CONTENTSPeople We Support Activities............. 1,2, 3, 9-12Pro-Active Committee ........4New website ........................4Co-production Week ..........5SEND Partnership...............5People Awards ...............6,12Family Forum Feedback ....7Charity Shop .......................7New Service Opening. ........8Investing for the future ......8Richard’s 60th Birthday....10

A totally Wicked tripPauline and Richard enjoyed a trip to London to see Wicked, a meal out and an adventure on the train with key workers, Alice and Tatum.

A noisy day at the museumAlan and Robin put their earplugs in when they went to Gatwick Aviation Museum for the Lightning F53 engine run.

Featuring TomTom, from London Road, and his love of riding were the focus for Active Prospects’ social media on World Down’s Syndrome Day.

ProactiveNewsletterCelebrating the lives of the people Active Prospects supports

May 2017

Proactive

Quality Checkers first visitThe first audits by the People We Support Quality Checkers took place when they visited four services. Each member checked on different issues including staff IDs, attendance and punctuality, friendliness and that residents were happy. All three checkers had an excellent day.

A rather chilly car washThe Pro-Active Committee fundraising car wash was a chilly affair. Justin, Alan and Pat braved the elements and did a grand job, using equipment donated by Halfords.

St Patrick’s Day Party at WoodviewEveryone at Woodview took part in preparations for the St Patrick’s Day party. Staff even coloured their hair orange, white and green!

Celebrating the lives of the people Active Prospects supports

Horsham sunshineRita had a lovely spring day in Horsham with her Support Worker, Vicky.

Seaside TripAlan, Mick, Rita and Robin enjoyed a chilly May Day trip to Worthing with their support worker, Debbie. Despite the weather they even braved an ice cream!

Proactive

Richard celebrates in styleRichard, from Millview, celebrated his 60th birthday in style at the Crowne Plaza Gatwick, with his family, support workers and friends.

Shopping tripPeter from Cedarwood helped to write a list and do the shopping.

Pat is BaptisedPat, from Community Prospects, was baptised recently at Horley Baptist Church. She really enjoyed the service and said the water was nice and warm!

Celebrating the lives of the people Active Prospects supports

Pauline’s AwardPauline received a Governor Award from SABP NHS Trust.

Bowling FunMick, Alan and Robin had a great time bowling in Crawley.

Proactive

Pro-Active Committee Update

Since the last issue of the Proactive newsletter, the Committee has:

- Held a fundraising car wash at Head Office.

- Agreed to hold a conference on 6 October 2017 and the MP for Redhill/Reigate will be the main speaker.

- Undertaken the first Quality Checker visits at four of our residential services.

- Set-up a Tuesday ten-pin bowling club through Young Prospects which anyone can book on to.

- Looked at a publication ‘Top Ten Tips for Choosing a Support Provider’ and asked for this to be available for those applying for an Active Prospects service.

- Opened its own bank account and made Pat Chair. A new co-chair will be voted in at the next meeting.

- Reviewed the family and people we support surveys to make suggestions for changes for 2017.

Reminder: Everyone is welcome to come to meetings. Minutes and future dates are available in each service, and dates are also on the new website.

New website launched - www.activeprospects.org.ukActive Prospects’ new website was launched in April, following consultation and involvement with people we support and staff. It has new Easy Read and My Active Prospects sections for people we support.

Recipe for successLizzie has been trying out different recipes with the help of her support worker, Jean.

Pauline’s birthday bashPauline had a fabulous birthday tea at Queens Park Lodge with friends Jenny, Sarah and Michela, alongside staff members Vicky, Helen and Sue.

Celebrating the lives of the people Active Prospects supports

Holiday HeavenPat had a brilliant holiday in Hayling Island, and visited the New Forest area.

Bank Holiday PintAlan and Rita savoured a pint at their local pub on the May Day Bank Holiday.

Proactive

New Service launching soonActive Prospects is very excited to be announcing the opening of its new service at Beech Lodge in Caterham.

The service has been redeveloped into four spacious one-bedroomed flats and will specialise in providing support to people who have an acquired brain injury.

The service is due to open on 3 July and all bedrooms are already allocated to people waiting to move in.

The project has been in planning for the last six months and we are really pleased to be able to support four individuals who have been in rehabilitation services for a number of years awaiting suitable accommodation in their home town of Caterham.

The move will mean they can continue to be friends and share their connections whilst building up their independence skills.

