Avante Care & Support - Inform Newsletter - Issue 21

January 2017 Issue 21

It is a great pleasure to be able to write to you as the new Managing Director of Avante Care & Support. I joined Avante on 3 January from Greensleeves Care, a Charity that owns and operates 20 care homes for older people across the South, East and Midlands. Before that I was with Mission Care who ran six homes for older people in Bromley.

Outside of work, I am married with two grown up children and a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel – I am not responsible for any of their behaviour! I have supported Manchester City since I was a boy (although I’ve always lived in Kent) and I am a member of the leadership team at our Church.

I have spent most of my first month visiting the homes and services and I want to thank you all for the warmth of your welcome. There is still one home left to visit which I hope to do in the next week or so. I have also met our Patron, Trustees and the Head Office team.

Everyone I have spoken to is committed to the work of Avante and recognises our key purpose as providing high quality care to our residents and service users. In the homes I have been really struck by the warmth of your relationships with our residents. It is hard work, but so rewarding when you make a connection. This has been a great encouragement because it is your dedication and expertise that makes a difference to the lives of the people we look after.

In the Home Care services I have been impressed by the very high levels of commitment and morale. There is a real sense

of teamwork, focussed on the needs of the service user; and the teams in the branch offices speak highly of the carers out in the field and of the willingness to cover for each other in emergencies.

Importantly, I want to express our sincere gratitude to our Stepahead Support service that will be closing at the end of March. Over many years, our Stepahead staff have supported children, young people and families during times of crisis and it is with much regret that the changes in funding mean that Stepahead Support will now close. To those staff who will be leaving us to seek new opportunities, I hope your skills and talents will be retained in social care, but on behalf of myself, Trustees and the wider organisation, please accept our many thanks and best wishes for the future.

We live in interesting times, nationally and internationally and there are few things of which we can be sure. But one is that we depend on each other – residents and service users depend on us and we as colleagues depend on each other. Everyone matters.

My predecessor, Mark Lloyd and the senior team at Head Office have done an excellent job and the solid foundations they have built means we are well placed to take advantage of many opportunities to move forward. I look forward to working with you all to deliver the best possible care to those who are entrusted to us.

Stuart Cross Managing Director

Christmas Day at Amherst Court “Late morning the Christmas Elves (myself and Trish) went around the home giving out all the Christmas presents. Every resident had their own gift bag, with individual presents just for them.

Rita got a new bear to add to her collection, which she loved. Janet got a new calendar for her room and Christopher received a large print Bible, which he said “I have read it before; just I can read it a little better now”.

Maureen got some Doris Day pictures for her room, one of her favourites and Dennis looked great in his new fedora.

After all the gifts were given out, it was time for Christmas dinner. The tables were decorated, the drinks were flowing and soon after everyone tucked into their dinner.

Another great Christmas Day at Amherst Court, now we’ll start preparing for next year!”

Puddingstone Grange Enjoy a Jazzy Christmas Residents at Puddingstone Grange enjoyed a Christmas full of Jazz with live entertainers and music throughout the day.

Staff at the home put together a wonderful Christmas meal which everyone enjoyed!

Celebrations at Riverdale Court Riverdale Court celebrated the Christmas period with gift giving, music and plenty of food!

Residents and staff enjoyed themselves as they decorated the home and really added some Christmas spirit to the occasion.

Everyone spent their time enjoying the festivities, unwrapping gifts and spending time with family and friends.

Christmas Cake Competition Residents at Amherst Court have been making decorating their own Christmas cakes and chocolate Logs to take part in the Christmas Cake Competition!

Last Tuesday we prepared for the competition between the two floors by heading out and choosing the decorations to go with the cakes we were baking. Resident Carol helped us to choose a colour scheme for the cake she would be helping to decorate.

Baking and decorating the Christmas cakes was a lot of fun for the residents, as residents and staff from both floors got to work! Dave said “I can’t remember the last time I did this, but it smells nice”. It could have been the brandy though, but we all agreed, they did smell lovely!! Once the cakes were baked, we added a little more brandy a few days later to increase the flavour (yummy)!

