Issue 15
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PCP goes green to support the environment The Pioneering Care Partnership (PCP) is proud to announce that it has signed up to be Investors in the Environment.
We’d like to thank Become Green Together for their funding support and giving us the support to reduce our impact on the environment. We are hoping iiE will help us in our journey to reducing our Carbon Footprint as an organisation, and help us to reduce our carbon emissions.”
Investors in the Environment (iiE) is a UKbased environmental accreditation scheme that aims to help organisations track their carbon emissions and environmental impact. The iiE Accreditation Programme will help PCP make significant action towards climate change, and allow us to monitor how we affect the environment as an organisation.
PCP is beginning its journey by working towards the iiE Bronze Award, which is the first stepping-stone in the iiE accreditation process. Working towards the Bronze Award includes introducing the initial processes and systems, in order to monitor and improve our environmental performance. We hope you will follow us along on this journey.
After receiving funding from Become Green Together, PCP has started its journey towards determining our carbon footprint. By setting targets for reducing our environmental impact, we are hoping to help in the goal to become net zero.
To read our blog on our journey to going green, click here.
The iiE accreditation will help us to implement an environmental policy, measure our impact, and set action plans to reach our sustainability goals. Carol Gaskarth, Chief Executive of PCP, said: “I am pleased to announce that PCP has signed up to the iiE accreditation scheme.
For more information about the Investors In The Environment accreditation scheme, click here.
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November Community Roadshow On Thursday 16th November, the PCP hosted its final Community Roadshow of the year, at the Pioneering Care Centre. The community roadshow was attended by 68 people, who all came along to the Pioneering Care Centre to explore their health and wellbeing services. We would like to say a huge thank you to Great Aycliffe & Middridge Partnership (GAMP) for their funding support of our community roadshows!
Healthwatch South Tees are looking for nominations for their Star Awards! Healthwatch Middlesbrough and Healthwatch Redcar and Cleveland, also known as Healthwatch South Tees, are looking for nominations for their Star Awards! Healthwatch often hears amazing stories about individuals who have made a significant difference within their work. The Healthwatch South Tees Star Awards aim to shine a light on those special individuals. If you would like to nominate a staff member, team or service for one of their Star Awards for the difference they have made to you or someone you know, you can do so here.
You have until midnight on Sunday 3rd March 2024 to get your nominations in! To read more about the Healthwatch South Tees Star Awards, click here.
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Staff Spotlight - Emma Gillham
What do you like about working for the PCP?
Can you give an overview of your role?
Despite only starting my journey at the PCP in June 2023, I instantly felt at home within the organisation. The people at PCP were so welcoming from the get-go, meaning I felt super comfortable straight away, which is usually something I struggle with, given my battles with anxiety. I have made so many great memories at the PCP so far, including the wonderful staff celebrations, events, and our team development day, at the escape room!
In June 2023, after graduating from Northumbria University with a degree in Mass Communication, I started working at the PCP as a Marketing and Communication Officer. During my time at university, I volunteered within the charity sector, as a marketing and communications officer, which gave me the experience I needed for this role. I interact with a variety of people across the organisation on a day-to-day basis, creating content for multiple projects and services but my main responsibility is to create content for the Better Health at Work Award County Durham and Stamp It Out platforms, as well as the PCP channels. Describe a day-to-day in your role Every day is different at the PCP, which is one of the reasons that I enjoy my job so much! From creating social media content, to creating and editing websites, to travelling across the North East to photograph events, every day is different. I work full time for the PCP in a hybrid role, meaning I work from home three days a week, and I work in office two days a week. On an average day, I create and schedule content for social media, as well as working on ongoing projects such as editing websites, creating monthly newsletters, internal campaigns and video projects.
I would like to say a special thank you to my line manager, Jenny, and the rest of the wonderful marketing team. Since joining the PCP I feel like I have progressed and learnt so much, and I feel very blessed to have a job that I enjoy so much! What is the most rewarding aspect of the role? I think the most rewarding aspect of the role is knowing that we have the platform to help people, whether it's sharing health and wellbeing resources, or promoting our amazing projects, services and events. Read Emma’s full staff spotlight here.
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Options Awards Night! On Thursday 14th December, OurOptions held their awards evening! Options members, PCP staff and family & friends gathered at Redworth Hall Hotel to celebrate our wonderful Options members! We would like to say a big congratulations to all of our winners & nominees!
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Staff Spotlight - Dan Fletcher Can you give an overview of your role? My current role with Pioneering Care Partnership (PCP) is Communications & Systems Coordinator, better known as 'IT person'. I help to support the organisation with all things IT related which is much more than computers and laptops, it includes phones too! I've been with PCP for almost 15 years now and have progressed from a part time administrator, supporting a pilot wellbeing project, to a development worker on a county wide social prescribing project supporting mental health. Throw in volunteer coordination and then add a bit of IT support and that's my 14 years so far summed up in two sentences. During my time with PCP I have gained vast amounts of working experience as I have worked with pretty much every project and service across the charity and worked with all kinds of different people, staff, clients, volunteers and partner organisations. Describe a day-to-day in your role Like most people at PCP, no two days are the same.
