Kidsgrove Care Solutions - Arbour Street

A Message from Lord Pickles and Lord Blunkett, followed by Kidsgrove Care Solutions - Arbour Street's best practice article

The ability to listen and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, it is uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones. The following article from Kidsgrove Care Solutions - Arbour Street is an attempt to do just that. We would welcome your thoughts on this or any other Parliamentary Review article.

Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett

Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles

www.kidsgrovecaresolutions.co.uk

41KIDSGROVE CARE SOLUTIONS - ARBOUR STREET |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2019

Managing Directors Wendy Lear

and Mick Lunt

Health and fitness sessions

Kidsgrove Care Solutions offer a wide range of services

and support to people with learning disabilities. Through

collaborative work with local care agencies and ensuring

that they meet the individual needs of each of their members,

they have been able to expand and develop. They now provide

care in three areas: Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire and Cheshire.

Managing Directors Mick Lunt and Wendy Lear established the

company in 2013 and explain their approach to providing care.

After working in the care sector for a combined period of over 30 years, my

colleague Mick Lunt and I decided to establish our own service in 2013. As we

were both experienced in running activities and providing support for people with

learning disabilities, we were perfectly equipped to establish our own company. We

aim to ensure that people with learning disabilities lead fulfilling and exciting lives,

a goal that we achieve through the provision of professional support and care in a

number of different settings.

Ensuring a personalised service

Unlike larger companies, our size allows us to understand fully the individual needs

of each of our members. Our person-centred approach means that we can provide

an individualised service. We strongly promote independence and social inclusion

and endeavour to provide each member with the opportunity to perform a fulfilling

role in the wider community. We also support everyone we work with to develop

existing skills and interests, alongside learning new ones, always striving to ensure

that they are able to reach their full potential.

FACTS ABOUT

KIDSGROVE CARE SOLUTIONS -

ARBOUR STREET

»Managing Directors: WendyLear

and Mick Lunt

»Established in 2013

»Based in Staffordshire and

Cheshire

»Services: Care provision for

people with disabilities

»No. of employees: 22

»www.kidsgrovecaresolutions.

co.uk

Kidsgrove Care Solutions

- Arbour Street

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

42 | KIDSGROVE CARE SOLUTIONS - ARBOUR STREET

Our training includes work experience

placements, in-house accreditation and

independent living and travel skills,

all of which contribute to promoting

self-sufficiency and a higher quality

of life. Beyond vocational and day-to-

day skills, we also focus on providing

social opportunities. We offer support

in the form of one-to-one personal

assistants, who assist with ensuring

access to a meaningful and enjoyable

social life. This includes a variety of

social and leisure activities, ranging

from trips to the pub to bowling. We

always arrange a suitable assistant for

each member to ensure a high level of

safety and support.

Beyond these more general services,

we have also established three new

facilities. The first of these is the

Brighter Nights Social Club, which

opened in March 2014. Aimed at

adults and young people over the age

of 14, the club offers an opportunity

to socialise and make new friends in

a safe and supported environment.

We run the social club each week at

the Galley Centre in Kidsgrove, and

it has proven to be hugely popular.

The warm and friendly atmosphere,

coupled with the excellent facilities,

has made it a firm favourite of our

members. Since its opening, we have

added a number of activities and

games, including table football, table

tennis and the occasional disco party.

Beyond these activities and social

pursuits, we have also created a

respite bungalow. Placed in a beautiful

rural setting, the bungalow has four

bedrooms and provides the possibility

to escape from the normal routine

in a peaceful setting. Each bedroom

is fully equipped with a TV, a DVD

player and wifi access, and the

entire property has been adapted to

support the needs of our guests. This

includes the installation of handrails

and the widening of doors, alongside

the altering of the bathrooms. The

bungalow also includes a spacious

conservatory and a secure courtyard,

which allows guests to take advantage

of any sunny weather. The respite was

set up with two people on our books,

and this has increased to over 30.

We are looking to develop this service

further and have purchased the

property next door. We are planning

on converting this into a supported

living facility, primarily to support one

of our members whose needs have

significantly altered. We have been

supporting him for three years, and

his needs have become more complex.

Working with his parents, we have

decided to transition his care towards a

more residential setting.

In the last couple of months, we

have also expanded our services into

Cheshire, meaning that we now

provide services in three counties. We

were invited into this area by local

care services, who wanted us to fill the

gap in care provision. We have since

established the Cheshire Learning and

Development Centre.

