Newsletter - Cardiff - January 2024

Cardiff

Newsletter

I have now been in post as Chief Executive for six months and I am deeply grateful for the warmth and welcome.

January 2024

What’s inside

Since I have been at Mirus, I have loved learning about the organisation and I have really enjoyed meeting people at our Mirus Stars and Better Together events. Better Together is really important to Mirus because we have been reviewing the work that we do, and your feedback and insights as part of the Better Together process have been invaluable in shaping what Mirus will focus on in the future.

We want to increase our collaboration next year too.

Better Together updates

02

Choosing your staff

03

Community opportunities

04

Voice, Choice and Control

05

Our Health & Wellbeing event

06

I know that lots of us have enjoyed parties and celebrations during the holiday season, and on behalf of Mirus I want to wish you all a very happy new year!

Changes to our structure

08

Meet your Responsible Individual

08

Mirus Stars Awards

09

Kirsty Davies-Warner Chief Executive

www.mirus-wales.org.uk

1

Updates from your area The Better Together process for people supported and their support circles:

What is Better Together?

Updates from your area

Better Together is our process of gathering information to make sure that we at Mirus can focus on improving the things that are most important to people.

Cardiff’s Better Together event was held in September 2023. At the event Alex West, one of our Mirus Reps, updated people about what we have done in response to feedback we have received at our previous Better Together events.

Each year we gather information from everyone involved in Mirus. The people we support, their families and circles of support, our staff, our volunteers and Local Authorities who commission our services.

We want everyone to have a say so that we can learn about all of the things people enjoy, want, and need.

We gather this information from people in many different ways throughout the year. Once we have gathered the information, we sort it into groups of similar things which we call themes, and from these themes we make a plan of what we at Mirus will work on.

We called this plan our ‘Path’ and we have a separate Path for each region we work in, as well as one for Mirus overall.

2

You said: People want to choose their own staff.

People want to have more control over finances and spending.

People want to have good wellbeing.

People want to have voice, choice and control.

People told us they want to have more opportunities in their communities.

The stories on the following pages will show you some of the ways we have been working towards achieving those aims.

Choosing your own staff You said, we did You told us that you wanted to be more involved with recruitment and choosing your own staff at Mirus.

We looked at how we recruit staff, and came up with lots of different ways that people could be involved, if they wanted to be.

Working together with people supported, their families, staff across Mirus and people from other similar organisations, we came up with a plan that helps people make decisions about the support they receive, and who they receive it from.

There are lots of ways for people to be involved in recruitment, including: • • • • • • • • • •

making a video that talks about their likes, dislikes and interests writing their own advert joining the interview panel meeting the candidates for a coffee filming a pre-recorded question for candidates to answer helping to write interview questions having a video or phone call with the candidates attending recruitment fairs and open days giving feedback on the answers candidates give telling a successful candidate that they’ve got the job

We don’t just follow this process for our support worker roles, we like to have input from people we support in our central roles too! This helps us to ensure that everyone who works at Mirus, regardless of which department they’re in, has the right values.

Watch our video bit.ly/mirusinterviewing

Work and volunteering Laura has lots of experience volunteering as she has served customers at Miss Tilley’s Community Café in Birchgrove for years.

Recently, she decided it was time to follow her dreams and look for a placement that would allow her to work with children.

Her experience at the café, together with her studies of workplace skills have improved her numeracy, literacy and organisational skills, and have set her on the right path to progress and achieve her goals.

Laura was successful in her application to volunteer at a nursery with toddlers aged 2 and 3. Working with children has been a lifelong dream for ambitious Laura, and her placement at the nursery is another positive step towards achieving her goal.

Laura at the Mirus Stars Awards with Trustee Roz

3

Community opportunities You said, we did You told us that you wanted to be more involved in your communities, through activities, volunteering and employment.

We are working hard to find more opportunities for people to engage with.

Michelle was keen to give her time to help her community, so she started looking for volunteering opportunities. Her Support Worker Kirsty mentioned that Cardiff Dogs Home on Penarth Road were looking for dog walkers, and she knew that would be perfect for Michelle because she loves being outside, and loves dogs even more!

Michelle said:

“I like all animals, but I had dogs of my own when I was growing up with my family, and that’s what made me love them most. They are so friendly and loyal, and walking them is the second best thing to having one of my own.”

After finding out more about the volunteering role, Michelle handed in an application form.

They soon called her to invite her to visit the centre and meet some of the dogs she would be walking.

Michelle said:

“I wasn’t nervous about going, I was just really excited to meet the dogs and new people.”

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On Michelle’s first day she had an induction where they taught her how and where to safely walk the dogs. She has he learned how to be responsible for the dogs that were in her care.

The staff provided her with a yellow jacket to identify her as a dog walker, as well as poop

Michelle with some of the dogs she volunteers to walk

bags and a bottle of water to take with her. She met a lovely Pug called Ethel, who had just had a litter of puppies and fell in love with them all immediately.

Michelle walks the dogs who are staying at Cardiff Dogs Home as often as she can, accompanied by one of her Support Workers.

She really enjoys being able to help, as there aren’t enough volunteer dog walkers so not all dogs get to go out everyday, which makes her feel sad.

Michelle said:

“Volunteering at Cardiff Dogs Home is great – all the dogs are really well behaved, and there have been lots of really happy times. I love being outdoors and getting exercise anyway, so dog walking means that I can help animals and other people at the same time as doing something I enjoy.”

When it’s too cold to walk the dogs, Michelle uses her time to work in animal charity shops for the RSPCA and PDSA. She is really looking forward to getting back out with the dogs in the spring time.

