Newsletter - GM Crossroads Together

Newsletter Winter 2016 Edition 10

Newsletter WINTER 2016

Edition 10

Welcome

to the Carers Trust in Greater Manchester Winter 2016 Newsletter.

We hope you will find all the information you need included in this newsletter to keep you up to date with any recent developments at Carers Trust in Greater Manchester. We always enjoy hearing your feedback about the newsletter so please do not hesitate to contact us with any comments or suggestions. Remember all of our contact details can be found on the back page of this newsletter.

www.gmcarerstrust.org.uk

If you wish to receive the newsletter electronically, please contact us to be put on our E-mailing list. Don’t forget to recycle your paper copy once you have finished with your copy or pass it onto another carer or take it to your local doctors or dentist waiting room. This way we can reach more carers and they can hear about how we can help to support them.

Website During Carers Week this year we unveiled our new Carers Trust GM branding in the hope that it will strike a chord with the thousands of unpaid, ‘hidden' carers who are unaware of the support they could receive. Visit our new website www.gmcarerstrust.org.uk and meet our new family of colourful characters which we hope will quickly become synonymous with the work of Carers Trust in Greater Manchester. Hope you like it.


Fundraising The fundraising committee have been very busy this year, they have set a target to raise £10,000 and so far they have managed to raise a fantastic £6,924 towards that target. These funds will be used to directly benefit young carers living in our Greater Manchester areas. Here are some of the things that have been going on…

Manchester 10k In May a team of volunteers ran the Manchester 10k, a big thank you to our runners:

Jonathan Arya, Tom Finn, Kathleen Flannagan, Debbie Fricker, Patrick Holden, Harriet Killeen, Chris Orme, Gemma Parlby, Paul Parlby and Michael Samulewski, who between them managed to raise a fantastic £1,952.

Race Night

we could hold a race night please do get in touch.

In July we held a Race Night at Flixton Golf Club, raising £743 - it was a great atmosphere and turn out. We are looking to hold more in other areas, if you know of somewhere that

Welsh Three Peaks In September a team conquered the Welsh 3 Peaks to raise funds, the group, including staff from several of our offices, set off at 6.30am to complete


Pen y Fan, Cadair Idris and Snowdon in a 24 hour period. The challenge included a total walking distance of 17 miles (27.4km) and an ascent of around 1500 metres (4920ft). One of our Carers Trust in Greater Manchester characters also made it to the top...these guys are getting everywhere!


A big thank you to everyone that took part whether it was walking, making breakfast, driving, keeping the drivers company or keeping everyone’s spirits up! Our Welsh three peaks challenge team: Emily Allen, Debi Lee Anderson, Joe Blaney, Paul Curphey, Peter

Mauldeth Primary School Fete Thank you to Emily and Kayleigh who raised over £100 at the Mauldeth Primary School Fete

Thank you We would like to thank everybody that has helped, attended events or fundraised for us this year - we really do appreciate all your hard work and effort and the contribution you have made to us. As many of you will know


Firth, Ann Howarth, Denise Kay, Damian Lodge, Rachel Nation, Paul Parlby, Tracy Scully, James Sizer, Martine Sizer, Gordon Smith, Paula Sutterby, Christine Talmage, Leuan Townley, Helena Wright, and Angel Zebenzui Yanez Gonzalez. The challenge raised a total of £2,828. in Levenshulme in the Summer, Here is a photo of them with the Mayor of Manchester. If you know of any other school Fetes where we could have a bric-a-brac stall please let us know!

Carers Trust in Greater Manchester have had to make some big changes over the past couple of years in order to survive financially. Although things are starting to improve we are a charity and we do rely on donations and fundraising to support our income. If you would like to donate

to us, even the smallest amount will make a difference. You can send a cheque (freepost address on back), or contact your local office. Please be assured that any money donated will go towards benefiting local carers.


Next Year - 2017 Next year we have a lot more exciting things planned including… a family sponsored walk, a staff/ client lottery, a cycle challenge, 10k or half marathon runs plus much more, if you want to keep up to date with the events follow us on social media @CarersTrustGM.