Promoting independent

living skills

We run the social

club each week

at the Galley

Centre in

Kidsgrove, and it

has proven to be

hugely popular.

The warm and

friendly

atmosphere,

coupled with the

excellent facilities,

has made it a

firm favourite of

our members

“

43KIDSGROVE CARE SOLUTIONS - ARBOUR STREET |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2019

Working collaboratively to

improve our service

We endeavour to liaise with all local

care providers and public health

services to ensure that we are able

to provide the highest level of

service. We have very positive and

mutually beneficial relationships with

local agencies, community nurses

and support workers. By working

together, we are able to compile

the most accurate picture of each

member’s needs. We also work closely

with the intensive support team, and

they often assist us with the training

and development of our staff. Most

of our staff members only have

training to deal with mild to moderate

disabilities, so continued support

isessential.

We also support our staff in developing

and growing their skills. We make sure

that all of our staff complete relevant

NVQs and support them if they want

to learn further.

Focusing on the present

Within the care sector, it is very

difficult to plan far into the future. The

needs of our members are changing

all the time, so it is essential that

we focus on the present. The fluid

nature of the requirements of our

users would make any concrete plan

impractical. For example, we had not

been planning to provide intensive

support in a residential setting, but

we have now embraced doing so

because of the changing needs of

ourmembers.

The biggest issue for us, and across

the sector more widely, is cutbacks to

our funding. Interestingly, this is not

consistent across the three counties

we work in – some are far more

supportive than others. Constantly

having to justify the necessity of

our services and our expenditure is

exhausting. These cutbacks are often

exacerbated by the increased age of

many of the carers and the parents

of our members. As they grow older,

the number of tasks that they cannot

perform increases. As we always

endeavour to support the families of

our members, we end up shouldering

greater responsibility.

Although we face challenges in the

sector, we are confident that we will

be able to continue to expand and

develop our facilities and services. By

continuing to work collaboratively

with local services and addressing the

individual needs of all of our members,

we are optimistic that we will be able

to provide a high level of service for

many more years to come.

Within the care

sector, it is very

difficult to plan

far into the

future. The needs

of our members

are changing all

the time, so it is

essential that we

focus on the

present

“

Community activities for

our users

www.kidsgrovecaresolutions.co.uk

This article was sponsored by Kidsgrove Care Solutions - Arbour Street. The Parliamentary Review is wholly funded by the representatives who write for it. The publication in which this article originally appeared contained the following foreword from Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng.

Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng's Foreword For The Parliamentary Review

By Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng

This year’s Parliamentary Review reflects on a tumultuous and extraordinary year, globally and nationally. As well as being an MP, I am a keen student of history, and I am conscious that 2020 would mark the end of an era. It will be remembered as the year in which we concluded Brexit negotiations and finally left the European Union. Above all, it will be remembered as the year of Covid-19.

In our fight against the pandemic, I am delighted that our vaccination programme is beginning to turn the tide – and I pay tribute to the British businesses, scientists and all those who have helped us to achieve this. But the virus has dealt enormous damage, and we now have a duty to rebuild our economy.

We must ensure that businesses are protected. We have made more than £350 billion available to that end, with grants, business rates relief and our furlough scheme supporting more than 11 million people and jobs in every corner of the country, maintaining livelihoods while easing the pressure on employers. The next step is to work with business to build back better and greener, putting the net zero carbon challenge at the heart of our recovery. This is a complex undertaking, but one which I hope will be recognised as a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Through the prime minister’s ten point plan for a green industrial revolution, we can level up every region of the UK, supporting 250,000 green jobs while we accelerate our progress towards net zero carbon emissions.

With our commitment to raise R&D spending to 2.4% of GDP and the creation of the Advanced Research & Invention Agency, we are empowering our fantastic researchers to take on groundbreaking research, delivering funding with flexibility and speed. With this approach, innovators will be able to work with our traditional industrial heartlands to explore new technologies, and design and manufacture the products on which the future will be built – ready for export around the globe.

And I believe trade will flourish. We are a leading nation in the fight against climate change. As the host of COP26 this year, we have an incredible opportunity to market our low-carbon products and expertise. Our departure from the EU gives us the chance to be a champion of truly global free trade; we have already signed trade deals with more than 60 countries around the world.

As we turn the page and leave 2020 behind, I am excited about the new chapter which Britain is now writing for itself, and for the opportunities which lie ahead of us.

Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng
Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy