Staff update jan 16

January 2016

Staff Update Happy New Year and welcome to the new Centre 404 staff update!

Introduction from Linda McGowan CEO I would like to start off by saying a huge thank you to everyone for their hard work and commitment to Centre 404 in 2015. It was great to see so many of you coming together to celebrate at the Staff Festive Party on 18th December. A special thanks also to all those staff that were working over the festive period and New Year.

We have introduced this staff newsletter as a way to stay in touch with everyone who works at Centre 404, and we aim to produce it a few times a year so that you can keep up to date with news and information from across the organisation.

The newsletter will share information and updates about working at Centre 404 plus news about all the good things that are going on around the organisation.

We also want to use this newsletter as a way for staff to share helpful ideas and information with each other about their work and to celebrate the achievements of staff and teams across the organisation.

The newsletter will be put together by a variety of staff from across the different services and we welcome any comments or suggestions as to what you would like to hear about. If you want to share anything or make any comments let us know by emailing staffupdate@centre404.org.uk We hope you will find this newsletter useful and informative.

Centre 404, 404 Camden Road, London N7 0SJ www.centre404.org.uk

Main Office 020 7607 8762 (9.30-5.30pm) staffupdate@centre404.org.uk

January 2016

Articles in this newsletter: Press Ctrl+Click on any of the below to go to corresponding section

1. Investing in Equality and Diversity (UKIED) 2. News from Centre 404 3. Staff Achievements 4. Sharing Information 5. Updated Policies and Procedures 6. Staff Vacancies 7. Upcoming Dates and Training

Centre 404, 404 Camden Road, London N7 0SJ www.centre404.org.uk

Main Office 020 7607 8762 (9.30-5.30pm) staffupdate@centre404.org.uk

January 2016

1. Investing in Equality and Diversity (UKIED)

We are very pleased to announce that we were successful in our re-assessment for the UKIED quality mark earlier in 2015.

A BIG THANK YOU to all staff that were involved in this process.

Centre 404 is committed to improving quality in all areas of our work, and making sure that Equality and Diversity is valued and promoted within the organisation is very important to us.

We are very proud of the way that our staff work inclusively with each other, with service users, families and volunteers to create a welcoming and friendly environment for all.

This way of working helps us to make sure that Centre 404’s values of promoting choice, independence and inclusion remain at the centre of what we do.

You should have all received (or be booked in to receive) Equality and Diversity Training now. This training programme has been designed in-house as a way of increasing awareness with staff about Centre 404’s approach to managing Equality and Diversity and how this affects you in your work.

We are very pleased to have received good feedback from staff that have attended the training so far and to hear that people find it a useful forum to discuss and consider how they contribute to promoting Equality and Diversity when they are at work.

If you have any questions or comments to make in relation to Equality and Diversity at Centre 404 please email them to staffupdate@centre404.org.uk

Centre 404, 404 Camden Road, London N7 0SJ www.centre404.org.uk

Main Office 020 7607 8762 (9.30-5.30pm) staffupdate@centre404.org.uk

January 2016

2. News from Centre 404 CQC rating is Good Written by Claire Curtis, Supported Housing Manager

Centre 404 is very pleased to receive the results of our first inspection from the CQC using the new ratings system. We have received a ‘Good’ rating, further to a visit from the inspector to the office and one of our supported living services. Feedback was gathered from all support services from family members, service users, staff and professionals that we work with.

We are delighted that the final report reflects how well our staff achieve quality and deliver services that are Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led. The report was full of really positive comments that give great feedback for the staff and support teams who work really hard all year round. It is a lovely report and you can see the full details online, click here to read the report.

A big thank you to staff in the Supported Housing Service for enabling us to have such a great report.

Christmas Day Lunch A very special thank you to Giulia Cogoi and Maria Exposito who volunteered their free time on Christmas Day to prepare a fabulous festive feast for many of our service users from across the supported housing projects.

It is great when staff get involved in extra-curricular activities, a huge thanks to all those staff who volunteer their valuable spare time to put on and support special events like this for our service users. Your additional support is very much appreciated as it allows us to offer more and better services to children and adults with a learning disability and their families.

Music Group hit the charts The ‘404 Stormers’ are band members from our Wednesday night Music Group who launched a Christmas Single “Having a Merry Funky Time” into the charts in December.

