Valerie Manor News

February Activities Summary

Robin Bates — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:07:00 +0000

Hello again,

Where did February go? One minute we were making hearts for St. Valentine’s Day... take a deep breath... and it’s St. David’s Day! The short month saw us exercising with Pom Poms, Line Dancing from our chairs, Flower Arranging, singing along with The Batchelors and playing Giant Snakes and Ladders. Our ‘Mind Benders’ this month included Matched Sets, Occupations and a Pub Quiz with a ‘tipple’.

We celebrated the Chinese New Year of the Tiger by finding out which animal represented the year that the ladies and gentlemen were born.... a Chinese style meal was offered to those who wanted it.... the Sweet and Sour Pork went down very well!

Valerie Manor looked beautiful this week. The sun was shining! look out for the abundance of snowdrops that are appearing in the garden.

It’s great that Zoe has organised two of the Staff to come in on a regular basis to take our ladies and gentlemen out in the ‘Jalopy’ it takes time getting organised and ‘loaded’. You may not know but the vehicle (pictured right) belonged to my mother who had a stroke and was wheelchair bound for several years. John and I used to take her out every Sunday... her favourite place was Seaford where we sat and watched the sea eating ice-cream. When my dear mother passed we were going to sell the ‘Jalopy’ (her name for her vehicle) it just so happened that at the time Zoe was putting forward a business plan to buy a Care Home so we decided to hold onto it in case her dream became reality.... and here we are today! Her Nannas and Granddads would have been very proud. It is such a shame they could not benefit from Valerie Manor.... I’ve booked my place!

Line Dancing From Your Chair!

Zoe — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:38:56 +0000

Another fun packed morning earlier this week with Robin and her line dancing! All the residents loved the music and exercise, not forgetting the hats! Even the residents who didn’t join in were tapping their feet along to the music which was lovely to see! I must say, the staff also look forward to Robin’s visits and take part in all the activities throughout the morning!

Dignity in Care

Zoe — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:38:00 +0000

You may remember that I have recently become a Dignity in Care Champion. Yesterday was Dignity Action Day and I attended a dignity champion’s afternoon with other professionals to discuss ways in which we can improve and raise awareness regarding the dignity of the elderly population. Among the group were solicitors, financial advisors, care home managers and owners and representatives from GP surgeries. It was extremely interesting and also heartbreaking to hear and share stories where older people’s needs are not met or just missed as they have no-one to care for them or they are vulnerable in the community, hospital or care home. I look forward to working with everyone in the future to try to explore ways to improve the care and dignity of older people across all sectors.

Valerie Manor Celebrates a 101 Birthday!

Zoe — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:28:38 +0000

We were very privileged to be able to celebrate Ethel’s 101st birthday with her and her family last week. Ethel enjoyed her morning by opening some presents and cards and enjoying one of her favourite cakes (fruit cake) with the staff and residents. In the afternoon we celebrated with Ethel’s family and friends and she had a special 101 cake made by our lovely Maria. Congratulations Ethel!

Flower Arranging

Zoe — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:17:51 +0000

The residents always love their fresh flower arranging sessions with Robin. You can see Robin busily preparing in the rain for the greenery to go with the flowers. The residents place in the flowers and fern in an oasis and make an arrangement to have in their bedrooms to enjoy after they have completed them. It looked like a florists in the dining room this week! Thank you Robin for brightening up everyone’s Monday as always!

January Activities Summary

Robin Bates — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:57:07 +0000

Hello again,

January certainly came and went quickly. We’re now well into February and guess what....its snowing again !

John and I missed the first week back after Christmas as we were snowed in at home in Hassocks ! We actually had to walk everywhere. I think you will agree with me that it looked very pretty but soon lost its appeal after a few days. I braved it on 9th January to drive my little 2CV to the hall where I teach. I’m glad I made the effort as one pupil and her dad walked from Hurstpierpoint and another came from Ditchling on her sledge to attend classes.

Back to Valerie Manor. January saw us celebrating Elvis Presley’s birthday with a rock and roll theme dining room, music, and a video tour of his home Gracelands. We exercised to music then with our musical instruments. The Giant Dice and Giant Snakes and Ladders were used to encourage mobility as well as Tin Can Alley and Target Toss. Our ‘Mind Benders’ included The Name Game and Memories. We had our usual visit from Brian and Jan (pictured) came to sing a few songs for us from the musicals. Another theme was Australia Day with again a decorated dining room, quiz and ‘Australian’ food.

