Issue 10

Together 21 receives £34,000 to support children with Down syndrome

The Pioneering Care Partnership (PCP) would like to thank the Durham Freemasons for supporting our Together 21 (T21) children and families.

More than 60 families with children who have Down Syndrome will receive support thanks to a grant of £34,000.

PCP’s Together 21 (T21) project aims to support children with a range of medical conditions, some of which are serious. These include visual and hearing impairments, heart problems, low immunity, Leukemia, thyroid disorders and sleeping disorders.

T21 provides an informal curriculum of developmental and social activities for the children and young people alongside their families, developed by their internationally recognised specialist education consultant, Maggie Hart.

The grant from Durham Freemasons comes through the Masonic Charitable Foundation, which is funded by Freemasons, their families and friends, from across England and Wales.

Carol Gaskarth, Chief Executive of PCP, said: “We’re really grateful to Durham Freemasons for their generous grant which will support our essential work with children and young people with Down Syndrome. We’re there to help them improve their health, wellbeing and life chances.”

John Thompson from Durham Freemasons, said: “I’m very pleased we’ve been able to help the Pioneering Care Partnership with their hugely important work with families and children with Down Syndrome. As well as direct support for the children, parents have the chance to get to know each other and provide themselves with a vital support network.”

For more information on Together 21, visit here.

Healthwatch South Tees STAR Award nominations now open

The Pioneering Care Partnership (PCP)'s leading Healthwatch South Tees project is proud to announce its 2023 STAR Award nominations are now open.

Comprising of both Healthwatch Middlesbrough and Healthwatch Redcar and Cleveland, Healthwatch South Tees uses the STAR Awards to put a spotlight on all of the fantastic work achieved by South Tees health and care sectors.

The STAR Awards offer a great opportunity to share knowledge and shine a light on good practice across South Tees!

Who can be nominated?

The STAR Awards recognise any member of the local community who has helped to make a difference in someone’s health and social care.

Nominations should relate to health and care services only within the South Teas area, an individual, team, department, organisation or service, a professional or volunteer, an NHS, public or voluntary sector service.

You have until 5pm on Tuesday 28th February to nominate a South Tees star. For more information on how to nominate, please visit here.

Healthwatch Sunderland supports new amputee community group

The health and social care champion for the people of Sunderland has showcased the power of partnership work through the promotion of a support group for those who have had a surgical amputation.

It all started when Wendy Hadlington, Engagement Officer for Healthwatch Sunderland, was contacted by Pallion Action Group as they were keen to know if there were any support groups for amputees in the area. Following research, it was discovered there wasn’t any support groups available for amputees.

Being told you need to have a limb amputated can be a devastating, frightening and life changing experience. Common emotions and thoughts after amputation can include depression, anxiety, denial of needing physiotherapy or a need to make changes to daily routines, grief and feeling suicidal.

Some people may have had amputation as a result of trauma or injury, resulting in emergency amputation, leaving little to no time to process the effects of the surgery.

With no support groups for amputees available, Andrea Hayes decided to set up a group with support and a free room from Pallion Action Group. Experiencing amputation herself, Andrea knew the physical and emotional impacts amputation can have and invited people to attend who she had met from her time in hospital.

Wendy, Engagement Officer for Healthwatch Sunderland, said: “I was asked to go along to a support session to meet the amputee group, to inform them about Healthwatch services and offer them support through our Information and Signposting service. Here is when the group told me that they were looking for new members. I remembered a couple of weeks previous myself and my colleague Anna, were waiting in the Sunderland Royal Hospital for a meeting and noted that we had seen several people with amputations coming down from the wards to use the café or the shop.”

Healthwatch Sunderland took action and spoke to South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust to arrange a bimonthly partnership information stand at Sunderland Royal Hospital. Healthwatch Sunderland has now started to support Andrea by promoting their group and Healthwatch services, to reach and support people who may have not known the amputee group is available.

Andrea said: “I am so pleased I met Wendy that day at Pallion Action Group and the support that she and Healthwatch Sunderland have given me and the group has been invaluable. Not only have we been able to recruit new members, but the sessions at the hospital have allowed us to offer peer support to people who have had a recent amputation and more recently offer support to a lady who, for her, amputation is inevitable in the future.”

Tara Johnson, Project Lead of Healthwatch Sunderland, said: “The new support group for amputees created by Andrea is a true testament to the power of partnership working."

National Apprenticeship Week - meet Danny Walker!

With this week being National Apprenticeship Week, we will showcase our three fantastic apprentices, first up, meet Danny Walker, Creative Media and Digital Marketing Apprentice!

