grapevine - Brunelcare
Transcript of grapevine - Brunelcare
grapevine
Summer 2015
Inside this issue:
Shaun in the City and Brunelcare
Brunelcare do care!
Emmanuel Court Develop ments
Chestnut activities
and much, much more.
2 grapevine Summer 2015
This year Brunelcare are
sponsoring a Shaun in the City
sculpture called ‘Sparkles the
Unicorn’, part of the Bristol
‘Shaun in the City’ trail from
Monday 6th July to Monday
31st August.
The flock of 70 sculptures appear in iconic
locations and green spaces all over Bristol,
before being auctioned to raise money for
Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal, the
Bristol Children’s Hospital charity in
October.
This is a great opportunity to raise the
profile of Brunelcare, along with raising
money for Bristol Childrens’ Hospital.
Nick Park CBE, creator of Shaun the Sheep,
Aardman Animations says:
“It’s been a busy year for Shaun, he has just
launched his first movie and now he has his
very own arts trail! Shaun is such a well-
loved character with so many fans around
the globe, I am sure many will flock to
Bristol to be part of the fun.”
Shaun in the Cityand Brunelcare
“
“
Brunelcare are finding ways to involve friends,
family, residents and our local communities in
the sponsorship, along with looking forward to
seeing Sparkles in the Bristol trail this summer,
located at Horfield Common!
Our thanks to staff and residents for knitting
100+ little Shaun's. They will be sold in aid of
The Grand Appeal. Here is one of the first
knitted Shaun’s that his owner, Lucy Davis, in
Brunelcare’s Finance team, took with her to
complete the London sculpture trail!
Wallace & Gromit’sChildren’s Foundation.Charity no. 1043603Shaun the Sheep & Shaunin the City ©& ™ AardmanAnimations Ltd 2015
To find out more please visit
www.shauninthecity.org.uk
Sparkles pictured with our CEO Paula Kennedy
(left) and Emily Golden (right) the designer
grapevine Summer 2015 3
Brunelcare do care! We sometimes hear that
Brunelcare don’t care. We
do care. Over the last couple
of years we have been
asking tenants questions
about our service and we
have been adapting our way
of working, to put you at the
heart of what we do.
We also make referrals to and liaise with
GPs, Social Workers, Care Direct, Mental
Health, Chiropodists, Opticians, Home Care
Agencies and many more bodies to help
improve the health and welfare for you, our
tenants. Brunelcare can provide aids and
adaptions for your home to help you
maintain your independence. This can
range from a grab rail to a level access
shower.
Some tenants need help with difficult issues
such as hoarding and alcohol abuse. We are
continually developing our knowledge to
help us work together with you to overcome
difficult times.
Wills and funerals are not an easy subject to
discuss but we are available to advise and
point you in the right direction to set this up.
Marigolds is an in-house service that offers
help with all household chores including
one-off spring cleans and escorting to and
from hospital appointments.
This is just a summary of the work we
undertake on your behalf.
If you have any issues or concerns or would
benefit with help from us please don’t
hesitate to speak to any member of the
team. We would like to reassure you that
everything you discuss with us is treated in
the strictest of confidence.
One of the main things you told us was that
the sites were too quiet, with little or no
activity. Of course this varies from site to site
but we have been trying to facilitate a range
of activities on sites i.e. bacon butties,
flexercise, quizzes and cream teas.
We thought it would also be of interest to
you all to know the other areas of support
we offer:
Over the last 12 months we have received
over £8,000 in charity grants to help tenants
overcome financial difficulties, along with 10
Crisis Prevention Loans. This is to help with
debt management and to ensure that
everyone can manage financially.
On behalf of tenants, we have applied for
and been successful in securing several
benefits:
• Attendance Allowance: 34
• Carers Allowances: 4
• Housing Benefits and Council Tax relief: 174
• Disability Living Allowance/Personal Independent Payment: 12
• Blue Badges & Bus Passes: 12
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Tenants Voice
celebrated its
6th Anniversary
in February
this year.
The group, which was originally formed in
2009, has gone from strength to strength
during this time and has recently received
interview training to help in the recruitment
process for new members of staff. They
volunteer their time each month to help
Brunelcare improve its services so that they
are appropriate and required by tenants.
Don’t forget to look out for the Chairs report
in Grapevine for more information on what
the group are currently working on, or check
the minutes from their meetings which are
put up on site notice boards.