The highlight of our month must have been the day we got together with our ladies, gentlemen and staff to celebrate Zoe’s two years at Valerie Manor....John and I had to leave before the cake was cut...it looked yummy...we came home to console ourselves with a cup of tea and biscuits !! Thank you for making the cake Maria.

John and I would like to take this opportunity of thanking the staff, relatives and friends for their support over the past two years given to Zoe. We must not forget her partner.....Robin.....(how confusing is that !) He beavers quietly away in the background keeping her sane !

See you next month

Robin (named by Guides when I became their Guider many years ago !) x

Dementia Training

Zoe — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:07:40 +0000

As some people may be aware, the Valerie Manor team took part in a pilot study/course last year involving creative therapies to assist in high care delivery to people with dementia. I am now in the process of organising a training programme for all staff to attend to improve their knowledge and skills on caring for people with this condition. I’m sure many of you have been listening to the news over the past week about the statistics and research needs for dementia. I think it is essential for all our staff at Valerie Manor to have dementia training to enable us to meet the needs of all the residents that we care for.

Alayna and Lucy have this week attended a whole day course in dementia care with David Sheard and have come back so enthusiastic and excited about what they have learned and what they can share with their colleagues that the other staff have now asked when they can be booked onto the same course. They were also re-assured that Valerie Manor is already doing a lot of the things that were recommended. One of the biggest things they took away from the course was to make sure there was not a ‘them and us’ environment and encourage staff to eat and drink with the residents for example. They were very proud to be able to tell David that we already did that and are already working towards more joined up daily living with the residents and staff.

The course was facilitated by the Care Training Consortium and David Sheard is the Director for Dementia Care Matters;

http://www.dementiacarematters.com/team.htm

Dignity in Care

Zoe — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:00:39 +0000

We all at Valerie Manor try to promote dignity in care. I have found it very re-assuring to find out that so many other health care professionals are also signed up to promote the dignity of people receiving care. I have recently become a Dignity Champion and will be celebrating the ‘Dignity Action Day’ on the 25th February by attending a networking session with other members of the local community who want to raise the awareness and promote dignity in care. They include nurses, paramedics, pharmacists, solicitors and financial advisors. I think this is key as all too often you find that the only port of call for an elderly person is the paramedic who will find someone alone at home on the floor, or a solicitor or financial advisor who may be the only contact or help for an elderly person with no relatives. So it is really positive to get all these agencies together to discuss what we can do to promote dignity in care.

Sir Michael Parkinson is a National Dignity Ambassador, to find out more please visit:

http://www.dhcarenetworks.org.uk/dignityincare

2nd Year Anniversary

Zoe — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:45:08 +0000

I can’t believe another year has gone by! Yes, on the 28th January I celebrated my 2nd year at Valerie Manor. I wanted to say thank you to all the staff, residents and not forgetting my wonderful family and my partner Robin who made it all very special for me. I received, cakes, presents, flowers and cards from everyone and it was an excuse to enjoy a little sherry together!

I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone for their support during the past two years, without the fantastic team and support from the relatives as well we wouldn’t have such a happy home so thank you to everyone and here’s to many more happy and exciting years at the Manor!

Congratulations to Cath!

Zoe — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:45:17 +0000

Another success story! Congratulations to Cath who has joined her colleagues and passed her NVQ level II in Health and Social Care. Cath has worked extremely hard over the past year and it is a great achievement for her. I’m very proud of Cath as at one stage she was finding it quite hard but was so determined she remained focus and carried on despite of everything.

Activities and Menu Review

Zoe — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:07:54 +0000

I do apologise for the gap in our weekly blog last week. I think everyone was concentrating on the snow and unfortunately a lot of our activities were cancelled due to the weather. Robin was one person who was snowed in for a while... I must say it was lovely to have her back entertaining the residents again this week, with John also working on the maintenance for me! It’s great to have you back mum and dad!

Robin started this week with a review of the activities that we have at Valerie Manor. The meeting was enjoyed with all the residents and some relatives while having a cup of coffee and a lovely chocolate éclair! I’m pleased to say that it appeared that everyone is enjoying what we are currently doing and there were very minimal suggestions for change; We are going to get a ‘score board’ so that we can write things up and keep scores etc when the residents are taking part in games, my what a competitive group we have! There was also the suggestion of ‘story telling’ which I think is a fantastic idea which we will introduce soon.

