Latest News
October 2009
Collectable portrait of Michael Jackson
International Digi Artist, BJ Chapman, has donated to Aspects and Milestones Trust this rare first edition Gicl’ee print of Michael Jackson. As a Digi Artist, BJ photographs celebrities and then turns the results in to unique works of art.
This collectable piece of art, is titled, “A Gentle Soul”. The photo was taken in 2006 by BJ Chapman when Michael was attending The World Music Awards, at Earls Court.
Aspects and Milestones Trust is now receiving silent bids for the print. To make a bid, please submit your name, address and contact number making clear the price you would wish to pay for this work.
Bids should be marked private and sent to:
David Allford
Aspects and Milestones Trust
Unit 10, Eclipse Office Park
High Street
Staple Hill
Bristol BS16 5EL
Silent bids can also be made on the artist’s web gallery at here
The closing date of all bids is the 15 Dec 2009.
The person making the highest bid will secure the picture. In the event of more than one winning bid, being received for the same price, Aspects and Milestones Trust will contact the individuals and provide an opportunity for further bids to be made. The winning bid will be announced on our website.
April 2009
Wyvern Lodge is officially excellent!
Aspects and Milestones' Wyvern Lodge in Weston Super Mare has received the highest possible rating as a result of an inspection by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI). The Commission undertook the inspection in January, 2009, and has recently announced that Wyvern Lodge in Weston Super Mare achieved a ‘Three Star / Excellent rating.
In her report, the Inspector said:
““The service provides an excellent level of support and development opportunities for residents with mental health needs. Residents live in a very well run home and they are very well supported with their needs when they stay there. The manager is very creative in her style and consistently looks for ways to improve standards even further.”
Wyvern Lodge is managed by Beth Hendry who has worked at Wyvern for the last 8 years. Of the Inspector’s announcement, Beth said:
“Before the inspection we have to provide a lot of information about how the home is run and our management ethos. We put a lot of effort in to providing good quality information so there were no surprises for the Inspector when she arrived. The Inspector drew particular attention to the care plans we prepare with each resident which explore with them the type of support they want. She also liked how we encourage our residents to be part of running the home and also how residents are involved in the process for recruiting new staff.
We have a great team of residents and staff at Wyvern and we make sure the home is a safe and enjoyable place to live. Mental ill health can affect any of us. Many of our residents will move on to more independent living – Wyvern is all about giving people the skills to live in the community.”
Beth continued:
“This result is a credit to all the staff and service users at Wyvern Lodge – the efforts of the whole team have achieved this rating and I’m so grateful to everyone for the contribution they make. Perhaps the best thing about the inspection is that I wasn’t even in that day – that shows it really is a team effort and not reliant on any one individual!!”
December 2008
PUB QUIZZERS RAISE OVER £1,000 FOR KILVIE HOUSE …
Kilvie House - a care home for adults with learning disabilities on Downend Road in Kingswood – has been the lucky beneficiary of a cheque for £1,075 presented to them by pub landlord Patrick Murphy. Patrick manages the Queen’s Head on Lower Hanham Road, and has been busy collecting proceeds from the pub quizzes held each Monday evening.
Kilvie House Manager, Pete Hayes, takes up the story: “Over the last couple of years we’ve built up a great relationship with the staff at the Queen’s Head. They’ve always been tremendously welcoming to our residents and have taken a real interest in our work. The quiz evenings are great fun; we have lots of different themes – we’ve even had a quiz devoted to James Bond and another one we held outside over a barbeque. That was when the weather was rather better!!”
“The money raised is going to come in incredibly useful. We urgently need a new specially adapted vehicle for our residents; they all love to go out and about as much as possible but our existing vehicles will need replacing in the near future. We just can’t say thank you enough to Patrick and we look forward to lots more fun evenings at the Queen’s Head!”.
November 2008
As a MINDFUL EMPLOYER, Aspects and Milestones Trust seeks to adopt recruitment and retention processes which support people experiencing mental ill health and to increase awareness of mental health in the workplace.
October 2008
The annual Awards celebration took place on October at Clifton Pavilion (Bristol Zoo Gardens) to celebrate the achieves of over 65 employees who had achieved qualifications in both the professional and academic areas of health and social care. 27 individuals plus a guest of their choice attended and were joined by the Chief Executive and Trustees in order to fully acknowledge those achievements and to recognise the efforts required.
Clubhouse welcomes a new manager and announces a new name!
A warm welcome goes to Ella Hydes who has recently been appointed as Manager of the Clubhouse based at Easton Community Centre. Ella comes with a wealth of experience most recently gained whilst working with the National Autistic Society and Development Co-ordinator for the Out of School Clubs (OoSC). Whilst at the National Autistic Society, Ella supported and developed OoSCs throughout the South West – these are youth groups for children and young people with a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome or high functioning autism. She also managed and recruited both staff and volunteers.