Resident Dot was very good with rolling out the marzipan and when it didn’t quite fit on one cake she insisted we fill in the gaps and said it didn’t need to be perfect as the icing will cover it. Dot knows her stuff. The chocolate logs turned out amazing and the chocolate cream icing got everywhere and it tasted nice too!

The following day we held the competition to find out the best cakes. Care Manager Julie Ayres was the judge for the competition.

Julie said that she found it difficult to choose as so much hard work had gone into making all of the cakes. After some deliberation, Julie announced the winner of the best decorated Christmas cake was Valiant & Apollo.

Trafalgar & Charlotte won the best decorated chocolate log.

-Marie Taylor, Activities Co-Ordinator

Happy Birthday to Allison Purkiss, Home Manager A big thank you from Allison Purkiss, Home Manager at Puddingstone Grange who recently spent time working with staff at Bridge Haven. Allison’s birthday was on December 29th and Jean, Cook and Lyn-Tracy, Assistant Manager created a cake for a birthday surprise. Allison was presented with the fabulous cake, eventually taking it back to Puddingstone Grange to enjoy with her team there.

Celebrating Christmas at the Willows Day Care Center We had our Christmas party at The Willow Day Centre on Saturday 10th December.

Our guests began arriving for 3.30pm, eventually reaching over 30 people in our little building! Some of our family members eventually had to spread into the lounge as we couldn’t all fit in one room..

Cheryl King was our entertainer who sang some beautiful Christmas songs with everyone joining in. We had pompoms, hats, funny glasses, jingly bells and plenty more to enjoy ourselves! After all the singing and dancing we sat down for our buffet tea followed by a raffle.

- Jeannette Spooner, Day Care Officer

Parkview Switch on the Christmas Lights In the run up to Christmas, staff and residents decorated the home inside and out. The biggest addition was the new Christmas tree placed at the center of the garden which looked amazing!

On 22nd December, staff at De Gelsey House held a festive lunch, with everyone contributing some lovely food and drinks. Certainly no chance of anyone leaving hungry that day! We also gave our thanks to Santa for keeping up with his tradition and distributing the Secret Santa presents.

A raffle was also held with funds being raised for the Avante Charitable Fund. Emma Key, Marie Carter and Jon Green were the 3 lucky winners who went home with an IPad mini each, donated by NSN and Bridgeone.

Congratulations to the winners and all those who won all the other raffle prizes.

Further funds were raised through the Home Care and Support Santa Challenge. The lucky winner was Tracy James (pictured bottom right) who received a money prize, with half going towards the Charitable fund.

Every year staff are invited to buy a bauble, write a Christmas wish to fellow colleagues, nominate a Charity and hang on the tree. The baubles are all placed in a pot and the nominated Charity on the winning bauble receives the proceeds raised. Julian’s winning bauble was picked out at random, his nominated Charity being the June Oliver Brighter Future Fund at Great Ormond Street Hospital receiving the raised funds. Their response and thanks for the donation can be found on the opposite page.

And finally …….the very worthy winner of the best Christmas outfit was our very own Bah Humbug, Frances Lake (pictured bottom left).

Thanks to Avante Care & Support’s Patron, Bob Bushell, who donated £20 to the Charitable Fund.

A big thanks goes out to New Star Networks (www.nsn.co) for donating some of our grand prizes; IPad mini’s. NSN provide our phone and data lines across the organisation.

Thanks to Bridge One (www.bridgeone.com) for their donation of IPad Mini’s. Bridge One provide our mobile phone services for staff and locations.

Weybourne Celebrations On the 21st December, Weybourne care home held their Christmas Party for Residents.

Singer, Edna was invited to come along and entertain everyone at the home. All of the residents enjoyed themselves with plenty of dancing and Christmas food. It was also great to see family and friends visiting and spending some cherished time with their loved ones.