Can you give an overview of your role?

I've been with PCP now for 15 months, and I work in the marketing and communications department, where I am responsible for a variety of content creation for the company that includes social media, traditional print marketing and press releases for the PCP and all of our projects. This also includes writing the monthly Staff Spotlight blog series, which I hope you are all enjoying.

I mainly work with internal staff from across the organisation on a daily basis, but occasionally I will communicate with external companies. Daily, I work alongside my line manager Jenny Lee, and Operations Manager, Vicky Browning. From when I started to where I am now, I have developed confidence, not only in my work, but also as a person, where I feel I have matured (not too much though), and that is thanks to everyone at PCP.

Describe a day-to-day in your role: month to month, how content and pages are performing. Then we can adjust campaigns and content to suit the needs at the time.

A typical day will see me focus on the social media content that needs to be put out, either on that day or in advance. We promote a lot of health campaigns, being able to create content for these and promote PCP's message alongside it is a really fun task and does get your creative juices flowing every day.

I work full time and work from home three days a week. I work the final two days in the office at the Pioneering Care Centre. When I first joined the company, I found the balance difficult at first as I'd never done a hybrid working split before, but now I quite like it. It has its benefits, like being able to have a slightly longer lie in on a Monday morning, which is always welcome. I am also kept company by my dog at home those three days which is great company. Not to take anything away from Jenny or Vicky on a Thursday and Friday though!

Has there been any additional training you’ve done since you started working for the PCP?

I have done a variety of additional training, mostly with the apprenticeship agency where I am working to complete my Level 3 in Digital Marketing. This included doing projects that were done on PCP social media and other means of marketing.

As well as this, within the organisation I have undertaken some courses such as maximising YouTube and TikTok growth, pitching press releases to journalists, and many health and wellbeing related courses for staff, which are hugely beneficial.

What are rewarding aspects about your role and what do you like about working for the PCP?

Monitoring our social media statistics, including our website and individual project pages can be a task but also fun. This means we can see from day to day, week to week,

A rewarding aspect of the role is knowing that promoting our content across our main channel and our projects is that information is going to positively impact someone's life. It could be them finding out about our courses and classes we run, or finding out about a specific project they didn't know we had available for them.

These are all to do with health and wellbeing, which highlights looking after ourselves is the most important thing. I can say for sure our mission statement of health and wellbeing for all is very much targeted to the staff as much as it is the community. That is what has made a positive impact on me since I started working here too.

Working for the PCP is great and I'm not just saying that, I genuinely do really enjoy working for this company. All staff are great and are always available for a chat and a laugh, which made me feel welcome and at home straight away when I started in November 2021.

The culture and feel of the place, especially when you're at the Centre makes for no day being the same. You can be certain you'll leave at the end of the day with a smile on your face. Jenny is great and gives me loads of extra tasks to do each day, which always keeps me busy! On a serious note, I have her to thank for a lot of my development, along with Vicky, Carol Gaskarth, Chief Executive (brownie points thank you Carol) and El, who left PCP November just gone. They have all shown immense faith in all my work which has given me the confidence to be where I am at now.

And I can proudly say I have been offered a promotion to Marketing and Communications Officer, once my apprenticeship is completed!

National

Apprenticeship Week - meet Leah Hughes!

Carrying on with this weeks theme of National Apprenticeship Week, our second apprentice to showcase is Leah Hughes, Admin and Reception Apprentice!

Can you give an overview of your role?

As a full time business administration apprentice within the PCP, I work with internal staff, external staff and members of the public. I have many duties within my role but my main tasks behind reception consist of guiding all visitors who come through reception, as well as being the main point of contact for all enquiries throughout the building.

Describe a day-to-day in your role:

Within my role at the PCP no day is the same. A typical day within my job would be to greet all guests that enter the Centre weather that be staff, tenants or members of the public. I usually start my day by responding to any outstanding enquiries by either email or telephone, once all outstanding admin tasks have been completed, I would move onto catching up with any personal work. This may be my apprenticeship course work or regular admin tasks while being front of house.

What do you like about working for the PCP?

I started my role at the PCP in late November 2022. Though only being a member of staff for a short period of time I feel I have settled perfectly into my job role. I strive to successfully complete my Level 3 business administration apprenticeship and further my career within the PCP.

What is the most rewarding aspect of your role?

The most rewarding part of my job is interacting with members of the public and successfully make all people feel welcome when entering the PCP. I work within the reception/admin department that consists of a small bunch of work colleagues.

