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We are delighted that following our Oak Trees learning difficulty services inspection by The Care Quality Commission (CQC) on 6 April 2017, we have now received their full inspection report. This is the first time we have been inspected under the new inspection regime and the first ever inspection for Empanda.

The actual inspection process started some months ago when we were asked to submit Provider Information Returns, known as PIRs. We were also asked for the contact details of social care, health and other professionals with whom we work, as well as contact details for customers and their family members and email addresses for the staff team. Contact was then made by the CQC Inspector, with many or all of the people we listed so that she could gain a lot of background information and feedback before she actually came out to meet with us. It also gave her the opportunity to ask any questions arising from the feedback when she came out to inspect the services in April.

The inspection day started just before 10am and concluded just after 7pm. Throughout the day the inspector met and talked with many of the team, our respite care guests and some of our supported living service users too.

Having now received the final report, we are really pleased with our score which is an overall ‘Good’ and a score of ‘Good’ for each of the 5 areas on which we were inspected:

Is the service safe?
Is the service effective?
Is the service caring?
Is the service responsive?
Is the service well-led?

With the scoring options being ‘Outstanding’, ‘Good’, ‘Requires Improvement’ and ‘Inadequate’, to achieve ‘Good’ across the board is an excellent result and given we are viewed as a new provider, we don’t think we could have hoped for any more in our first inspection.

We confess to being just a little disappointed that we didn’t score ‘Outstanding’ in a couple of the areas, especially when the feedback the inspector received was so positive and we know how hard the team have worked to get the service to where it is today. However, despite the fact we have worked together as a team for many years and Kerrie Good has been the Registered Manager at Oak Trees for a very long time, we are viewed by the CQC as a brand new care provider and therefore we don’t believe they would have awarded us the highest score on our very first inspection.

The fact we achieved this positive outcome shows just what a great job the Oak Trees team is doing and how much the services are valued by our customers, partners, referring agencies, families and commissioners. All our customers spoke very highly of the service they received and that’s what really matters.

Having set the bar high in our first inspection, we need to start planning and working towards achieving the elusive ‘Outstanding’ next time the CQC inspect!

Well done to the Oak Trees team and thank you for all you do to make the services we provide special.

Following on from a very successful Jumble Sale last month, a further £312.50 was raised by Oak Trees staff, guests, tenants, friends, family and supporters at a disco held on Saturday 13 May.

The event, which took place at Attleborough Town Hall and attended by about 80 people, was part of a series of fundraising projects to raise money for a second-hand people-carrier for adults with a learning difficulty using the Oak Trees Respite and Supported Living Services.

With a free raffle ticket as part of the ticket price, everyone had the opportunity to win one of the many great raffle prizes, most of which were donated by local businesses and supporters – a huge thank you to everyone who gave so generously.

After tucking in to a jacket-potato supper, the focus turned to the dance floor and to the disco beats from across the decades. It was fantastic to see so much boundless energy and enthusiasm being displayed on the dance floor and everyone having so much fun.

A huge thank you to Community Support Worker Marie Marsh and her colleagues from Oak Trees, who worked tirelessly to ensure the disco was a roaring success, from the planning, right through to tidying up at the end of the evening – you did a brilliant job, well done.

Our next disco, being held on Saturday 14 October 2017, will be Halloween themed and takes place at the Attleborough Town Hall. If you’d like to support us by donating a raffle prize, please give us a call on 01953 457360. We would love to hear from you.

If you’d like to join us on 14 October for an evening of fun and good music, entry is £5.00, payable on the door, and includes a free raffle ticket.

The amount raised on Saturday brings our fundraising total so far, to £5,109.16, taking us a few steps closer to buying a vehicle for those using our learning difficulty services to enjoy – brilliant!

 

Following months of preparation, hard work and dedication from staff and supporters of Oak Trees, £1,108.14 was raised at the Oak Trees Jumble Sale, which took place in Attleborough on Saturday 22 April.

The jumble sale, which was the brainchild of Community Support Worker, Marie Marsh, was one of the projects currently being worked on to raise money for a much needed, second-hand people-carrier so that adults with a learning difficulty using the Oak Trees Respite and Supported Living Services can enjoy trips out.

Marie worked tirelessly in the lead-up to the event to ensure it was well publicised and that stalls were fully stocked. Lots of staff and families of service users contributed clothing, bric-a-brac and soft furnishings to ensure the sale was a success.

Final preparations and setting up started early on Saturday morning, and it was a pleasure to see guests and tenants working alongside staff, parents and family members on the various stalls.

A huge thank you goes to Marie for organising the event so well, and to everyone who played a part in making the day such a success, from those who donated and bought goods, to the cake-bakers, refreshment providers and stallholders, as well as the organisations and individuals who gave financial donations. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Our minds are now focussed on the Oak Trees disco, which is being held at the Attleborough Town Hall on 13 May. If you’d like to support us by donating a raffle prize, or would like to purchase tickets for the event, please give us a call on 01953 457360. We would love to hear from you.

The amount raised at the Jumble Sale brings our fundraising total so far, to £4,796.66, taking us a few steps closer to buying a vehicle for those using our learning difficulty services to enjoy – brilliant!

Event photo gallery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sally Hanlin and Ben Hughes attended an insightful and motivating evening with John Bird, a peer in the House of Lords and founder of The Big Issue, who came to Norwich to share his story of setting up the publication, the more recent Big Issue Invest programme and his ongoing fight for a better deal for vulnerable people.