Our care assistant Sheri will soon be driving the 'Jalopy' (mini bus) with her colleagues as she is now insured to take the residents out - which means there should be more trips as it won’t be reliant on me!

The menu review was held on Thursday with myself – I must say it was so nice to sit down with the residents and staff together for over an hour! The residents say I am always on the go and often tell me to ‘slow down’!

It was lovely to chat about the food the residents like and it was also good to have input from some relatives and staff. The relatives helped us with things that the residents used to like at home which was great! Again, I was pleased to hear that in general the residents are very happy with the food they have at Valerie Manor and there isn’t a lot that they want to change. Some of the food that they have suggested which we will add to the menus are sweet potatoes, broad beans, spotted dick and good old fashioned lamb stew with pearl barley (I still love it when my mum cooks that for me!).

December Activities Summary

Robin Bates — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:16:26 +0000

Happy New Year everyone !

I hope everyone enjoyed a great Christmas and New Year.

Here’s to a very peaceful and healthy 2010 !

Goodness me it was like a whirlwind at Valerie Manor in December... Zoe and the Staff’s feet hardly touched the ground ! Everyone works so very hard to ensure a lovely time was enjoyed by our lovely ladies and gentlemen. I must mention all the volunteers who came along to decorate the Manor and pupils from The Towers School not forgetting the Reverend John Challis. I know from past personal experience that time is one of the most treasured gifts you can give !

Lots of entertainment was enjoyed in December. Our dear Brian paid us a visit as did Rita and Peter, SG Productions performed ‘The Magic of Christmas' and not forgetting the lovely children and adults from my Dance School. The ladies and gentlemen planned their own Christmas/New Year Menus, made Christmas Crackers, enjoyed Musical Christmas hats and played getting the ‘snowballs’ in the box.

After Christmas I went along intending to do some exercise with everyone but instead of that we had great fun in the lounge taking down decorations, everyone helped and had a few ‘stockings’ to empty of paper stuffing....so it was a physical event after all....Whilst all this was happening we were singing along to Billy Cotton....go on....own up if you remember him !

Be careful in the snow !

Robin x

SG Productions - The Magic of Christmas

Zoe — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 15:11:54 +0000

As the residents loved SG Productions 'Hooray for Hollywood' so much back in the Summer we booked them again for 'The Magic of Christmas' over the festive period. I must say, it was a truly magical show where the residents and staff all sung along, laughed and cried at times as memories came back. The show was filled with numbers from musicals in London and popular Carols were sung by all after watching the array of costumes, colours and dancing.

You can visit the SG Productions website here; www.sgproductions.co.uk

Christmas at the Manor...

Zoe — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:21:50 +0000

What a lovely Christmas Day! My family used to make a toast with a glass of sherry at 11:00 with my grandparents and I feel very privileged to now be making the toast at Valerie Manor with all of the residents and families. My mum and dad of course made it very special as mum, ‘Robin’, dressed up as father Christmas and handed out all of the presents to the residents which they thoroughly enjoyed. Mum then had to rush back home to cook our family a traditional Christmas Day lunch for the evening! I would also like to thank all of the dedicated staff who worked on Christmas Day and over the festive period and helped to make the residents Christmas very special.

Festive Week Summary

Zoe — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 15:37:13 +0000

It is Christmas evening and the residents at Valerie Manor are going to be having a restful day today watching White Christmas following the enjoyable week they have had and in preparation for our Christmas Day tomorrow..... Well, that’s while we enjoy the special home made Valerie Manor Christmas Cake that Maria has been preparing over the past few weeks for the residents!

On Sunday 20th December we all enjoyed having a mulled wine and a mince pie or two with our friends and families at Valerie Manor. It was such a lovely occasion; I love to see the residents with all of their families at this special time. We had a DVD of 2009 at Valerie Manor showing in the background along with Christmas music so that the residents and their families could look back on what we had all done together over the past year.