Coast to Coast Cycle Challenge 2017 The Coast to Coast Cycle Challenge involves cycling from Whitehaven on the West Coast to Tynemouth on the East Coast covering approximately 140 miles (225 kilometres). Starting with your rear cycle wheel in the Irish Sea in Whitehaven the cycle route will take you across the stunning scenery of the Lake District through the North Pennine Moors finishing with your front wheel in the North Sea at Tynemouth. The cycle challenge will begin on Friday 9th June at 1pm in Whitehaven and will cover three days of cycling.

10km / half marathon run 2017 We are looking for people to run the Manchester 10km or half marathon in May 2017; we will pay your entry free you just need to commit to raising a minimum of £100.

Junior Run The North West most popular children’s running event returns to Etihad Campus on Saturday 27 May. We are looking for children who would like to take part in this run to raise money for Carers Trust, there are two options: 2.3k for 9-15year olds and 1.5k for 3- 8 year olds. All Junior and Mini runners will receive their very own Carers Trust running t-shirt, a goodie-filled finisher’s pack and a medal.

For all events & charities please follow us on social media @CarersTrustGM, or email the challenge team: [email protected]



Area Updates Bolton

We launched our Memories and Melodies during Carers Week this year, and it’s proving very popular. Memories and Melodies is a music-based activity for people with memory problems, dementia and the people who care for them. The weekly sessions are held at the Thicketford Centre on Friday afternoons from 1:30pm until 3pm and are free to anyone with any stage of dementia, and their carer, to enjoy singing together. Music and singing has been proven to have wide ranging benefits for people with dementia. You don’t have to be a good singer to join in; you just have to enjoy singing!

Canal trip Carers and the people they care for from Bolton enjoyed two great days out cruising on the Macclesfield Canal with afternoon tea on a specially adapted narrow boat. The Carers we support look forward to these trips every year and find them enjoyable and relaxing. One ‘cruiser’ said that it is ‘Balm for the soul’.



Rochdale & Oldham We are now working alongside Link4Life, Pennine Acute Care and Veterans in Communities to deliver an inclusive service to the people of Heywood Middleton and Rochdale. The Carers Lead will identify carers that need extra support and signpost them to relevant and appropriate services in the community, working with 3rd sector organisations and community services to offer a wide and diverse range of support and help to carers. By working with key services Carers Trust can offer crucial signposting to: Carer assessments, Carers health checks, emergency planning, GP breaks, benefit advice and checks and much more.

Salford We do not have long left with our GP breaks funding, so it’s your last chance to get a free break! All you need to do is visit your Dr (in Salford) and identify you are a carer in need of a break and you can be prescribed a free carer respite break for up to 4 hours.

Stockport We have been awarded a contract to help Stepping Hill hospital with their Winter Pressures. People being discharged from hospital will be given up to 6 weeks re-enablement to become self managing and prevent further admissions to hospital. This is a really positive move for us and we are looking forward to working with Stepping Hill and the REaCH team.

Trafford We are still offering a free life skills/ coaching service for adults with learning difficulties in Trafford. Here is what people have to say about this service: “Shelia has had to work hard with my son to get where we are today, as she had to gain his confidence and trust which at first he was very reluctant to do. Sheila has managed to get him out and mix with people, also to join a club which he is willing to go to once a month. To me I thought this would never happen. That is why I had to write to you to thank you for the service you provide and also sending Sheila to support us and get my son motivated.” To find out more contact Shelia on 07341 562077 / 0161 905 1986 or email [email protected]


Free

Life Skills Coaching

For adults in Trafford who have learning difficulties We can help you: 

Make positive changes in your life



Understand and cope better with relationships



Improve your self-awareness and self-esteem



Increase your self-confidence



Identify goals in your work or study



Be healthier


Rochdale Young Carers Our CEO, Paul, has been out kayaking with our young carers over the school holidays, looks like they all had a great time! There are over 700,000 young carers in the UK and at least 40,000 of these are 8 years old or younger. These youngsters are sacrificing their own childhoods to care for disabled, mentally ill or addicted family.

Friends of Rochdale Young Carers We would like to express a big thank you to the ‘Friends of Rochdale Young Carers’ who continue to support or Rochdale young carers by raising money, we are very grateful to everything that they do. Thank you!