Tenants Voice6th Anniversary
If your site does not have a Tenants Voice
Rep and you would like to find out more
please contact Debs Holvey on
0117 9144 233 or email
There was 2 monks and they had 2 big dogs. We
did bring big bones for the dogs and meat for
the monks. The community room in Cherry Tree
Close was the house that they lived in and there
was an archway to enter the yard and you
needed to ring a big bell on a rope, for them to
open the door. One monk was very tall about
6ft 1” and the other monk was about 4ft. The
tree in the community garden was there in
1963. When I came here to live with my wife,
Pamela, in 2010, I knew I had been here
before.
A Blast from the past at Cherry Tree Close
David HancockBack in 1963 when I was 15 years old, most Saturdays I worked for a butcher in
Fishponds Road by the name of S.M.Church. Dave Parsons and myself delivered meat
to people’s houses. Dave Parsons had a van and we delivered to Cherry Tree Close.
5grapevine Summer 2015
The Call Systemand CentraThe call system installed in
your home is not just there
for emergencies, although it
is the quickest way of
raising an alarm.
It is also there as a communication
method for you to report things like:
property faults, for contacting staff
when they are on site, if you have lost
your keys and can’t get in, you can ask
a neighbour to pull their cord. You can
also pull the cord to report issues with
strangers on your site. The call system
is monitored by Centra who are there
24 hours a day, 365 days a year waiting
to help you. You can test your system
anytime you like, just pull the cord and
when Centra answer just let them know
you are only testing the system. They
won’t mind; they would prefer you test
the system regularly rather than
waiting until you need it and then find
a problem. Don’t forget we also have
an out of hours maintenance team and
tenancy team available to assist you
should you need it, and the best way to
contact them is pull the cord.
Last year Brunelcare ran Tenant
Community Awards
and included a category
for ‘Outstanding Staff
Member’.
This was done so that tenants had an
opportunity to recognise the hard work of
the Brunelcare staff who are unsung heroes
on sites. The staff who won were Denver
Jones, Jean Cierocki and Karen Hulton. We
would like to offer a big well done to all
three members of staff for their hard work,
diligence and care. You all help people
make the most of their lives.
No need to go out in all
weathers to pay your rent, you
can just ring Allpay on
0844 557 8321 anytime day or
night and pay via the Automatic
Account Payment System.
All you need is your debit or credit card and
your Allpay payment card. Call the number
and follow the instructions on the
automated system using your telephone key
pad to enter your details, and that’s it. It’s
quick and easy so why not give it a go.
0844 557 8321
Staff Awards
Easy ways topay your rent
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Childhood MemoriesMy first Fag Age 9 - By I Cleaver
Medal of Gratitude
grapevine Summer 2015
Mrs Wilson shouted “Irene and Pearl come
over here.” Oh what does she want now eh?
“I need one of you’s to do my shopping”.
Pearl jumped in “I’ll do it for you Misses”.
Myself and Pearl were standing outside the
old lady’s door waiting for her to give us the
shopping list. “Isn’t it great Pearl” I
whispered. “We’re gonny get money for
sweeties today. “That’s what you think”. “Eh
what do you mean by that Pearl?” “You’ll
see”. So we got the shopping for the old lady
and she told us to keep the change. “Pearl,
Pearl so much money did we get.” Both of
us ran like hell down to the shops. I walked
over to the sweetie counter. “Look Pearl,
come and see big gobstoppers, red ones
green ones”. I turned round, she wasn’t
there. I looked at the inside window, she was
outside holding a small bag. I ran out
shouting “what did you buy? ” Pearl said
“Let’s walk down the road a bit”. “Ok”. We
were in the park when Pearl opened the bag
and pulled out a box of matches. “Are we
gonny make a bonfire with these?” “No” she
said and then pulled out fags, five
Woodbines. I looked surprised at her, I
didn’t how to smoke. “Would you like to try
it Irene?” “Ok”. Then she opened the fag
packet and gave me 2 cigarettes and 2 for
herself. The other one she halved it and lit
up her half, puffing away she looked like
she had smoked for years. I tried my half, it
wasn’t very nice I nearly choked on it so I
gave my friend Pearl the rest of it to smoke.
Lily Dagger, 90 years of Blagdon
Close receives a Medal of
gratitude for her services to the
Womens’ Land Army.
Lily was just 17 when she enrolled into the
Womens’ Land Army, and stayed there for
nearly 3 years. Lily remembers potato
picking on her first day and how back
breaking it was. Lily worked on many farms
throughout Gloucestershire during her time
in the land army. Lily will be traveling to
Arromanches this month for a reunion with
all the women that worked during the war
in the Women’s Land Army.
7grapevine Summer 2015
Maple Close
get togethers
During 2014 tenants of Maple Close
really enjoyed many good lunches,
lovely trips out and many get
togethers. All thanks to David, Barbara,
Wendy and Maureen. Without these
people it would not happen. A big
thank you and a good 2015 to
everyone.
Eglin Croft would like to thank
Mr Nagar and family for their kind
donation of £200 towards a meal for
our tenants. The meal was kindly
organised and prepared by members of
Brunelcare staff. This left a balance of
£120 which we donated to charity for
diabetic research. Mr Nagar has since
moved to another Brunelcare site
where we wish him every happiness.
Meals at Eglin
Emmanuel Court, located in
Clifton, is a Grade II listed
building and has been open
since 1981.
Brunelcare have recently completed a
refurbishment project of the 64 flats located
within the Sheltered Housing scheme. The
aim of the project was to carry out a
refurbishment of each of the flats to
enhance the facilities for all of the tenants.
The project was divided into two parts, the
first of which was the urgent replacement of
all of the windows to the building. This was
then followed by an optional internal
refurbishment of the flats to include
additional insulation to external walls,
replacement of kitchen and/or bathroom
and a full redecoration. We gave each of the
tenants the option as to the amount of
refurbishment works they wished to be
carried out within their flat as we felt that
they should give Brunelcare the steer on
how much they would like done as this sort
of refurbishment can be very disruptive. The
outcome has been a successful project that
took place over a period of 18 months.
Where internal works have been completed,
those tenants now enjoy a slightly larger,
brighter and more functional kitchen space,
a more functional and open level-access
shower room, attractive double-glazed
windows and a more efficient use of energy
due to the improvements made to their
insulation.
Emmanuel CourtDevelopments
8
Birthday - 80Violet a tenant at ChestnutClose was 80 on the 28thJanuary and gave a lovelytea party for the tenantswhich was great foreveryone and had a familyparty later in the week.
Birthday - 90Dorothy was 90 last summerand also had a party for herfriends, family and tenantsof Chestnut. Everyone had agreat time.
Birthday - 92Madge was 92 last October(2014). At a coffee morningshe opened her cards and wehad nice cakes.
Chestnut activities
HalloweenKaren’s Halloween Tea atChestnut which everyoneenjoyed very much.
grapevine Summer 2015
ChristmasChestnut tenants had aChristmas 2014 dinner atthe Blue Bowl. All had anice meal and a goodtimewas had by all.
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Heathers Leaving Do We were all very sorry to seeher go and wish her all the
luck for the future.
American Holiday I spent a month in America visiting twin cousinsfor Christmas, one lives in Phoenix Arizona and theother in Tuscan Arizona – about 2 ½ hours driveacross the desert. We all had a great time together.The Phoenix one had grapefruit and two orangetrees. The Tuscan one has a desert garden which hashad an award. (Yvonne Hawkins)
Operation Christmas Child Christ the Servant was an activeparticipant in putting together Christmasboxes for disadvantaged children in EasternEurope. Photos of boxes brought into Christthe Servant church for the Sundaymorning service. The content of the boxesare then checked by volunteer helpersbefore being sealed and packed into biggercontainers ready for dispatch into lorriesfor Romania.
grapevine Summer 2015
10
SculpturesThis fantastic sculpture
was made by Adrian Smith,
a tenant from St Barnabas
Close.
He made the swan out of scrap metalin 1980. The body of the swan is madefrom the tank of a motorbike, the neckis part of a car exhaust and the wingsare horse shoes. For the last 10 yearsthe swan's home has been a localhealth centre but now it is beingdisplayed in the garden at St Barnabasfor all the tenants to enjoy.
what a week!
The tenants of St Barnabas held a
‘Time 4 a Cuppa’ on the 4th March and
raised £75. Thank you to all who
supported this event.
grapevine Summer 2015
Time 4 a Cuppa
RAISED
£75
National Give & Gain Day, held
every year on 15th May is a
celebration of the incredible
power of employee volunteering.
Companies of all shapes and sizes support
their community through volunteering
services. Give & Gain Day is an opportunity
for community organisations to celebrate
what business volunteers can achieve.