On Tuesday 22nd December Reverend Challis delivered a wonderful traditional Christmas Services to the residents and staff in our lounge. What a lovely service that the residents enjoyed with members from Reverend Challis’s congregation. We were also joined by the Reverend's wife and daughter. Although his daughter was very shy she managed to sing us Away in a Manager with her daddy which was lovely to hear. Following the service we enjoyed a coffee with some homemade Christmas biscuits from Maria – they also went down a treat!

Thank you very much to Reverend Challis for giving a truly memorable service for us all at Valerie Manor.

Merry Christmas to You All!

Can Gerry Robinson Fix Dementia Care?

Zoe — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:39:01 +0000

I am sure that many of you would have watched the recent two part documentary on BBC 2 with Gerry Robinson. Before the programme started I received several calls from my family and friends to tell me to watch it which I managed to do last week. The programme had also been talked about around Valerie Manor by staff and relatives.

If you did watch the programme you will understand when I say that it saddened me to see some of the clips in the programme and I spent most of the time with tears in my eyes as the programme was very dear to my heart through personal family experiences of homes.

I have already discussed the programme with some relatives and I do believe there are always lessons to be learnt. We are already planning a menu and activities review in late January / early February 2010 which will explore some of the areas covered by the programme, including staff eating with the residents at meal times (which we tried for the first time this week!) and trying to enable residents to become more involved in the day to day running of their home if they would like to. I will keep you updated following the review and would like to thank everyone that has talked to me about it already.

You can find out more about the program on the BBC website; http://www.bbc.co.uk/headroom/newsandevents/programmes/gerry_robinson.shtml

Brief Children in Need Summary

Zoe — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:41:36 +0000

Just a brief summary to say that our final total raised for Children in Need was £415! Thank you so much to everyone who donated and supported the residents and staff at Valerie Manor.

A Christmas Carol from The Towers Convent School

Zoe — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:17:37 +0000

There were tears in everyone’s eyes including mine while the very talented girls from The Towers Convent School sung well known Christmas Carols to the residents at Valerie Manor on Wednesday morning. It was so lovely to see the residents singing along to the Carols and enjoying the wonderful performance from the pupils. There were two spectacular solo’s and a very talented violinist who I was told afterwards has already reached grade 8 which is such an achievement. I would like to say thank you to all the staff and pupils for giving up their time and making a very special morning for the residents at Valerie Manor.

Let’s Dance ! (Hassocks) Christmas entertainment at the Manor...

Robin Bates — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:56:02 +0000

Weds 9th & Sat 12th December

On Wednesday 9th December some Let’s Dance pupils were rushing to their mums after school to be transported to Valerie Manor to entertain. At the same time some adult pupils were jumping in their cars to do the same !

Our ladies and gentlemen donned Christmas hats and most enjoyed a tipple whilst waiting for the entertainers to arrive. The three little ones stole everyone’s hearts performing Good Toes, Naughty Toes.. The Puppet.. and Sing a Song of Sixpence. Slightly older pupils went down well with their costumes and make-up performing Just Can’t Wait to be King. The adults shone with Lullaby of Broadway.. Shakin’ the Blues Away.. a Salsa number.. and December ’63. Jan entertained us with three songs in between the dances. Her dresses were a delight... a different one for each song !

Everyone joined in with Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer with our ladies and gentlemen using our hand bells.

Wanting to spoil everyone another group of dancers visited on Saturday 12th.. this time we enjoyed Danny Kaye’s Thumbelina, Tommy Steele’s Little White Bull an upbeat number from the musical Hairspray a ballet number called ‘Wild Swans’.... variety being the spice of life the group performed to Joseph and his Technicolor Dream coat finishing with singing Any Dream Will Do whilst using sign language.

On behalf of Zoe and the Residents of Valerie Manor I would like to say a very big THANK YOU to those lovely people for giving up their time to entertain for us at this very busy, special, time of the year.

Robin, Let’s Dance ! (Hassocks)

You can view more photos from the events on our Picasa web album...

A Magical Valerie Manor...

Zoe — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:39:53 +0000

Christmas at Valerie Manor has begun! I would like to say thank you to Sally–Ann, Marmalade and her friends and family for spending the day at Valerie Manor on the 6th December and making it come to life for Christmas! You can see from the photos that they have done a fantastic job in making the home look very special and festive for the residents to enjoy. We have lots going on throughout December and you can find the details on our activities page.