A Thank You from the June Oliver Brighter Future Fund Hi Julian, Thank you so much for sending in the donation of £57 collected from your workplace towards the June Oliver Brighter Future Fund. Please do thank everyone who donated.

It is wonderful that June’s legacy is continuing in this way and making a difference to the patients and families we see on a daily basis.

This is set to be a big year for the Hospital as our new Premier Inn Clinical Building is set to open and will allow us to provide even better care in world class facilities.

We rely on the amazing support of fundraisers like you to allow us to: • Buy specialist equipment that improves treatments and diagnosis for young people, children and babies.

• Rebuild and refurbish the hospital so that we can treat more patients than ever before in state-of-the-art facilities.

• Fund family accommodation where parents can stay close to their child.

• Continue our incredible pioneering research to find cures and treatments for childhood diseases, giving children all over the world a brighter future.

On behalf of the staff, parents and patients at Great Ormond Street Hospital, thank you for your continued support in June’s name.

Best wishes David Drozdziak Fundraising Executive (Community Events and Tribute)

5km a Day, Everyday “In 2017 I will be doing the biggest challenge of my life.

That challenge will be running a minimum of 5K a day (just over 3 miles) everyday regardless if it’s raining, snowing, illness, Xmas or anything else.

I must stress, 5K will be the absolute minimum as I will be doing 10k runs, half marathons and full marathons in 2017. I have already secured a place for the 2017 Brighton marathon.

All of this is in aid of charity and I'm doing it for Kent Sports Trust. The money raised will be reinvested into the community such as schools, using sport to help improve health, fitness and mental attitude.

Thank you for your support” If you would like to donate to Nicola’s cause, please visit the webpage below: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Nicola-Allen16

Kent Kent Sports Sports Trust Trust Foundation Foundation The TheKent KentSports SportsTrust TrustFoundation Foundationstrives strivesto to change changelives livesthrough throughsport. sport.The TheFoundation Foundation encourages encouragesparticipation participationin insport sportacross across Kent, Kent,creating creatingpositive positivehealth healthoutcomes outcomesand and helping helpingbuild buildcommunities. communities.The TheKent KentSports Sports Trust TrustFoundation Foundationbelieves believesthere thereisisaasport sportfor for everyone. everyone.

33 Years Long Service Weybourne staff member Carol Peacock retired after 33 years of service with Avante Care & Support.

Human Resources Director, Derek Lindars travelled from Head office to Weybourne to present Carol with a wonderful bouquet of flowers and a special card for her tremendous services.

Everyone at Weybourne will miss Carol and we all wish her a very happy retirement!

During a time when people change their jobs as often as they change their light bulbs, Siobhan Mary Reilly did the opposite.

Now 20 years later, let’s take a look back at Siobhan’s journey and celebrate with her a milestone that is worthy of special recognition.

In 1996, 20 year old Siobhan left college as a qualified Nursery Nurse. Siobhan completed her work experience to incorporate special needs, nursery nursing and a work placement in a care home.

Siobhan reflects, “Working in a care home was the turning point for me”. Siobhan realized her true vocation was to work specifically in elderly care, so whilst reading the local News Shopper, Siobhan came across an opportunity to work as a care assistant for Bexley Council at Baugh House.

In 2003 Baugh House was transferred over to Kent Community Housing Trust (KCHT), later

re-named to Avante Care & Support. On 1st December 2003 Siobhan became an Assistant Manager; (known then as Assistant Officer in Charge.) Siobhan admits her progression was due to a very special lady – Lyn Owen who was the Home Manager at Baugh House. “Making time to study for a professional manager’s qualification was challenging, but with good support you can succeed.”

Siobhan was also the Assistant Manager at Sunbury Lodge transferring in September 2015 to Puddingstone Grange.

Siobhan now leads the Roxbury Unit doing an excellent job in supporting residents with mental health needs. Siobhan says she enjoys her job and can’t see herself doing anything else.

- Josephine Fauche, Receptionist