Active Growth allotment project in Horley this autumn, in what turned out to be lovely weather! Grand plans have been set out for the allotment, which will be used by people we support across all of our services. Virgin have previously sent in a number of teams to work on a range of gardening projects at our services, and the allotment team was made up of staff members Adele, Rubini, Lee, Tyrone, Araj, Paul and Rob. The team dug deep to create seven sizeable rows that will be ideal for the people we support to start sowing. Mick and Colin from Active Prospects handymen team, who have been overseeing the Active Growth project, have further plans to build sheds and develop an effective watering system for the allotment. We d like to say a big thank you to the Virgin Atlantic team, and to Mick and Colin, for making Active Growth truly get off the ground! All Services rated GOOD by CQC Autumn 2017 saw 100% of our services being rated as Good by the Care Quality Commission, which is a huge achievement as very few providers have this track record. The most recent report for Wolverton Gardens really showed the journey that teams have been on, and how they have all embraced active support, and are putting into practice our mission of enabling people to have full and aspiring lives. We have launched our new outcome tools this autumn these will better enable us to identify with people what they want to do, and how we contribute to make this happen. Big and little steps matter, and we all need to be confident that we are making an impact and people are leading the lives they want to lead. We are now focusing on how we can achieve outstanding ratings and all teams have been part of these discussions. We need to be able to show: People lives have been transformed and we can all talk about, and evidence this. We cherish people s achievements and contributions. People are actively connected with their community. We add value through innovation and creativity we go the extra mile, and we are part of creating solutions. We, and others, are really proud of what we do. We communicate and co-produce with people, families and between ourselves.

10 Award-winning Committee Active Prospects is thrilled to announce that it was announced as the winner of the Surrey Care Award for the Most Innovative Activity Programme involving Service Users at the glittering awards evening held on Thursday 17th November at Epsom Racecourse. Well done to our Pro-Active Committee of people we support who are the driving force behind a wide range of activities and events throughout the year. Active Prospects facilitates the Pro-Active Committee, an inclusive group run by people we support focusing on social activities and inclusion, community involvement, being active citizens, and helping shape Active Prospects. What makes the Pro-Active Committee innovative?: It s absolutely user-led and drives co-production It s fully inclusive and gives everyone a voice It goes beyond traditional activity boundaries covering fundraising, political and citizen engagement, social enterprise development with volunteering and paid roles, as well as social activities and events It delivers wide outcomes for people, reflecting what a full life means. The Committee discusses and agrees a full programme of social and activities events across Active Prospects and in communities throughout the year, often supported by peers and volunteers, rather than paid support. These include a barbecue, Christmas party, vintage tea dance, make and sell lunches, coffee mornings, peer-led craft activities, fundraising events, and a conference which will be held for the first time in November This has been a particularly positive experience for people living in dispersed supported living who may have felt lonely and lack the funds to access meaningful activities. Members of the Committee who attended the gala dinner and ceremony had a brilliant time, with Justin from our residential service, Millview, rarely being seen without a glass of champagne in each hand! CEO Maria Mills said: I am really proud of how the Pro-Active Committee has flourished and become the heart of what we do. I would like to also thank Active Prospects staff who are really committed and creative in supporting this to happen. This really is co-production in action!.

11 Celebrating the lives of the people Active Prospects supports Active Prospects Joint Conference - co-production at its best Active Prospects held its first Joint Governance on the 23 November 2017 in association with the Pro-Active Committee. The conference included support staff, service managers, people we support and board members. The day was very powerful in empowering people from across the organisation to speak up about what matters to them, and highlighting key priorities for Maria Mills, CEO, introduced the annual conference which had the theme of What Matters? and included presentations from our Pro-Active Committee of people we support and keynote speakers, Gareth Owen, representing Crispin Blunt MP, and John Tizard, Governance Consultant. Maria celebrated the achievements of the previous year and outlined our ambitions for the future. The day consisted of a joint co-production morning where delegates heard about the difference Active Prospects makes to people s lives, and how it can get even better. Key members of the Pro-Active Committee led on important topics, presenting and talking about how we can all work together to achieve our goals with everyone playing an equal role. Emma-Jane from our Shrewsbury Road supported living service, gave an inspiring presentation about how moving in to the service changed her life and how she now has lots of friends. Leanne who also lives at Shrewsbury Road, told delegates that at the age of 10 she was told by doctors she would never ride a bike but she has just competed in the Special Olympics in Sheffield in August, where she won Bronze and Silver Medals in the road racing cycling events. Leanne showed off her medals, her Olympic kit and her road bike. We are all very proud of her achievements. Pat, Chair of our Pro-Active Committee, who is supported by Community Prospects, told delegates how her life has changed since she became involved with running the Pro-Active Committee and volunteering in the Active Prospects charity shop. Her goals for 2018 are to visit Disneyland Paris, get a paid job, find love and eat more cake! With the challenges being faced by the Social Care sector at present and in the future, working in partnership and listening to the people who use our services enables Active Prospects to plan ahead to rise to these challenges and concentrate on its top ten key areas for development. Having achieved 100% Good ratings for all of its regulated services in 2017, Active Prospects is now looking to achieve Outstanding ratings across its services with delegates at the conference beginning to identify the journey that will get us there. An internal culture of continuous improvement is just the starting point, with staff and people we support at the heart of decision making and everyone clear that we are aiming to be not just the best provider in Surrey but also one that is focused on providing the best support possible to individuals, each and every day.

12 Ray celebrates his birthday in style Ray, from Millview, was recently supported to celebrate his 58th birthday with a lunch party and cake. Ray had a wonderful time with staff, family and friends. Staff were pleased to receive a special thank-you note from Ray s mum. Justin has got va-va-voom! Justin, from Millview, had the chance to go racing at Team Sport in Crawley. He really enjoyed himself and also accomplished his goal to drive a car on his own! A Community Benefit Society (26618R) with charitable status info@activeprospects.org.uk