Valerie Manor Canvas Number 2 - Poppies

Zoe — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:01:14 +0000

The residents with the help of volunteer Marmalade have recently completed their second piece of artwork. I must say that we love ‘Poppies’ and it looks stunning in our corridor and can be seen and enjoyed by everyone as they come down to the dining room. Of course, Marmalade is already planning the 3rd masterpiece but this one may take a bit longer as we have so much planned for the festive season! I am very excited that the extension will be filled with artwork that the residents and Marmalade have completed, what an achievement for everyone.

New friends...

Zoe — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:00:16 +0000

We're very lucky at Valerie Manor to have Lola, a beautiful black labrador, and volunteer owner Derrie come to visit us from Pets As Therapy. They visited for the first time on 26th November and have asked if they could come back every week to spend more time with the residents. The residents love their company and not only enjoy stroking Lola and having the comfort of her being so close it also generates a lot of conversation and memories for them all. Several residents had memories and stories to tell about dogs that they have owned in the past or have known throughout their lives which was so lovely to hear about.

Thank you to Derrie and Lola and we look forward to seeing a lot more of you both at the Manor.

Pets As Therapy is a national charity and is unique in that it provides temperament assessed/vaccinated PAT Dogs and PAT Cats with registered volunteers to hospitals, hospices, residential care homes, day centres, special needs schools and many other establishments, providing comfort, companionship and therapy. There are approximately 4,500 PAT Dogs and 108 PAT Cats bringing benefit to more than 130,000 people of all ages every single week throughout the UK.

Find out more on their website at; www.petsastherapy.org

November Activities Summary

Robin Bates — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:03:06 +0000

Hello again,

A very busy month was enjoyed in November. We tried to bring a little sunshine to our day by watching the Maypole and Country Dancing from the July Garden Party. On Remembrance Sunday everyone enjoyed watching the Service and then singing along to our lovely Vera Lynn. A visit from the Steyning Guide Company was really uplifting. Our ladies and gentlemen love the younger generation taking time out to join us in thinking about those families and friends that were lost in the wars.

‘Mind Benders’ took the shape of...Famous Couples, The Alphabet Game and Closure Phrases to name but a few. Hoopla, Tin Can Alley and Target Toss helped with movement.

We had three Themed Days......Indian Curry Day (pictured)......some residents who chose to, enjoyed a Curry. During the morning Indian music was played for our Exercises which involved Indian movements. Indian costumes were worn by the carers and Bhindi’s and beads worn by everyone. Emma was enjoying the music and movement so much we nearly had to forego lunch !!

Our second Theme Day was Thanksgiving where Roast Turkey was enjoyed and ‘Hand and Feet’ Turkeys were made. Our last special day was St.Andrew’s Day

A special menu again and The Edinburgh Tattoo and Scotland from the Air was enjoyed.

The highlight of the month must have been the BBC Children in Need Sponsored Activities... please see the separate reports;
Children in Need
Children in Need (update)

See you again soon.

Robin x

Welcome Gill...

Zoe — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 20:40:33 +0000

I would like to say a huge welcome to Gill, our new care assistant. Gill has come with a wealth of experience and has her NVQ II and III to support her caring skills that she has developed over the years. Gill will be working mainly night shifts but looks forward to spending time with the residents during social events and meeting families during the Christmas celebrations. We hope Gill settles in well and we wish her a warm welcome from all the staff and residents at Valerie Manor.

Lets Dance! for BBC Children in Need

Robin Bates — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 20:38:36 +0000

Whilst Zoe and our lovely ladies and gentlemen at Valerie Manor were busy enjoying themselves with various activities to raise money for Pudsey Bear, Sally-Ann and I were also having a great time running two Sponsored Tap Dancing Sessions at Let’s Dance!

During the afternoon pupils from 3 years old donned Fancy Dress to tap away for 1 hour being sponsored by family and friends and in the evening older pupils and adults spent 2 hours doing the same. I am delighted to tell you that we were pledged £2,126.60 for the Sessions!

Sore feet, happy feet. Smiley faces!

Robin of Let’s Dance! (Hassocks)

Children in Need - Update

Zoe — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:41:43 +0000

A huge thank you to everyone who supported us last week and donated to BBC Children in Need – and well done to all the residents and staff at Valerie Manor for their efforts! I’m pleased to say that we raised a total of £380 this year, improving on last year’s total. Well done to all! I wonder what we'll get up to next year!