I think that comes from wide range of staff we have, the clients we work with and the ever-changing world around us but generally speaking I’m on hand to assist staff with any issues or problems they have with their IT. But while troubleshooting is quite a common theme I am involved in shaping PCP for the future by ensuring we have a robust communications infrastructure, helping to research and develop new systems that will benefit staff and service users and make people’s lives easier when working. What do you like about working for the PCP? So I started with PCP in November 2009 and in those 14 years a lot has changed but supporting people, helping others and creating positive outcomes has always been the same. What I enjoy about my work is seeing an end result make a positive difference, I do like to problem solve as its very rewarding to see the finished project, or to see that you have fixed an issue or problem for someone or on a piece of work. Its very frustrating for people when something they have been using all of a sudden doesn’t work. You then become your own detective and do your best to solve the mystery, which to be honest at times is like doing a jigsaw with no picture and a blindfold, but there is satisfaction in fixing things. Either that or it drives you mad with frustration so knowing when to admit defeat and ask for help is often hard. Read Dan’s full staff spotlight here.
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County Durham schools and academies take up Better Health at Work Award Schools and academies across County Durham are prioritising workplace health by taking up the Better Health at Work Award (BHAWA). Several local educational institutions are now on board with the BHAWA County Durham, including 18 schools and one college.
Blue Monday On Monday 15th January, PCP staff came together via Teams for a ‘brew and a chat’ for Brew Monday. 'Brew Monday' is all about coming together to talk to people about mental wellbeing, goals and achievements that you want to achieve throughout the year, and our staff did just that! It was a lovely morning chaired by our Chief Executive, Carol Gaskarth.
County Durham Resilience Team Rebrand Our County Durham Resilience Team, formerly known as the County Durham COVID-19 Resilience Team, are having a rebrand! Keep your eyes on the team’s social media to find out more about the rebrand over the next few weeks! You can also keep updated via their webpage here.
Read about the work our BHAWA team have been doing behind the scenes, within educational institutions across the county here.
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Healthwatch Stockton-on-Tees Pharmacy Services Survey Our Healthwatch Stockton-on-Tees team want to hear from people in Stockton about their views and experiences of local pharmacies, including what has worked well and what could be improved.
In recent months they have received intelligence that supplies of medication are becoming more difficult for some patients to access, leading to additional appointments needed with GPs or having to return for medication at a later date. The purpose of this engagement is to understand the views and experiences of people accessing pharmacy services in Stockton-on-Tees. All information that is provided is anonymous – protecting the people who share their valuable experiences and insight with the aim to support the improvement of service delivery. You can fill out their survey here.
Healthwatch Stockton-on-Tees Health & Wellbeing Drop Ins
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PCP Befriending Group Trip to Beamish! On Tuesday 28th November, the PCP Befriending Group took a trip to Beamish Museum! Despite the cold weather, the group had a fantastic time exploring the museum, and taking a stroll through history! Thank you to the Durham County Council Neighbourhood Budget Fund for funding this wonderful trip!
PCP Christmas Fayre On Saturday 2nd December, the PCP Christmas Fayre returned to the Pioneering Care Centre! We had over 20 festive stalls, a visit from Mr & Mrs Claus, free face painting & more! We had a total of 224 people attend thank you to all who came along!
Christmas Wreath Making In November and December, the Pioneering Care Centre held two Christmas wreath-making sessions! Staff members, PCP volunteers and members of the public came together for a fun-filled festive craft session, creating Christmas wreaths ahead of the festive season. We hope you all had a lovely time!
Christmas Staff Meeting In December, PCP staff had their annual Christmas meeting at Bowburn Hall Hotel. Alongside the meeting agenda, staff enjoyed a festive Christmas quiz and received their gifts from Santa! We also highlighted those wonderful staff members who continue to showcase our values. Here were our winners: Positive - Leonie McGrother Positive
Friendly Friendly - Keeley Warrington Supportive - Anna Gillingham Supportive
Team Team - The PCP marketing team Making a Difference Making a Difference - Kimberley Graver Well done everyone!
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Elf on the Shelf During December, two elves took over the Pioneering Care Partnership! The elves toured across the Pioneering Care Centre, as well as our projects and services, getting up to all sorts of mischief! They visited the Befriending Group, made snow angels in the Garden Kitchen, took part in our Love to Knit group, had a reflexology foot massage from The Reflex Clinic, and more! Check out their full antics on our PCP Facebook page here.
Christmas Carol Service Our Christmas Carol service took place on Friday 15th December. Our wonderful Options members and a choir joined us at the Pioneering Care Centre to sing some festive songs, and get us all in the Christmas mood! Thank you to all 58 people who attended - we hope it got you ready for Christmas & in the festive spirit!
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The Tidy-Up Terrors Book Launch Our very own Bev Walton launched her debut children’s book, ‘The Tidy-Up Terrors’ this December! On Saturday 9th December, Bev hosted her book launch party at the Pioneering Care Centre. Thank you to those who came along and supported Bev - we hope you had a wonderful time! Read more about Bev’s book launch here.
Wellbeing For Life Exercise Livestreams Our Wellbeing For Life team hosted two livestreams on their Facebook platform in December, providing accessible exercise classes to anyone who watched! Jules Howe lead a Dancercise session, whilst Kevin Howe lead a chair-based exercise class in the following livestream session. If you missed the livestreams, you can watch them back here: Dancercise Chair-based exercise
Are you 18-25 & feeling the January blues?
The PCP Research Team want to hear your young opinions on loneliness, isolation and friendship. If you are 18-25 and live in County Durham, please fill out our survey for a chance to win a
£15 Amazon voucher!
Pioneering Care Partnership (PCP) For any enquiries regarding this publication, contact jenny.lee@pcp.uk.net
Registered Office:
@PCPandCentre
Pioneering Care Centre Carer's Way Newton Aycliffe DL5 4SF
@PioneeringCare @PioneeringCare Pioneering Care Partnership
Tel: 01325 321234 Email: enquiries@pcp.uk.net Website: www.pcp.uk.net
Pioneering Care Partnership