Active Prospects has been investing heavily in its properties over recent months:

Temple Road, Epsom - £100k invested to convert a three-bedroomed house into two individual flats. Former occupants, Lesley and Elizabeth, now have a modern and accessible downstairs flat with access to a large garden.

Salisbury Road, Banstead - £100k invested to convert a two-bedroomed house into two one-bedroomed flats. Downstairs there is a separate kitchen, wet room and bright airy lounge with patio doors onto an established garden. Upstairs we have created a self-contained flat with open plan living/kitchen/dining areas. Colin who previously lived in the house occupies the upstairs flat.

Millview, Charlwood - we have invested in reconfiguring the communal areas to create more useable living space. The kitchen and living room have been knocked through to create an open plan living/dining area that is bright, spacious and fully accessible.

We have also created a new cosy and comfortable living room. We are now moving on to stage two which will involve a complete refurbishment of bedrooms, wet rooms, stairs and landing.

Blanford Road, Redhill we are investing in knocking through the small kitchen and dining area to create a large communal space for residents to enjoy. We’re landscaping the ample gardens and creating a new vegetable patch and sensory garden for residents to relax in.

Wolverton Gardens, Horley - we have installed a new fire exit and decorated communal areas and have had plans drawn up to create a two-bedroomed self-contained annex.

Finally, we’re investing over £1m development at Gloucester Road, Redhill to create nine self-contained flats with communal space. Two of the flats will be larger to accommodate people with high support needs who may require 2:1 staff support.

Investing for the future

Celebrating the lives of the people Active Prospects supports

SEND PartnershipActive Prospects has secured a grant of £35,000 from Surrey County Council’s SEND Enterprise Programme to launch a new Supported Internship programme.

Active Prospects has been chosen as one of three providers to work in partnership with SEND Enterprise and East Surrey College. Eight interns, who will start later in 2017, will work in roles across Active Prospects gaining skills and practical work experience to help them on a pathway to paid work. Interns will work across the organisation, in roles such as property maintenance, IT, marketing or admin, as well as within our residential care homes. Interns

will gain employability skills such as teamwork, personal presentation and reliability and skills for independence such as travelling by public transport and shopping for lunch. They will have access to training in topics such as Health and Safety, Equality and Diversity, and Safeguarding.

The internship programme lasts for one year and towards the end of the course, interns will be supported to secure progression opportunities within Active Prospects or externally. This could be further work experience or into paid jobs.

National Co-production Week 2017 – Nothing about us without us3-7 July 2017Active Prospects has signed up to participate in National Co-production Week to help celebrate the benefits of co-production and the contribution of people we support and their families and carers in shaping our organisation.

Co-production is about working in equal partnership with people using services, carers, families and citizens. Co-production offers the chance to transform social care and health provision to a model that that offers people real choice and control.

For Co-production Week 2017 we want our staff and services to make a Co-production Commitment that includes the voice of people we support, families, carers and members of

our local communities. The Commitment means promising to do at least one thing to support co-production. This could be anything from doing a new co-production plan, hearing family stories, attending the Pro-Active Committee or finding out about other parts of the organisation.

You can read more about Co-production in this online easy read guide to co-production in social care:

http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/guides/guide51/files/guide51-easyread.pdf

Find out more about Co-production Week here:

http://www.scie.org.uk/co-production/week/

Proactive

People Awards 2017

Active ProspectsPeople AwardsSummer 2017

What?A celebration of Active Prospects’ staff, volunteers and people we support.

Awards include:Most Aspiring People Most Aspiring Staff TeamMost Aspiring Staff Member Most Aspiring Apprenticeship Most Aspiring VolunteerMost Caring Staff Member Most Transformative Team Most Inclusive Staff Team Most Valuing Manager Most Valuing Assistant Manager/Team Leader Most Enabling People Most Enabling Staff Team

When?Thursday 29th June 20176.30pm for 7pm - 9pm followed by a disco until 11pm

Where?Holiday Inn, GatwickBuffet provided and disco after the ceremony

Get your nominations in by 8 June 2017 to sarah.dodwell@activeprospects.org.ukor post it to Active ProspectsThe Gables, 17 Massetts RoadHorleySurrey RH6 7DQ

We will be holding our first People Awards on Thursday 29th June to celebrate the amazing and inspirational work of our staff, volunteers and the lives of the people we support.

A nomination form has been sent to staff teams, and we have included one with this newsletter. We warmly encourage families, carers and advocates to consider nominating staff members, teams and people we support for these awards.

