Updates on finance and organisation
Our year end financial report is with the accountants and is likely to be ready shortly. After what was a difficult year last year, the company has grown and developed to a point where we are on a much stronger financial footing. The early results indicate Supported Lives made a loss of approximately £5000; most of this loss is due to 'bad debts' which we have been able to write off.
We are now providing over 900 hours of one-to-one support per week. This means there is additional pressure on the management structure to make sure that quality doesn't suffer. We are constantly reviewing how we do things to make sure this does not happen. Brett is developing a software package specifically for Supported Lives to help make the staff and client rotas much simpler to manage.
We are also looking at piloting a new key worker role so each client (and carer) will have a named member of staff as a contact person.
We are also considering dividing the work up and allocating it to three teams, led by the team leaders. This will simplify the management systems and also avoid some of the pitfalls of a large organisation being too removed from the individual.
We will keep you informed of how and when these changes are likely to happen.
Jon Wright
Relief at Shipley Glen!
Shipley Glen is a lovely place for a walk at this time of year. Unfortunately it was without toilets for a long time, making visits very inconvenient.
Fortunately, Baildon Parish Council has made an arrangement with The Old Glen House pub on Prod Lane whereby members of the public can use the pub's toilet without having to purchase anything from the pub.
The pub is open from noon - so don't have too many cups of tea if you visit the Glen in the morning!
Brett
Carers' consultation
We held a consultation session for carers on 7 May. This gave an opportunity to carers and clients to raise concerns about the support offered by Supported Lives and also to be included in discussions about future plans for the organisation. Many thanks to those who attended and those who sent in feedback, it was great to meet you all and have such an interesting session.
Jon Wright
Students on placement
Some of you will know that we occasionally have social work students on placement, but just recently we have had more than usual. We currently have two students on placement, Cathy Sharman who is doing the BA in social work, and Debbie Nicholson who is in the final year of the MA in social work. As we are now an established placement opportunity for Bradford University we expect to have students on placement all year round from now on.
Jon Wright
CSCI and diaries
The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) Annual Service Review for Supported Lives took place in the period since our last issue.
The latest inspection report is now available in the Supported Lives office. If you want to a copy let us know and we'll send it to you. If you prefer you can call in to the office and read it there. You can also read all our reports online.
In summary, we scored quite well on most items and overall we were awarded two stars (three is the highest) which is defined as: "good".
(And a big thank you to all those people who said nice things about us to the commission!).
One point raised by CSCI is currently being addressed. We are ensuring that all our clients are provided with diaries where their support workers will record details of what was done during each session of support.
If you haven't received your diary yet, let us know at the office.
Jon Wright
Going to Edinburgh
Sharon Tucker has an opportunity to perform at the
Edinburgh Festival with Seedlings drama group, based at the
Cathedral Centre.
The mime group carries out choreographed routines to their favourite songs. They are regular attenders at the festival and are currently trying to raise the £2000 they need to fund their trip in August.
Who Am I?
Cathy Sharman
I'm Cathy and I'm a social work student on placement with Supported Lives for fourteen weeks from May to
September. I'm really enjoying working with everyone at Supported Lives . I'm half way through already and the
time is flying by.
I started the MA Social Work course at Bradford University in January 2008, so this is my first placement. Before starting the course I worked for NCH, one of the large children's charities, in Halifax. I worked with young people aged 16 to 21 who had been in care as children. We supported them as they became adults, helping them to find homes, jobs, get an education and providing lots of emotional support to deal with the difficulties they'd faced as children. I was there for six years and loved it, but it was time for a change. I've always worked with children and teenagers and I've planned to go into children and families work after I've finished my course, but I'm enjoying the work with adults with disabilities at Supported Lives, so who knows maybe I'll change my mind!
I'm originally from Chester but I've lived in Yorkshire for many years. I live in Hebden Bridge, been here five years having spent the previous ten years in Leeds. I've enjoyed meeting many of you already and I hope I'll meet many more of you while I'm here.
Thanks for having me!
Martin Linney, 1985-2008
On Saturday morning,
5 July I received the shocking news that Martin Linney had
died in his sleep during the night. Martin, who was only 23, had
been with Supported Lives since we first started; I had been one of
his support workers for nearly four years.
Martin had an Autistic Spectrum Disorder and needed help with coping with the world. When I started to work with Martin he was described as having 'challenging behaviour' and seemed to be regarded as difficult and a problem by the agencies that were providing day care. However, along with Martin's other support workers at Supported Lives, my experience of Martin was very different. The Martin I spent every Tuesday with was a bit detached from the world. He had occasional frustrated outbursts when his needs weren't met. But mainly I and his other support workers found him to be a very sweet man.
We had our routine when I picked him up from the day care centre he attended. First a drive to the office to have lunch. I eventually worked out a route that had long stretches without long waits at traffic lights, which he hated. I also used to get complaints if I deviated from the regular route.
At the office Martin would eat his dinner and then ignore the drink I had made for him and go in search of someone else's to steal. Any biscuits in the office were also fair game for him!
We'd usually spend the
afternoon going for a walk. Two of Martin's favourite places were
Northcliffe Woods and Manningham Park. I think he liked the peace
and quiet of Northcliffe and seemed to enjoy the patterns of light
coming down through the trees and leaves. He also loved to climb up
onto the rails of the miniature railway there - a substitute
for the climbing frames he also enjoyed.
Manningham Park had lots of attractions for Martin. He could always find a long-leafed plant to pick a leaf from (whilst his support worker kept an eye out for gardeners). And he could spend ages watching and listening to the waterfalls around the Botanical Garden and lake.
Water always seemed to be Martin's greatest interest, as he
demonstrated to me just a couple of months ago in the Mughal water
gardens in Manningham Park. At the end of a pleasant walk though
the park I suddenly found myself chasing Martin and completely
failing to stop him jumping into the fountains there. The grin on
his face as I tried to change his soaked trousers and trainers made
it difficult to be angry with him.
The last time I saw Martin was at Stoney Ridge pool, which he went to several times a week. I think Martin could have spent his entire life in that pool, he was always so happy there. When I first met Martin we always tried to get the pool at a time when he'd have it to himself. This last time I was there with another client when Martin arrived with Owen and Emilia. As always, Martin spent most of the time in his own world and apart from the other five people in the pool. But he was happy, he didn't mind being with a group so long as he could interact with then as and when he chose.
Working with
Martin also meant getting to know his family and I know that Tania,
Ian, Michael and the others will be missing him terribly; our
thoughts are with them an we share some of their sense of loss.
I've been happy over the last few years being part of a team that helped Martin do the things he enjoyed. It's very difficult for someone with Martin's level of autism to give a lot back to people but it makes what you get very special. I'll miss our Tuesday walks but most of all Martin's smiles; and I'm sure everyone at Supported Lives who knew him feels the same.
Brett
A Grand Day Out
Kettlewell
Scarecrow Festival
Scarecrows have been going
to Kettlewell for a
festival for the last fourteen years. In August over 100 scarecrows
will pop up all over the village. They appear in gardens, public
spaces, and even on the rooftops.
Richard and I had a great time last year seeking out all scarecrows and trying to solve the clues on the scarecrow trail sheet.
Kettlewell is a pretty village which is worth a visit in its own right, with plenty of cafes and pubs for refreshment. Plenty of extra car parking space is provided for the festival and the only (optional) cost is for the trail sheet (£1 for adults 50p for children).
The festival runs from 9th to 17th August.
Brett