Crossroads 4 Kids As always our childrens service in Rochdale and Salford has been very busy over the school holidays visiting lots of interesting places, take a look at some of the photos where the children were getting ready for Halloween.

Bolton charity shop opening Our new charity shop has been opened in Breightmet (Bolton) by Cllr Lynda Byrne, the Mayor of Bolton. Councillor Byrne cut the ribbon that formally opened the shop on Bury Road on 1st July. Paul (CEO) said: “We are all excited about our new shop and are grateful that the Mayor was able to formally open the shop and has chosen us to be one of the Mayoral charities for the year”.



Trafford and Bolton charity shops Our Trafford and Bolton charity shops are going from strength to strength, thanks to the hard work of all our volunteers and shop managers. As always we greatly appreciate all the time the volunteers give to keeping the shop running and a hub of the local communities. Please don’t forget us if you are having a clear out. We are always looking for donations, and even if you are not in the Trafford or Bolton area, you can send donations to your local office.

volunteer

We are currently looking for volunteers to run our E Bay shop, if you think you would be interested please get in touch for more information.

Carers Trust in Greater Manchester changes We are adopting a new and innovative approach to delivering community care in response to less funding going into the social care system. Based on a Dutch home care model developed in Buurtzorg in Holland, we believe it will positively impact on the well documented issues of


quality and recruitment that the sector is experiencing. Paul (CEO) says: “Local care delivery models will have to change as more demand is placed on the social care sector and less money is put into the system – something different needs to be done.” Last November we thought it timely to review our own care delivery model and looked outside of the UK for innovation. Paul continues: “We were getting frustrated with our local authority

partners who were just driving down costs and not looking at the bigger picture, and instead were creating unsustainable cost models and contractual frameworks based on 1 to 15 minute care calls which are inflexible around people’s needs and let people down. One care model of particular interest at that time was the ‘Buurtzorg Nederland model’ a Dutch home care model which was observed positively by the Royal College of Nursing in 2015.“

Newsletter Winter 2016 Edition 10 Buurtzorg is a unique district led care management programme which has gathered international acclaim for being innovative and cost effective whilst improving user satisfaction.

We are currently developing these principles to meet our own strategic objectives of reaching out to more carers but at a reduced cost whilst increasing the quality of our service. We intend to have the first phase complete by November 2016. This will consist of investment in a newly defined care worker role the Carers Trust Community Care Worker, who will work in specific localities and neighbourhoods and therefore will be paired up with specific clients in their homes. This will be backed up by investments in new technology, providing all Carers Trust Community Care Workers with information on tablets and smart phones that will allow a ‘real time’ overview of care operations from a central point, and will create a facility for family members to receive live updates and exchange information on the care being delivered to their loved ones.

PASSsystem This year we will be rolling out some new software called ‘PASSsystem’. This will not affect how you receive a service from us but it will implement vast improvements, as it provides a single view of care records from enquiry, assessment, medication and task changes and reviews – meaning less time travelling, less time duplicating notes and less time on administration. Using The PASSsystem to update the care plan ensures our care workers are notified of medication and task changes BEFORE their next visit starts. Our care workers will still be providing the same high level


of care to you. However, they will now be using a mobile based system to receive the care plan and medication records. All recording will be done through your care workers smart phone meaning medication and other alerts will be sent back to the office immediately. The system should mean better control and understanding of the service we deliver to you. This system is starting to be rolled out with new clients and during reassessments, and we expect it to be fully operational across all our areas by the beginning of 2017.


Welcome to the team Community Care Workers: Stella Ambara (Trafford), Janet Faram (Stockport), Malaika Farmer (Rochdale), Rhiannon Gardiner (Rochdale), Kerry Hall (Rochdale), Hayley Hobin (Salford), Uzma Khan (Bolton), Kerry Mackessy (Bolton), Kelly Murphy (Salford), Theola Nyanga (Salford), Regan Owens (Bolton), Emma Pickles (Bolton) and Rochelle Wakes (Bolton). All our community care workers are being trained as ‘Dementia friends’. Rochdale young carers: Neil Clegg (Young Adult Care worker) Pennine Acute: June Winsche (INT Project manager) and Lauren Casey (Young Carers Locality Lead) Bolton Charity Shop: Emma Clark (Shop Manager)

Following on from Nicole’s successful completion of her Business apprenticeship year with us, and achieving her NVQ level 2 in Business administration we are pleased that Nicole Ferguson has agreed to join the Business administration team based at our head office in Bolton as a permanent member of staff.