This opportunity was made possible by the support and encouragement from staff members Marco Abbatecola, Ross Robins and Duncan Powell who very generously volunteered much of their free time and expertise to arrange for the single to be professionally produced, publically performed and available for sale to raise additional funds for the group.

Centre 404, 404 Camden Road, London N7 0SJ www.centre404.org.uk

Main Office 020 7607 8762 (9.30-5.30pm) staffupdate@centre404.org.uk

January 2016

The 404 Stormers are pictured here giving a fabulous live performance of their hit at an open-mic night at Harris and Hoole coffee shop in Crouch End on 2nd December.

Family Carer Festivities Staff in our Supporting Families team put on some fabulous events for all our family carers again this year which included a children’s festive party and a festive lunch for carers here at 404. A special thanks to all the staff and volunteers that helped out at these events.

Family carers enjoying the festive lunch

Centre 404, 404 Camden Road, London N7 0SJ www.centre404.org.uk

Main Office 020 7607 8762 (9.30-5.30pm) staffupdate@centre404.org.uk

January 2016

Volunteers Congratulations to Onur Kurban, one of our Friday Night Social volunteers, who was runner up in Voluntary Action Islington’s Young Volunteer of the Year awards in November. He was awarded his certificate by Islington’s Young Mayor for his dedication towards his role, always turning up early, using initiative to set up equipment and being a valuable asset to the staff team.

Sadly we will be saying farewell Lizzie Ibbotson our Volunteer and Communications Coordinator at the end of January, we all wish her well in her new ventures. If you have any volunteer queries or support requirements whilst we are recruiting for this post please contact the Central Team 020 7607 8762 or by email at general@centre404.org.uk

Staff Festive party We were very pleased to see more staff than ever this year at our bigger and much improved festive staff party at the Canal 125 venue in Kings Cross on 18th December.

As the organisation has grown we wanted to make sure we were able to provide a large space and some good food for staff from all services to come together and enjoy the party.

We hope that everyone who was able to attend had a good time at the event, and our thanks go to Lottie Elliot for her efforts in sourcing the venue and organising everything.

A special thank you also to all the staff who were working on the night and unable to attend the party, we hope you can make it next year!

Fundraising Our Santa Run sponsored fundraising event was a huge success this year, we are always very impressed as growing numbers of staff and volunteers give their time every year to get involved and fundraise in this way.

Thanks to staff members Nicky Bowman and Ross Robins, and volunteers Savas, Charles, Jolene and Anjeli who collectively raised over £1000 that will go towards a new garden play structure and an entertainer for our Children’s Festive Party.

Ross Robins with volunteers in their Santa suits at Victoria Park

Centre 404, 404 Camden Road, London N7 0SJ www.centre404.org.uk

Main Office 020 7607 8762 (9.30-5.30pm) staffupdate@centre404.org.uk

January 2016 If you are interested in becoming more involved with Centre 404 and developing new skills and experience in different areas, one way you can do this is to help us out with some of our fundraising events and activities.

Contact us on staffupdate@centre404.org.uk if you want to volunteer to help out at our fundraising events.

A Quiz Night event is being planned for Friday 26th February 2016. This event will raise funds for a new sensory garden play structure at 404 Camden Road. The planned structure will be accessible for children and adults and wheelchair users and will be built in memory of Victoria Willson and Lisa Davies, who were supported by Centre 404 Supported Housing Service for many years.

As this is a fundraising event we are trying to sell as many tickets as possible so why not bring your friends along or challenge your colleagues to win the coveted Quiz Night Trophy 2016!

If you want to get a quiz team together (6 people max per team) get in touch by emailing general@centre404.org.uk. Tickets will be ÂŁ12 each and will include a hearty hot meal of pie and mash (from Cookes Pie and Mash, Hoxton Market).

If you or your friends are thinking of ways to get more active or if you are part of a local sports group why not sign up to take part in a sponsored event for Centre 404? We are always looking for volunteers who want to get involved in this way and we would welcome any interest.

Email staffupdate@centre404.org.uk if you want to know more about how we can help and support you with this.