Children In Need

Zoe — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:31:51 +0000

What a week we have had! I am so pleased to say that we have already raised £325 for BBC Children in Need. This beats the amount that we raised last year so I’m very proud of everyone and would like to say thank you to all who have donated so far. If you'd like to make a donation please visit our JustGiving page; www.justgiving.com/valeriemanor-Pudsey09

We started off the fundraising with volunteer Marmalade leading a Marathon scrabble afternoon, the residents appeared to love wearing their Pudsey Bandanas while they played and didn’t want to take them off at the end of the game! They did stop for a tea break to enjoy Pudsey cup cakes as well!

Wednesday the residents enjoyed decorating their own Pudsey fairy cakes and biscuits. Staff wanted to wear the bandanas again but needed the assistance of a resident to tie them - as they couldn’t work out how to adjust on their head!

On Thursday our lovely volunteers Vi and Syd came to Valerie Manor and we all enjoyed more Pudsey Biscuits and cakes – I was quite chuffed with myself as this was the first time I had ever baked a cake or made a biscuit! They do say do something that you would not normally do! We then had fun guessing the squares on the Valerie Manor blanket. Joan came closest with a guess of 98 and won a Pudsey Bear (the actual no. is 99!). The residents then set to making more paper chains like last year to keep their fingers nimble and start the decoration process for their bedrooms for Christmas! Thursday they even enjoyed a Pudsey Blancmange!

For the finale on Friday the staff will be wearing their Children in Need t-shirts, headbands and bandanas. The residents all get to choose their badges to wear for the day and keep afterwards and we'll be having fun with balloon tennis and ‘name the baby staff’!; most of the staff have brought in photo’s of themselves as children or toddlers and the residents get to guess who is who!

We'll have more on Children in Need day at the Manor very soon!

Storm Damage

Zoe — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:34:24 +0000

Many of you may know that we had a few problems with the weather last weekend causing part of our flat roof to blow off Saturday afternoon. Luckily my dad and Adrian were available to tarpaulin the roof Saturday evening until the roofing company could come out on Sunday. I would like to say a huge thank you to them both for their time and hard work in such terrible conditions. Although the roof has caused some disruption at Valerie Manor over the past week I’m pleased to say that the staff have been fantastic in managing the situation and following the policies and procedures that they have been taught in their mandatory sessions. The main thing is that everyone was safe during the past week and I would like to thank you all for your support and patience while the repairs and re-decoration has taken place.

Remembrance Day Service

Zoe — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:08:57 +0000

It was a joy to have the 1st Henfield Girl Guide Company back at Valerie Manor for a lovely Remembrance Day service on the evening of November the 11th.

The Guides organised the whole service themselves which included the hymn “Shine Jesus Shine” and “O God, our help in ages past” which the residents all sung along to. The service also included the lighting of candles and poems read out by individual Girl Guides. Along with the singing there were two talented guides who played the flute and keyboard. It brought back several memories for many of the residents and staff as we all sung along to “Taps” at the end of the service. Once again, as last year, it was a touching ceremony as young and old together remembered the fallen of past and present.

Care Training Consortium (CTC) Accolades 2009

Zoe — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:07:16 +0000

The Care Training Consortium (CTC) is an organisation set up to support independent (Private and Voluntary) care providers in West Sussex access information, funding and quality training and development opportunities. The are currently looking for nominations for the CTC Accolades 2009.

The Chair’s Award for Endeavour is for an individual who through own efforts has overcome personal difficulties to not only continue with their learning but to successfully achieve, attaining high standards in the process. I have nominated Emma for this award to recognise her hard work, support and dedication.

Since I have been at Valerie Manor Emma has always been extremely keen to learn and is very dedicated and enthusiastic. Emma completed her NVQ level II in medication handling and administration with the support of myself and other staff although she found the theoretical knowledge quite challenging. Despite this Emma battled on and passed the course. After getting the desire to continue with her education Emma enrolled to undertake her NVQ level II in Health and Social Care. It was at this time that the trainers discovered that Emma was dyslexic and put the appropriate support in place for her. To date Emma is doing extremely well and with her new found knowledge and skills she is now always my first choice for on call, knowing that she will deal with any kind of an emergency with professionalism and expertise.

Good Luck Emma!

The Accolades ceremony is on the 3rd December, 2009

> find our more about the Care Training Consortium on their website