Ella explains her new role:
“Katie, Helen and I will be supporting the group of members to offer a safe place to develop employment skills. We will offer work place learning and experience with a particular focus on admin, gardening, maintenance and generally running a busy office. We have lots of plans but our most exciting one is the launch of our café in February – we’ll be offering a menu which is healthy,
wherever possible fair trade and has a low environmental impact. The café will be run by service users and members of staff.
And the Clubhouse has changed it’s name! We’re now going to be known as ‘Work INClusive’ to more properly reflect
exactly what we do. Look out for our new logo!”
For more information on Work INClusive contact Ella on 07900 583785
August 2008
Hi everyone!
My name is Roz Andrews and I’ve just joined the Aspects team as a Support Worker.
I’ve just come back from my first boat trip with the Willow Trust taking a service user called Adrian. What a lovely guy with a great sense of humour! I met Adrian at 9am at the Vassall Centre and linked up with Christabelle (fellow Community Services Support Worker) and Jo.
When we arrived the boat’s captain, Dave, organised the seating – wheelchair users on the outside and more physically able people in the central aisle. We were all offered drinks and then had a demonstration of the life jackets. Getting life jackets to fit us all was hilarious! I asked for a large and was given a medium so was well chuffed! Wendy was given a large and resembled the Michelin man whilst Debbie claimed to be a size 8!
Jenny, our wonderful trip organiser, kept making sure we were all ok, assisting with life jackets and taking lots of photos. Jenny was patient, warm and kind throughout the day and we can’t wait for another trip soon!
At 1pm the Captain moored our lovely boat and the staff put chairs on the bank so people could have their lunch there or remain on the boat – whichever they preferred. The Captain moved some chairs for Vicky so that the lady she was supporting – Mel– could get out of her wheelchair and stretch out on the floor. But Mel promptly got on to one of the chairs herself. It just shows how doing something different and all being together can be really empowering for service users.
When lunch was over, the Captain said we could all have a go at steering the boat. April had a go and ably steered the boat under a bridge – well done April! Adrian instructed us all to keep focused when we were steering and the Captain told Adrian he was in charge because he is so good at keeping us all in order. He asked Adrian if he’d like a job! At the end of the day, Adrian did 3 cheers for the Captain and we all clapped.
The boat had a lift, a bed which could be curtained off for any service users who required personal care and, all in all, could easily have been a 5 star hotel!
There are some lovely pictures of everyone and, Jenny, thanks for a fantastically organised day!
July 2008
Bristol's Biggest Bike Ride
On a lovely sunny [but rather windy] Sunday morning, thousands of people came together to celebrate cycling—undertaking various routes and distances. One cyclist was Chris Wiltshire from Forest Road in Kingswood.
Chris cycled from Millennium Square at the harbourside in the centre of Bristol, all the way to Pill, returning to the finish of his ride at Greville Smythe Park in Ashton. He collected a ride certificate, met up with friends and enjoyed some much deserved refreshment.
Chris really enjoyed participating in the ride and is already looking forward to next year’s event. A sponsored walk for charity in October is next on Chris’s agenda.
May 2008
My Trip to the London Eye
One Monday morning Christabelle came and fetched me in the blue vehicle and we drove to Bristol Parkway and then we got on the platform waiting for our train to Reading. We had booked somebody to help us on and off. The train was very busy which we didn’t mind because we had booked our seats well in advance. Our seats were just inside the door and easy to get to. We travelled to Reading where we had to change trains, which worked out rather well. We managed to get our next train to Waterloo without any hassle. We stopped at various stations along the line. I had my favourite station which was Egham. Christabelle had her favourite station which was Sunningdale.
Once we arrived at Waterloo, Christabelle had to look for somebody to get me off the train because there was no-one there! Eventually they came and found me! Then we had a short walk to the London Eye which was quite easy to get to. I thought to myself how are they going to get me all up there – it was higher than I imagined. We had to go to the booking office to let them know we were there and they helped us to get on. They escorted me past a lot of people queuing so I could get in the right spot to get in a capsule. I was a bit worried because I didn’t know what to expect when it moved. At the beginning, I held Christabelle’s hand because she said she was frightened of heights! After a little while we became more at ease as it started to go up. I was quite surprised how safe we felt. During our trip we were able to move about freely inside the capsule. We could see Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and the boats on the river Thames, which looked ever so small, just like dinky toys. We took a camera and took lots of pictures. The flight lasted half-an-hour. We could see for miles – there was so much to take in, we didn’t know where to look.
After our flight we visited the gift shop where I bought some posters and a glass mug and then it was time to make our way back to Waterloo ready to start our homeward journey. We wished we had booked a later train so we could have stayed a bit longer. Next time, that’s what we are going to do. I enjoyed our day immensely.
David Hampton
April 2008
Nursing Times Award
Well its not every day that ‘work’ invites you to a free champagne lunch in London is it? Naturally, I jumped at the opportunity when they asked me!