Brunelcare were incredibly fortunate to be
so well supported this year. All Brunelcare
sites were asked to submit a project that
they would like volunteers to help with. I am
pleased to say that everyone had their
request fulfilled, plus quite a few additional
projects were taken on. We had over 100
volunteers help us for a day and almost
£1000 in donations. 76 clients were treated
to pampering or an enjoyable day out, plus
residents and tenants at 3 sites are still
enjoying the makeover the gardens
received.
We had 4 different companies help us, all of
whom were extremely generous in their
time, enthusiasm and donations. Some
companies returned from volunteering with
us last year and many volunteers returned,
one lady was on her fourth visit to us! Many
of the volunteers have asked to return, and I
have even signed up 2 as regular volunteers
as they were so engaged with the
volunteering!
Liz Ehlers, Volunteers Coordinator, Brunelcare
WOW
TenantCommunityAwards 2015
Forget the Oscars and The
Brits, our Tenant Community
Award is the one everyone
wants to receive.
This is because its your friends and
neighbours on site that will have
nominated you for this prestigious award.
Alternatively you can nominate a fellow
tenant on site who has gone above and
beyond to help you or the site as a whole.
This could be the person who tends to the
gardens or a neighbour that takes you
shopping each week or the site committee
for all their work in organising activities on
site. We also have a category for you to
nominate staff as a thank you for them
when they go above and beyond to help
you or your site. For a nomination form,
just ask your site staff, but remember the
closing date for entries is 31st August.
Breakfastat Eglin
Tenants were treated to a full English
breakfast which was organised by Site
Officer, Karen Hulton. The meal was
enjoyed by all. We thank Karen and all
the staff who kindly helped make a very
successful and enjoyable morning.
Brunelcare Housing
Maintenance are replacing the
handyman service with a new
Please speak to staff, look out
for posters on your site or call
01179 523373 for more
information.
First ResponseService
11grapevine Summer 2015
12
GSC Garden News
grapevine Summer 2015
Marion at Good Sheppherd
Hello everyone!
I thought I’d write a newsletter
about our garden for us all so
here goes….
As you may have seen, we have taken
delivery of a tipper load of composted
manure which Alan, Mac & I have managed
to spread around much of the garden before
the rain came. Many thanks to Mac and Alan
for help and also to Mac who brought us a
wheelbarrow. Alan has taken up the ‘Tree
protectors’ that he made so he can oil them.
He will replace them in the spring when
lawn mowing recommences. Thanks for that
Alan, our trees need protection! Thank you
Mac for all the watering and help and
Monica thank you for all the cheerful pots
you give us. Thank you to Peter for the
beans and to Brenda for the ‘litter pick-er-
upper’ which I deployed yesterday in the
front hedge and back lane. Many thanks to
Pat who donated two wheelbarrows and to
Cliff who’s magic application of
sequesterone tonic turned the hydrangeas
in the back the most beautiful hues of blue
and lilac.
Also thanks to Joanne whose wild patch is
so lovely. It is said that every garden should
have a wild patch for the fairies and
Joanna’s bit must be teaming with them!
And very many thanks to Ian whose
beautiful lilies fragrance the air and delight
us every summer. I would also like to thank
Gloria, Airforce John, Doris and Ron for their
kind donations. With all this kindness and
help I am able to really make the garden
improve year on year, Gloria has also
bought up the tables and chairs – thank you.
The manure we put down is well composted
so does not smell so have no fear.
I keep a garden fund now to which I donate
and put all other donations into, to keep an
account of where all the money goes. You
may see the books if you wish. I am
confident that next year the ground will be
very fertile and much easier to dig and
hopefully we will have a lovely show of
flowers next year. I am planning more
cosmos, asters, chrysanthemums and more
dahlias and poppies next year, as well as
buying English blueberries next autumn to
replace the invading Spanish bluebells. Of
course the contract gardeners are so helpful
– I wouldn’t manage without them. They
have been very helpful in cutting back the
overgrown hedge out the back and I will ask
them also to cut back the hedge between us
and the church. I have put some raspberry
canes into the bed between us and the
church to fill the gaps there, this was my last
job of the year and I am putting the garden
to bed with a good feed.
Thank you so much for the help and
appreciation and if you have a particular
favorite you would like to see next year,
please let me know. I love our beautiful
garden - long may it flourish. Bye for now,
Marion.
13grapevine Summer 2015
On 22nd June
2015 Paula
Kennedy
joined
Brunelcare as
our new Chief Executive,
succeeding Helen Joy who has
retired after 11 years as CEO
with Brunelcare.