The event, which was organised by Your Own Place CIC and hosted by Rebecca White, Director and Founder of this social enterprise, and also an Empanda Board Member, took place at St Giles House Hotel in Norwich last week.

Follow this link for full coverage in the Eastern Daily Press.

We were delighted to be presented with a cheque to the value of £250 from the Wymondham Golf Society, as a contribution towards a vehicle for adults with a learning difficulty using the Oak Trees Respite and Supported Living Services in Attleborough.

Outings and trips out, including going to the cinema, swimming, bowling, going to restaurants/pubs and out of town supermarkets, are thoroughly enjoyed by our guests and service users and create happy memories of their time with us.

Formed in 1974, The Wymondham Golf Society has some 60 members and holds five matches a year at different courses and three inter-club matches. John Barnard, Hon Secretary, has devised a clever way in which to raise money for charity at these events through giving out fines to members for minor ‘misdemeanours’!

Oak Trees holds a special place in the hearts of Committee Member Roger Morgan and his wife Jane. Their son James, who has Asperger’s, spends three weeks a year at the Respite Service.

A big thank you to John, Roger, Jane and the members of  the Wymondham Golf Society for their kind donation which brings our vehicle fundraising total to £3,688.52.

1 April marked Empanda’s first Anniversary and we celebrated this milestone in style with a ‘cup cake and cuppa ’ tour around all of our projects, meeting with customers and staff for a chat and a well-deserved thanks for their hard work during our first year.

We started our day in Suffolk, where we met with customers, staff and one of our board members at the Brandon Day Centre, who enjoyed their cupcakes with an early morning cuppa.

Next stop was Attleborough, where we spent some time chatting with a customer and staff at the Oak Trees Respite Service, before driving up to North Norfolk to Cromer, Sheringham and Stalham for afternoon tea with some of our staff and young people.

We were delighted to be joined by our HR consultant, Flic Henry, who drove up from London to spend the whole day with us, getting to know our staff and customers.

It’s hard to believe that Empanda is now one year old! In some ways, it seems like only yesterday that we were planning it’s creation and in other ways, it seems like a like a lifetime ago. Our first year has been a real roller coaster ride with, at times, tough roads to navigate, but we are pleased that we go into our second year feeling positive and excited of what’s to come.

Credit must go to the wonderful group of people we work alongside, who have helped make our dream a reality. Our staff team, have proved to be caring, dedicated and great ambassadors for Empanda. Our commissioners and colleagues in local government have been loyal, supportive and great advocates. Our board, who volunteer their time and expertise, are creative, innovative and encouraging of all that we do and our partners help us by providing excellent services to support the work of Empanda. We are extremely fortunate to have this backing and know that we have only made it this far because of the combined efforts of our colleagues, commissioners, board and partners.

As we enter our second year, we are excited about exploring new ways to improve all the services we provide and to forge ahead with our plans to raise sufficient funding to purchase a vehicle for Oak Trees and to transform the Brandon Day Centre into a vibrant community hub that can be enjoyed by the people who use the day care service, as well as the wider community.

 

On Wednesday 18^th we met with Angela Jiggins and Gerri Fox of St Nicholas Hospice Care. They were looking for a venue in Brandon to establish Open House sessions where they offer a range of services to individuals with life threatening and long term health issues, their carers and family members. Having looked around the Day Centre, they felt our meeting room would be an ideal location and we agreed that their first session will take place on Monday 27 February 2017 from 2pm and then the fourth Monday of every month thereafter. We are delighted to have met them and for them to run this valuable service from the Day Centre.

The link below will take you to their website where you can get more information on the services they offer.

https://stnicholashospice.org.uk/news-community/events-listing/open-house-brandon/

Yesterday marked the start of Empanda’s involvement with the Brandon Day Centre. The senior team were all on hand to meet customers and staff, as well as local councillors who popped in to wish us well on our first day.

We enjoyed having a chat with customers over a cup of tea after lunch and finding out what the Day Centre means to them. Here are just a few snippets …

“Coming to the Centre means a lot. I can talk to people my own age. My body might be dead but my mind is very much alive and that’s why I like joining in with quizzes and codewords.”

Helen

 

 

 

“I come to the Centre every day and I enjoy it because there’s always something going on and people are in and out all the time. I am a Spurs supporter and used to play football and cricket, so I like joining in with games.”

Jim

2017 is very much a year for developing and maximising the potential within the Centre for existing and future day care customers and broadening the service offer to attract the wider Brandon community.

Following a request to friends on Facebook to donate unwanted Christmas gifts for residents at the three Empanda Young People’s projects, Housing Support Worker, Stacey Carter, was delighted to receive 52 items (two for each resident), including chocolates, cosmetics and clothing. Stacey then took time to wrap each present to be handed out to residents before the big day.

We are amazed at the generosity of so many people and would like to send out a big ‘thank you’ message on behalf of Empanda staff and YPS residents to Stacey and her friends for making such a difference at Christmas to the young people we support.

A big thank you to the staff team at Empanda who voted to support those in need instead of receiving a token Christmas gift from the company.

To mark our first Christmas, we wanted to do something in keeping with our ethos and ideology and were deeply moved by the plight of those living in Yemen. With 7 million people at risk of starvation and with easily treated diseases killing people unable to access or afford treatment, we asked staff if they would agree to us using the money earmarked for a gift to go to this appeal instead.

A unanimous ‘yes’ vote from staff meant we were able to make a donation to the Yemen Crisis Appeal on their behalf, which in some small way, will make a difference to those in need.

Link to the Appeal film: http://www.dec.org.uk/appeal/yemen-crisis-appeal