Thank you to our staff and volunteers As always we would like to say a big thank you to all our staff and volunteers for all their hard work and commitment to Carers Trust in Greater Manchester. It was Trustee Week in November so we would like to say a special thank you to all our Trustees; Chris, David, Emily, Joe, Bob, Diana, Amie & Barbara, by volunteering their time and working together to make


Newsletter Winter 2016 Edition 10 important decisions about the direction of Carers Trust in Greater Manchester they all play a vital role in securing the future of the charity.

and thank you to all of them. Debbie Fricker (Deputy CEO), Karen Leighton (Oldham), Beverley Marshall (Stockport), Brenda Nisbett (Trafford), Ann-Marie Pilkington (Rochdale), Beverley Pritchard (Rochdale), Tracy Scully (Bolton).

New Trustee Welcome to our new trustee, Amie Witherspoon. Amie graduated with a BSc (hons) in Sports Therapy in 2007 and has since gained experience in a variety of operational and strategic roles within the NHS and Local Authorities. She currently coordinates the Integrated Community Equipment Service on behalf of Oldham Council and Oldham CCG and prior to this, worked as a Business Development Officer for Alzheimer’s Society. Having worked directly with carers and carer support services in previous roles, Amie has seen first hand the difficulties carers can experience and the need for dedicated services to support them to continue their caring role for as long as possible. This lead her to become a trustee and she hopes that her experience in the public sector and enthusiasm can contribute to the innovative and valuable work being done by Carers Trust.


Here is a comment from one of our Stockport support workers, Bev, who has been with us 10 years....

Introduce a Friend Tell your friends about the valuable service that we provide and receive one hour free respite care. As a thank you for recommending a friend you will receive one hour of free care once they have started to benefit from our service. For more information contact your local office.

Long service awards The following staff have now reached their 10 year long service working for Carers Trust GM, congratulations

“10 years ago today I changed my work path... left retail management and joined Crossroads Care as a family support worker (now Carers Trust in Greater Manchester) it’s certainly the most rewarding job I’ve ever had … we have a brilliant team and I have made some fantastic friends. I feel humbled, privileged, proud and very blessed to work with so many amazing inspiring families who allow me to be included in their lives every day ... my work varies from supporting their precious children through their early school years ...helping them transfer from non education to full time school and standing proud with them as they now go to college... watching them turn into young adults and take their next step in their

Newsletter Winter 2016 Edition 10 life journey... Thank you to my 90 year old lady who makes me laugh till I cry. ..The man who at 47 who we supported to transition to assisted living ...my Monday lady who likes to lunch, my Wednesday man who struggles with mental health problems... The children I have watched grow up into awesome young adults and those who have grown their wings and left us... you are all absolutely amazing and make me happy to come to work ...it’s sometimes physically and mentally exhausting...It’s a roller coaster of emotions and challenging. But I wouldn’t swap my job for anything else... here’s to the next 10 years!”

Well done Well done to Rose Bill, Care worker in Rochdale for completing her NVQ Level 3 in health and social care. Well done to Susan Killeen and Gillian Hope in the office for successfully passing their NVQ Level 5 in Management and Leadership in Health & Social Care! A lot of hard work went in to achieving these NVQs and we are all very proud of them all!

BECOME ONE OF OUR COMMUNITY CARE WORKERS We are recruiting ‘Community Care Workers’ who are proud to be professional and put the needs of clients first. We are changing; Join us on our new journey in one of our new Trusted Care worker neighbourhood

Have your say www.gmcarerstrust.org.uk

teams, supported by a new state of the art communication system. With a minimum of one hour visits we are working for people not profit. We currently offer £8.75 per hour and 45p per mile to cover travel expenses and free accredited qualifications. To see our current vacancies and to download application packs visit www.gmcarerstrust.org.uk/ work-with-us.