Voice, choice and control You said, we did A popular theme to come out of our Better Together process was advocacy and feedback.

You told us that you wanted a designated person supported in each area who you could talk to and who would give feedback to Mirus on your behalf. Because of this, we now have a local representative in almost all areas that we work in.

What are Mirus Reps?

Mirus Reps are volunteers who are supported

by Mirus. They are the voice of people supported by Mirus in their area. Their role is to provide feedback and opinions from other people we support to the local Area Manager and Registered Individual. They will also provide feedback and opinions to external organisations that Mirus work with.

Their goal is to make things better for people supported by Mirus, and help to make sure that people can do the things they love.

Each Mirus Rep needs great support from someone who understands what their role is – and each Rep and their support received training to learn new skills to be even better.

Training for our Reps The first time all the Reps and supporters came together in March at Court Colman.

They agreed the role of the Reps and discussed what why they thought it was so important.

Your Mirus Rep

Name: Alex West Area: Cardiff

Watch our video: bit.ly/mirusrepsvideo They spoke about the fact that Mirus has policies. A policy is a set of rules about how we do things in Mirus. The Reps agreed that they wanted to have a say about what goes into the policies that are about the people we support and their rights.

The next time the group met together was to have training about ‘Speaking Out’, which was delivered by All Wales People First.

The supporters also received training, this time from Joe Powell the Chief Executive of All Wales People First. This training was all about how they can best support the Reps and was called “Shine without Shining”.

Reps Alex and Adam have already presented at the Welsh Government’s Learning Disability: Talk To Us event in Llandudno, Carmarthenshire and Cardiff.

Alex and Adam talked about our Better Together process, and the importance of recruiting their own staff. You can watch some of their presentation on YouTube:

bit.ly/mirusrepsgov

5

Health and Wellbeing You said, we did You told us that you wanted more information and support with their health and wellbeing, so, in September, we organised a Health and Wellbeing Festival at Margam Park.

The Health & Wellbeing Festival, which was funded by the National Lottery Community Fund, was attended by lots of organisations from across Wales who joined us to share accessible information in an interactive way.

At the festival, people could visit exhibition stands to get advice and support about improving their health and wellbeing, as well as join in with lots of fun interactive activities throughout the day.

6

Sharing feedback We took the feedback that we received at the Health and Wellbeing Festival to the Learning Disability Wales Conference.

At the conference we showed people the video that we made of our event, and asked them: What do you think is the most important area that the Welsh Government should focus on?

An overwhelming majority agreed that Mental Health and Wellbeing should be the main focus.

Watch our video

bit.ly/miruswellbeingfestival

Have your say...

Now is the time to have your say about what Mirus should focus on in the future by filling in our survey.

We want you to tell us: • What is going well for you • What isn’t going so well for you If you are supported by Mirus, your survey will be available from your house Manager.

If you are a family member of someone supported by Mirus, your survey will be delivered to your home address.

Please complete and return your survey

by January 31st.

7

We’ve made some Changes to our structure Services structure Director of Services Assistant Head of Service and Responsible Individual Cardiff Area Manager Cardiff & Vale (3)

Respite Manager

Assistant Head of Service and Responsible Individual Gwent & Powys

Area Manager Gwent & Powys

Assistant Head of Service and Responsible Individual Bridgend, NPT & Swansea Area Manager Bridgend & NPT

Area Manager Swansea

Assistant Area Manager Swansea

People in your area Responsible Individual Name: Peter Davies Email: PeterD@Mirus-wales.org.uk Pete says: “I’m really happy to be back working in Cardiff.

In a short time I have visited a handful of people’s homes and met some great people and seen some fantastic things happening.

8

I particularly enjoyed the Halloween party at Ferrier Avenue and celebrating at the Mirus Stars Awards. I am looking forward to meeting even more people soon!”

Area Managers Samantha Cottle: Samantha.Cottle@Mirus-wales.org.uk Stacey Crocker: Stacey.Crocker@Mirus-wales.org.uk Monica Costa: MonicaC@Mirus-wales.org.uk

Celebrating achievements On 23rd November, we held our Mirus Stars Awards event at Brangwyn Hall in Swansea.

At the event, we celebrated our fabulous award winners, who had each gone through a tough nomination and selection process.

Throughout the year, everyone nominated the people who they thought had done something extraordinary, in line with our values; Together, Respectful, Responsible, Empowering and Courageous.

This year we received an incredible 151 powerful nominations.

Then, at our Mirus pre-awards parties in Cardiff and Swansea, our audience members voted for the people who they thought most deserved to go through to the next round as finalists.

Cardiff Winner Franco Armitti

Reason for being nominated: “When a member of staff who was lone working fell down the stairs, Franco stepped in to assist the staff member and keep them company. He found the phone and called ‘On Call’, and when the On Call staff arrived Franco made them cups of coffee and kept everyone calm.

Franco stayed with the injured staff member until the ambulance arrived.

Each of our 21 finalists were incredible, and our Board of Trustees had a very difficult time selecting only five winners.

Afterwards, the injured staff member called to say how supported and comforted she felt by Franco, and was grateful that he was able to get her help quickly.”

Mirus Stars winners 2023

Nominate your 2024 Stars!

Julie Devereux - Brecon Claire Roberts - Bridgend Franco Armitti - Cardiff Mark Griffiths - Cardiff

Nominations are now open for the Mirus Stars Awards 2024.

You can nominate a person supported by Mirus or a Mirus staff member by filling out the form at the link below.

www.bit.ly/mirusmoments

Wendy Jones - Neath Port Talbot 9