Please think about who deserves to be nominated in each of the categories listed below and then fill in a short nomination form for each person you wish to nominate and send it to sarah.dodwell@activeprospects.org.uk by Thursday 8 June. You can also post it to The Gables, 17 Massetts Road, Horley, Surrey RH6 7DQ.

Categories:

Most Aspiring People - people we support who have achieved the most amazing things over the last year (3 awards).

Most Aspiring Staff Team – the staff team that has best enabled people to have the most aspiring journeys over the last year.

Most Aspiring Staff Member – the staff member that has best achieved aspiring development within Active Prospects.

Most Aspiring Apprentice – the apprentice who has best achieved aspiring development within Active Prospects.

Most Aspiring Volunteer - the volunteer who has best enabled people we support or Active Prospects to flourish, and added great value to our work.

Most Caring Staff Member – the member of staff who has best shown a deep caring and compassion for people we support. (3 awards)

Most Transformative Team – the team that has really embraced and delivered positive change, with openness and transparency.

Most Inclusive Staff Team – the staff team that has enabled people from diverse backgrounds and needs to be fully involved in our work/their service and have person centred choice.

Most Valuing Manager – the staff manager who has best enabled staff/interns and/or volunteers to flourish.

Most Valuing Assistant Manager/Team Leader – the staff Assistant Manager or Team Leader (or equivalent) who has best enabled staff/interns and/or volunteers to flourish.

Most Enabling People - the people we support who have best enabled themselves and others, to have a voice/make a contribution, and made Active Prospects and our services better. (3 awards).

Most Enabling Staff Team - the central staff team that has best supported services and people to lead aspiring lives.

Celebrating the lives of the people Active Prospects supports

Please help spread the word about our new Charity Shop due to open in Horley in June 2017. We have already appointed a Manager and Assistant Manager, and have a team of people we support who will be volunteering in the shop to develop their employability skills , alongside other community volunteers. If you would like to join our volunteering team and can spare a half a day a week or more, we would love to hear from you!

We’re also looking for donations - please consider having a spring clean and donating your unwanted items to the shop. Drop off and pick up options are detailed on the postcard, bottom right.

Charity Shop Volunteers and Donations Wanted

Call HR on 01293 812030 or 825824www.activeprospects.org.uk

recruitment@activeprospects.org.uk A Community Benefit Society (26618R) with charitable status

A little of your spare time could make a huge difference!Active Prospects is a local charitable organisation which supports people with learning disabilities, mental and physical health needs in the East Surrey area. We are seeking volunteers to help run our first CHARITY SHOP in Horley, opening in June 2017.

If you think you could offer at least half a day per week, call us for an informal chat, email us or drop-in to our Head Office at The Gables, 17 Massetts Road, Horley.

Family Forum provides good feedbackOn 13 March we held our first family carer meeting of 2017 which was well-attended by many families and carers, and covered many discussion topics.

The group started by talking about the Local Authority, Surrey County Council, and the potential impact of the proposed 5% community tax increase and what this may or may not mean for local providers. Head of Care Jade Vallance gave a talk on social care and why it is headlining so much in the media and in government strategy currently. All agreed that this was a hot topic and people were concerned about the future and how this would impact on their relative’s support package.

The recent CQC inspections across the organisation were discussed and those present celebrated the fact that 90% of services are rated as ‘Good’. Jade Vallance explained how difficult it was to get outstanding but that all services were working on future plans for

2017 to start to work towards outstanding ratings. All present agreed that the quality of care had much improved in the last year but also felt that communication still required improvement.

The next Family/Carer Forum has been scheduled for Monday 19 June from 2pm-3pm, with a surgery with Head of Care, Jade Vallance, from 3pm-4pm for those who wish to talk to her privately.

Everyone is invited to the forum being held at our central office, The Gables, 17 Massetts Road, Horley, Surrey RH6 7DQ.

Mercedes World Va-Va-VisitCar-fanatic, Dan, from Community Prospects chose to visit Mercedes World as part of his support with Vicky and had a really enjoyable time.

Proactive

01293 825824 www.activeprospects.org.uk info@activeprospects.org.uk

A Community Benefit Society (26618R) with charitable status

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2017 People Awards - get your nominations in!Active Prospects is holding our first joint people we support and staff awards on 29 June 2017 at the Holiday Inn, Horley. There are lots of great categories so please do nominate someone you think is worthy. You’ll find more information on page 10. The deadline is 8 June 2017.