We always enjoy getting your feedback about your service; alongside this newsletter all our families

will be receiving an annual questionnaire. Every year we send out an annual questionnaire to all of our

Newsletter Winter 2016 Edition 10 families across Greater Manchester. These are used to form a greater understanding of the needs and expectations of all our service users, so that we can better target our services and resources and make improvements to our services. We appreciate your help in completing these.

Over 2 you We have agreed to take part in an Over 2 You survey of Health & Social Care Services. We are inviting all our Clients & Carers in to have their say, whilst

Christmas / winter help

enjoying a free lunch. Client & Carers can have confidential 1:1 time with trained volunteers and give them a chance to empower them to have a voice in the design & delivery of the support provided & to complete a survey.

Bolton and Salford families: Friday

Christmas is usually a time filled with excitement and happiness, but for some people it can be a very difficult and sad time of the

year, if you do find yourself

9th December at The Thicketford Centre, BL2 2LW Rochdale and Oldham: Friday 2nd December at Khubsuret House, OL11 3SE

struggling here are some tips to make things more manageable:

• Try to drink alcohol responsibly during, and in the run up to Christmas. Alcohol is a depressant so you may be exacerbating the symptoms if you overdo it. • If you will be alone at Christmas find out what is going on in your area, there may be dropin centres, support groups and other community resources operating over the Christmas period. • If you are worrying about being overwhelmed by too many social events, think about which to attend and which to politely decline. People will understand that you cannot do everything. •Take care of yourself, avoid getting overtired, eat nutritious food and try to take some exercise over the holiday. • Be prepared- make sure you have enough prescription tablets over the Christmas period • If you feel that you really are not coping, the Samaritans are operating their helpline over Christmas 24-hours a day. Samaritans volunteers are trained in many of the same techniques as professional counsellors, but they won’t judge you or tell you what to do. Samaritans helpline - 08457 90 90 90. • If you require extra help from Carers Trust over the Christmas/ winter period contact your local office today. The good news is that we now only charge single time for bank holidays, so if you do require a visit on a bank holiday please get in touch to see how we can help.



Social media Do you want to keep up to date with Carers Trust in Greater Manchester news?

Follow us on twitter (Carers Trust GM) or like us on Facebook (CarersTrustGM) for regular updates on events.

Online support The Carers Trust provides online support for all carers: Babble has been created by Carers Trust as an online space where those aged under 18 who are caring for a family member or friend can chat, share their experiences and access information and advice ] babble.carers.org Matter gives young adult carers in the UK a space to connect, share advice and access trusted support ] matter.carers.org Space is a chatroom for adult carers to talk to other carers throughout the country ] www.carers.org/carers-space



Did you know you can spend your Direct Payments with us? If you are looking for a private solution to your respite needs, or want to use Direct Payments from the local authority, please contact your local office who will be happy to help you arrange this. We can provide carer breaks day and night, activities with your loved one, trips and events, hospital and GP appointment support, transport to day activities, hospital discharge etc. (min. one hour), as well as full weekend and holiday week/ fortnight breaks with carer support, please contact the local number for more information.

Contact us Please use the form below to let us know your feedback about the Crossroads service you receive. Or if you are worried about the cost of printing and distributing this newsletter perhaps you would prefer to be sent it electronically in the future? Please use the form to register your email address with us. Your name Would you describe your feedback as (tick as appropriate) Comment  Complaint  Compliment  Send me the newsletter electronically 

Your feedback and/or email address

This newsletter is available in larger print or in other languages, please call the office for further details Registered Charity No. 1059911 A company limited by guarantee Registered in England No. 3219229 The Crossroads Care trade mark is a collective mark Carers Trust trade mark is a collective mark


Local office contact numbers Bolton: 01204 365025 Rochdale &Oldham: 01706 525361 Salford: 0161 787 9002 Stockport: 0161 432 7712 Trafford: 0161 905 1986 Rochdale young carers: 01706 515 740 Rochdale Carers Locality Team: 01706 771043 Return completed forms to Freepost address: Freepost RSYE-TKHR-TCST Crossroads Care (Bolton) The Thicketford Centre Thicketford Road Bolton, BL2 2LW