Has there been any additional training you’ve done since you started working for the PCP and starting your apprenticeship?

I have not yet completed any other training within my role, however I would be more than willing to grab any opportunities of training to help further my career at the PCP!

National Apprenticeship Week - meet Charlie Crinion!

Carrying on with this weeks theme of National Apprenticeship Week, our third and final apprentice to showcase is Charlie Crinion, Creative Media and Digital Marketing Apprentice!

Can you give an overview of your role?

I work for Wellbeing For Life where I work with mostly internal staff, however I sometimes work with external people and companies when I am taking photos of events or groups. This means I get to work with the public by interviewing them, which I promote on social media. I am full time which means I work three days at Willington with the Wellbeing For Life team and two days at the Pioneering Care Centre with marketing team there. One of the main duties of my role is content creation where I post across all social media, I am really proud that I created the 'Meet The Team' series on Wellbeing For Life which has being running now for eight months. As well as creating a series of videos on 'Animaker', an animation video content creation tool, which I really enjoy.

Describe a day-to-day in your role: Every morning I go over the daily and weekly tasks to do with Owain, who is also on the WBFL Marketing team we delegate work for each other and for the rest of the day I make sure these tasks are done. I sometimes go to events and take photos of our Wellbeing for Life staff and the public.

What do you like about working for the PCP/Wellbeing For Life?

I started in May of 2022 and ever since I started, the teams I work within have been very nice and welcoming, which has been great. I want to continue working towards passing my apprenticeship and gaining my Level 3 in Digital Marketing. Everyday is fun and everyone has good banter which makes the working day fun, and makes it fly over!

What is the most rewarding aspect of the role?

Putting out positive messages on social media is rewarding as I am doing my bit to help people and knowing that I've put the message out there makes me feel good. Meeting all different people is fun and no day is the same. An equally rewarding aspect is both working as a team but also being able to develop my skills when I do solo work such as apprenticeship coursework.

Has there been any additional training you’ve done since you started working for the PCP/Wellbeing For Life and starting your apprenticeship?

I’m going on a photography course soon to develop my skills as I enjoy my photography work. and take real pride in it. My apprenticeship coursework throughout the year has helped me develop a host of skills to use in the workplace and when it comes to the important aspects of Digital Marketing, such as targeting specific audiences with imagery and words. I will be going onto my third project with the apprenticeship soon, all of which has helped me develop my skills which I translate into my work.

North East of England Chamber of Commerce Event

The Pioneering Care Centre (PCC) hosted a health and wellbeing themed networking event for the North East of England Chamber of Commerce in January.

It offered an opportunity to promote the work of the Better Health at Work Award, and how businesses could benefit from signing up and prioritising workplace wellbeing.

#TimeToTalkDay for our Stockton project teams

Our Stockton based project teams, the Stockton-on-Tees Community Wellbeing Champions, Healthwatch Stockton-on-Tees and Community Connect Stockton-on-Tees, joined Catalyst Stockton's #TimeToTalkDay event.

The teams met with other organisations in the area for a chat, 'cuppa', access to useful information, play games and take some time out from their day to talk about mental health and wellbeing.

Discover upcoming events from the Pop Up! Community Hub

Get out your diary and discover new dates from our Pop Up! Community Hub.

They will be showcasing mental health signposting support at Darlington venues over the next few weeks.

Contact communityhub-support@pcp.uk.net for more information or visit their webpage for more dates on upcoming events.

Goodbye and good luck to Jamila!

Jamila, from OurOptions service is leaving for pastures new and we want to wish her all the success in her new role.

Jamila will be missed by staff and OurOptions members. All the best from team PCP!

Healthy eating and habits for Primrose Lodge patients

Our team at Primrose Lodge in Chester-leStreet have delivered a second workshop to patients on healthy eating and habits.

The four week course has been greatly received, with the latest session offering a taster of different food and drink.

Patients and staff engaged in the activity to see if they could identify the healthier options. After the taste session, they measured out how much sugar was in some of the products and the group were shocked! Especially with the amount of sugar in the fizzy drinks. Going forward, they said they would make healthier choices.

Time to Talk Day Bishop Auckland event

For Time to Talk Day and Wellbeing for Life hosted an amazing event in Bishop Auckland. Working in partnership with Stamp it Out County Durham and Durham County Council, Wellbeing for Life created a stakeholder event so that everyone working with the people of Bishop Auckland could come together and start a conversation about mental health and the social issues people face, which impacts their mental health.

This is only the start of a full programme of activities planned to support the community.

For more information, contact marnie.ramsey@nhs.net