Centre 404, 404 Camden Road, London N7 0SJ www.centre404.org.uk

Main Office 020 7607 8762 (9.30-5.30pm) staffupdate@centre404.org.uk

January 2016

3. Staff Achievements Some staff feedback has shown that people would like to know more about their colleagues and other roles and services at Centre 404.

We thought this might be a good place to share some good news about staff and volunteers that have gone the extra mile and achieved positive outcomes for service users, the organisation and their own personal development in their work.

Here are just a few examples of some excellent work and achievements by your colleagues at Centre 404.

Leigh Road celebrates its first year anniversary Our brand new supported living scheme opened at Leigh Road in October 2014 providing 14 flats for adults with learning disabilities and complex needs. Tenants, staff and other professionals involved in the set up all joined together one year on to celebrate their first anniversary.

Celebrations in full swing at Leigh Road

Starting a brand new project of this size is a substantial undertaking and we want to congratulate the managers for the hard work and dedication they have put in to deliver some outstanding personalised services alongside the induction of a brand new staff team of over 30 support staff.

We have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from service users and families that outlines high praise for the manager Maria Exposito and all the staff team that have worked so hard to get the project up and running and to deliver excellent services and support to service users and their families.

A huge thank you to all those that have been a part of making this new project a great success.

Centre 404, 404 Camden Road, London N7 0SJ www.centre404.org.uk

Main Office 020 7607 8762 (9.30-5.30pm) staffupdate@centre404.org.uk

January 2016

Day Opportunities Team Centre 404 Day Opportunities team support adults with high and complex needs to receive individual and group activities and services that are based on individuals preferences.

Staff and service users enjoying the sun at the park

The team support members to develop their communication skills through fun activities such as music and singing sessions. Liz Atkinson, Head of the Learning and Leisure Service has said “It’s very enjoyable to see service users so keen to use a microphone to communicate and see them all enjoying a group song. It is remarkable to hear that a service user who used only a few words when she first started at the service in May 2013 is now able to lead a group sing a long!”

The staff team are to be congratulated on the high standards of support they offer and the creative and individualised approach they have developed in delivering fun and stimulating activities to the members.

This hard work has resulted in excellent feedback from service users and from family members and professionals involved in their care. This has been further demonstrated by service users achieving significant individual achievements in developing their speech, communication, mobility and independent choice.

Multi-sensory Story Day’s Written by Caitlin Curtis and Lorna Slee (Housing Project Managers) In September we started a multi-sensory story group for adults with learning disabilities where we used stories produced by ‘Bag Books’. Multisensory stories are told in small groups and use props to feel/hear/smell as well as voice and emotion rather than words or pictures. They can be about anything from a day at the seaside to having a haircut or Centre 404, 404 Camden Road, London N7 0SJ www.centre404.org.uk

Main Office 020 7607 8762 (9.30-5.30pm) staffupdate@centre404.org.uk

January 2016 being part of a world famous pop band. The group meets every few weeks at Centre 404 and it is an opportunity for people to get their senses going, socialise and ultimately have some fun. We have also used Bag Books stories at birthday parties and other private gatherings as an activity to get adults with multiple learning disabilities interacting together and enjoying a shared experience.

It was International Multisensory Story Day on Wednesday 23rd September so we took the opportunity to run a day of multisensory stories we created ourselves. Those taking part were taken on a journey around the world with themed stories from India, Jamaica, China, West Africa and at lunchtime we were transported to Italy for a pizza making session!

Time for pizza!

We hope to be holding more events like this in the future as well as using the stories as a tool to gain feedback from service users about the things they enjoy, or prepare them for a new experience like a plane journey or hospital visit.

If anyone would like to join the multisensory story group or wants any info get in touch with us: CaitlinC@Centre404.org.uk or LornaS@Centre404.org.uk

Want to share your achievements?

If you would like to share more information about your job and your achievements at work or if you want to inspire others by sharing a more personal goal that you have achieved outside of work email us at staffupdate@centre404.org.uk and you might be featured in a future edition.

Centre 404, 404 Camden Road, London N7 0SJ www.centre404.org.uk

Main Office 020 7607 8762 (9.30-5.30pm) staffupdate@centre404.org.uk

January 2016

4. Sharing Information We have had feedback from staff to say that it would be helpful to be able to share information about accessible, friendly and fun venues and activities for people with a learning disability to help them plan activities for the people they support.