Paula has had a very successful career in
the social housing and care sectors, joining
us from Herefordshire Housing where she
was the Managing Director.
Paula says: "I am delighted to have been
offered the opportunity to join such a great
organisation as Brunelcare and I look
forward to getting to know all of the people
that have made it such a great place to
work with such a strong reputation amongst
its customers".
Helen Joy, during her last week with
Brunelcare, said: “I will treasure my
memories of Brunelcare. I know that
Brunelcare can look forward to many more
years providing services that help people
make the most of their lives”.
For further information, please contact:
Helen Chick, Marketing Coordinator
0117 914 4258 / 07788 391292
Brunelcare appoints
new CEO, as
Helen Joy retires Residents living at Brunelcare’s Maple Close
in Stockwood, Bristol, celebrated VE Day
70th Anniversary on Friday 8th May in style!
40 people came together in total to
celebrate, inviting friends and family, young
and old, to join them. The party-goers
included a lively 92 year old and 96 year
old! Plenty of effort was made to create a
nostalgic atmosphere for the party,
complete with issuing ‘Telegrams’ as
invitations, asking everyone to stand in a
sentry box as if they were going off to war
and having their photos taken as they
arrived; to dressing up in service uniforms,
and 1940s fashions. There was bunting and
flags decking the room and VE Day 70th
flags abundant.
The food was even themed, with party-
goers enjoying Clarks pie, mushy peas and
chips for only £4 a head. A local musician
donated the money he was given for
playing to charity, providing plenty of old
war time tunes including a few Glenn Miller
favourites to get everyone ‘in the mood’.
War stories were swapped during the party,
with Cissy (92 years) fondly remembering a
happy incident on Valentine’s day when she
was stationed on the Isle of Man serving as
a Red Cross VAD (Voluntary Aid
Detachment) nurse in a hospital during the
Second World War.
Cissy said: “I came down for breakfast that
Valentine’s day to find a note addressed to
‘Frankie’, that was my nickname when I
served at the hospital. When I opened the
note, it contained a poem which I can
remember word for word to this day. It said:
“We think of Frankie every day, She really
should be ours, With measles, mumps and
chicken pox she’s our darling Valentine.””
Rob and Wendy, residents at Maple Close
and organisers of the party said: “It was
hard work but we did enjoy organising the
party! We feel we are putting something
back into our little community here, with
help from the other tenants.”
Brunelcare residents were ‘In
the Mood’ at VE Day party!
14 grapevine Summer 2015
Tenants’ PhotoCompetition 2015It’s back, and with some new fresh
categories to test your photography skills.
The new categories are:
• Summer in a Shot
• Shaun in the City
• Sports / Games
• Wildlife
So whether you see someone tucking into
an ice cream, playing or watching a game or
sport, a squirrel in the garden or you go and
visit Brunelcare’s own Shaun the Sheep,
Sparkles, during the Shaun in the City trail
there is something for everyone. So make
sure you have a camera with you to catch
the winning shot.
Remember the entry deadline is August
31st. See your site staff for more details
and an entry form.
-
ENTRY
DEADLINE
31st AUGUST
Home Service is a three year
programme of work bringing
great art to older people in care
homes funded by Arts Council
England and The Baring
Foundation.
As a part of the project at Robinson House
this spring we have been developing and
facilitating a series of sessions around the
theme ‘Bringing the Outside In’. Working
with a storyteller,
photographer and
visual artist, we
have created
activities that
explore outdoors
nature and our local environment. The
sessions have involved walking, collecting,
clay work, collage, model making, life
history work, storytelling and photography.
A key part of the project is collaboration
with staff at Robinson House, through
highlighting and sharing the wealth of
creativity that is already there, and
developing new ideas together. We are
currently developing kits, which can be used
by visitors to the home and by staff to
engage with residents in a creative way.
Home Service fromRobinson House
Housing and
Tenants’ Numbers
Housing Team:
01179 144 257
Emergency
Maintenance
Freephone
(8.30am - 4.30pm)
0800 072 6308
Brunelcare Head Office
Saffron Gardens,
Prospect Place,
Whitehall, Bristol
BS5 9FF
T: 0117 914 4200
F: 0117 954 3881
www.brunelcare.org.uk
Registered as a charity
(201555) and at the
Homes and
Communities Agency
(LH0269)
Grapevine is also
available in larger print
and other languages.
For a copy please
telephone Kirsty Hirst on:
0117 914 4232