Along with others within the Trust, I’d been invited to complete a questionnaire for the Nursing Times with regard to staff support and development. Our views were rewarded by recognising us as one of the top 100 service providers in the country.
I was fortunate, along with Dianne, Helen and Tim to have my name drawn from the proverbial hat, and the old suit was dusted off ready to impress. Having caught the train up to Paddington, and a couple of underground stops on to Marylebone, we met in the Music Room of the Landmark Hotel for a glass of champers at midday with some 300 other guests from around the country.
The venue was extremely luxurious and the service exceptional. A tasteful three-course meal was enjoyed with a glass of wine, mixed with some very pleasant company.
Following our meal, a Nursing Times spokesperson gave a brief address in recognition of our services and the importance of support and development opportunities to value staff and their commitment to work. The top ten providers received an accolade of a certificated award and two others were recognised for significant improvement.
As the Trust’s first invitation, and our Nursing Times distinction, maybe next time we’ll rise to the top ten through continued staff investment on an individual and organisation level, reflecting our valued service.
Paul Martin
Elysian Villas
March 2008
Move to Tramways
The service users and staff have moved from Acramans Road to their new home 'Tramways'
after much preparation, planning and hard work.
During the weeks leading up to the move some of the service users visited Tramways and enjoyed helping staff choose colours to decorate rooms and buy furniture for their new home.
On the day of the move, a mini-bus was booked to take the service users out, escorted by some of the staff. Meanwhile, a flurry of activity was taking place to move belongings into Tramways ready for the service users arrival.
December 2007
Kilvie House Refurbishment Completed
December saw a busy time for staff and service at Kilvie House when they
moved back into their extended and refurbished home.
The kitchen and new dining room are splendid with wood-style flooring and the two new rooms that have special features that will be attractive to potential new service users. The staff team deserve congratulations for their work that helped to make the move as calm and smooth as possible.
November 2007
Aspects and Milestones Trust 21st Anniversary Party
On Thursday 1st November Service Users, Commissioners, Staff and Trustees celebrated
Aspects and Milestones 21st Anniversary with a party in the Ballroom at the BAWA Centre
in Filton.
This party was our way of celebrating the achievements of staff—the people who have helped the Trust thrive in its 21 year history.
Everyone danced, sang and laughed the night away to Kick the Cat, a local band well known for their “stage presence, a great sense of fun.”
Greengates Open Day
30th November 2007 saw the open day for Greengates who over the past eighteen months have extended the home to add four new en-suite bedrooms, a lounge, conservatory and training room.
The original house has been refurbished inside and out.
Our in-house celebrities were Ken and Pauline, who have both lived in Greengates for many years; they cut the ribbon to declare the new extension open.
Jim Conley, Head of Milestones, said a few words to praise both residents and staff for their patience throughout a disruptive and noisy year and to especially thank Jenny Alcock and Mark Curnock for managing the project.
October 2007
Rob Harrison (Supported Living)
Robert took part in a twenty-eight mile charity bike ride from Bristol to Bath (and return) in October to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care.
Rob enjoyed the cycling and said he enjoyed the free fruit and cake for the cyclists.
Rob has raised almost one hundred pounds for Marie Curie and would like to take part again in their next sponsored bike ride event.
April 2007
Aspects and Milestones Trust uses the strap line “turning life choices into reality”.
What happens when a person who we support says I want to move to Ireland – this
wish challenged our ability to turn someone’s aspirations into reality.
Larry is a man who struggled to fit into the services he was offered. He believes that services should ‘fit-in’ with him and his choices. Aspects got involved when Larry showed his unhappiness with the service of another provider by getting frustrated and angry. The hints he had dropped like packing his suitcase had been ignored, until with support from his circle of friends and family, he persuaded social services to listen. Larry has great difficulty expressing himself through speech. He uses a letter board to communicate through ‘facilitated communication’ and relies on skilled support workers who listen to his words, his messages and his non-verbal communication.
Larry moved to his own flat with staff supplied by Aspects and lots of support from his family. He soon told us he didn’t need support workers around all the time. He just needed people he could trust,who were reliable and could support his chosen lifestyle stating “I like people who walk in rhythm with me”. Life at the flat went well and he started to go on holiday to Ireland and explore his Irish roots. When he said “I want to live in Ireland”, the doubters had a field day. Social Services couldn’t transfer his funding and support staff recognised the many practical barriers that society put in the way of disabled people.
It took several years of negotiation to achieve, but Larry now lives in Ireland. On 28th April 2007 a DVD of Larry’s life story was previewed at a Bristol cinema, Cube – an event where Larry, his supporters, family and many friends felt proud.
It is still difficult for disabled people to move from one local authority to another and retain their funding package. For Larry to move from one country to another and preserve the support he needed is a fantastic achievement.