Here are a few places that are recommended by our Learning and Leisure Team:

Harris + Hoole Coffee Shop, 9 The Broadway, Crouch End N8 8DU. Tel 020 8347 6269 Free open-mic night first Wednesday of every month. Accessible toilet facilities available

The Kindness Offensive, 273 Camden Road, N7 0JN. Tel 020 7607 6592 Free shop where you can pick up books and DVD’s, community garden space and available to use for small groups upon request.

If you have any suggestions or recommendations to make please email us at staffupdate@centre404.org.uk and we will make sure we add it to the list for the next update.

5. Updated Policies and Procedures The following policies and procedures are in the process of being updated, all staff will receive copies and will be given the opportunity to discuss them in their team meeting when they are issued.    

Equality and Diversity (replaces the previous Equal Opportunities Policy) Raising Concerns and Whistleblowing Harassment at Work Sickness Absence Policy

If you wish to discuss any of Centre 404 Policies and Procedures please email Amy Curtis, Resources Manager at amyc@centre404.org.uk

6. Staff Vacancies Stay up to date with all current vacancies on our website at www.centre404.org.uk/workfor-us If you are interested in applying for another vacancy at Centre 404 and want to discuss it before applying, or if you want more information about the different types of jobs available, please call 020 7607 8762 and ask to speak to the Resources Manager.

Centre 404, 404 Camden Road, London N7 0SJ www.centre404.org.uk

Main Office 020 7607 8762 (9.30-5.30pm) staffupdate@centre404.org.uk

January 2016

7. Upcoming Dates for your Diary 26th February 2016 - Quiz Night

Training Opportunities The following training is coming up at Centre 404, if you would like to attend any of these courses please speak to your line manager or Helen Standing at helens@centre404.org.uk

*** Please note that date, time and location may be subject to change so you will need to refer to any confirmation emails to check the final details. Training places MUST be booked and approved in advance. If you arrive for training without receiving confirmation of your attendance you might not be able to join the session.

Training Learn With Us – training around how to work with and involve family carers Introduction to Centre 404 Policies – for support workers Charity Log for Support Workers Equality and Diversity Training Medication Training Epilepsy Training Intro to Centre 404, Learning Disability, and the role of the Support Worker (9.30-3.30pm) & Introduction to Centre 404 Policies – for support workers (3.306.30) First Aid Moving and Handling of People

Centre 404, 404 Camden Road, London N7 0SJ www.centre404.org.uk

Location and Date 26th January 10am -1 pm Centre 404, Camden 26th January 2pm -5pm Centre 404, Camden 8th Feb 2pm -5pm Centre 404, Camden 9th February 9am-12pm Centre 404, Camden 17th February 9.30am-12.30pm Centre 404, Camden 24th February 9.30am-4.30pm Centre 404, Camden

Road, Main Hall Road, Main Hall Road, Housing Office Road, Main Hall Road, Main Hall Road, Main Hall

Sunday February 28th 9.30am -6.30pm Leigh Road, 47-53 Leigh Road, N5 1AH 9th March 9.30am-4.30pm Centre 404, Camden Road, Main Hall 16th March 9.30am-4.30pm Centre 404, Camden Road, Main Hall Main Office 020 7607 8762 (9.30-5.30pm) staffupdate@centre404.org.uk

January 2016 Safeguarding, PCP and Intensive Interaction Intro to Centre 404, Learning Disability, and the role of the Support Worker Moving and Handling of People Safeguarding, PCP and Intensive Interaction Learn With Us– training around how to work with and involve family carers Moving and Handling of People

Centre 404, 404 Camden Road, London N7 0SJ www.centre404.org.uk

22nd March 9.30am - 5pm Centre 404, Camden Road, Main Hall 5th April 9.30am -4.30pm Centre 404, Camden Road, Main Hall 19th April 9.30am -4.30pm Centre 404, Camden 20th April 9.30am -5PM Centre 404, Camden 25th April 10am-1pm Centre 404, Camden 27th April 9.30am -4.30pm Centre 404, Camden

Road, Main Hall Road, Main Hall Road, Garden Room Road, Main Hall

Main Office 020 7607 8762 (9.30-5.30pm) staffupdate@centre404.org.uk