Latest News

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.

When the service users arrived at Tramways, they looked completely at home as soon as they walked into the building!

The Manager would like to thank everyone involved in the move for all their hard work: cleaners, removal men, maintenance team and particularly the staff team.  Everyone worked their socks off!

D

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.

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.

Robert 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.

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.

It is always worth finding a good reason to throw a party and we started 2007 in great style by opening the doors at the BAWA club once again to celebrate the Trust being around for 21 years.

Balloons, Raffle prizes and Karaoke set the tone of the evening with many people living and working in the Aspects homes freely contributing their dancing and singing skills.

Special mention and thanks to the lady who sang “I beg your pardon

I never promised you a rose garden” and to Trust HQ staff John and Mike whom we discovered had hidden talents (probably best that they stay hidden and that they stick to the day job!)

Lots of support was given selflessly by those staff brave enough to get up on stage and it was lovely to see so many people enjoying themselves through meeting up with old

friends and having the opportunity to catch up.

The food was great and we received many favourable comments especially about the range of cream cakes!

A big thank you should go to the League of Friends for their help with the funding of this event and to Pat, Liz and Christine at Chasefield who helped with the organisation of it.

Its been a long time coming, but Flaxpits House celebrated the completion of its extension and refurbishment last month. The ten-bedded residential home for people with complex needs has been developed to incorporate a one bedroom and a two bedroom flat. Although these flats are part of the residential home, their development means residents have more choice about the way they live their lives. The newly refurbished kitchen and bathrooms with some rooms en-suite also improve the facilities of Flaxpits.

A small ‘opening’ ceremony was attended by representatives of Western Challenge (now part of the Spinnaker Housing Group), the Trust, the League of Friends, relatives, staff and residents.

Both Mel Akers, Chief Executive of the Trust and Rob Webber, Chief Executive of Western Challenge, gave brief speeches followed by a tour of the extended premises and a buffet lunch. Thanks to Dionne Brown and all her staff for ensuring the success of the development.

It is now time to start work on the garden. The creation of a sensory garden with raised beds and ramps for the wheelchairs is currently being developed. The initial design and planting was quoted for £4,500. To date we have managed to secure funding from The League of Friends who have very kindly donated £1,000 which the Trust will match. Western Challenge have said that they will provide the external lighting and Erica Thomas, Trustee and keen gardener has offered to do the planting design of the shrubs, etc. Erica has strong links with the Botanical Society and is using their guidance and expertise for the layout and positioning of the plants. In the meantime, Dionne will be writing to various national outlets such as B&Q to see if they can donate paving slabs, garden furniture or even some plants. If anybody has any ideas of who else could be approached, I am sure their input and advice would be welcomed.

The official opening of Humphry Repton House, the Bristol Dementia Care Centre took place on 19th September and The Lord and Lady Mayoress attended to unveil the plaque.

The turnout was fantastic and everybody enjoyed the day which included refreshments, music and a guided tour of the new building. Bryan Beckett, a Trustee whose wife received care at Humphry Repton House gave a moving speech about his own experiences with the service.

Brian also led the fundraising appeal and is now a Trustee. He praised staff at the centre for the care and support they had provided for his wife, Janet. He described the centre as a special place where staff ‘could not do more’ to support a person with dementia, their friends and family.

Speeches about our services were also given by Mel Akers, Jim Conley, Sal Irish from MODS and Sue Brooks from Daycare, all of which went well. Mel and Jim both expressed appreciation to all of the team at Humphry Repton House.

Thanks to everyone who has helped make this project a success – especially the staff and residents who lived through a major building project that has taken almost two years to complete.

For 16 years Humphry Repton House has been providing high quality nursing care to people with dementia. Now with the opening of the Bristol Dementia Care Centre, we can provide a comprehensive dementia care service on one site. We are all very proud of our new facilities. The centre now has 42 bedrooms; 12 with en-suite facilities, 2 of these can be booked for respite care. Our Day Centre can accommodate up to 12 people a day and we have a base for Milestones Outreach Dementia Services (MODS), our outreach service which provides care to people with dementia who live at home.

The new centre has many additional features including a new activity room for residents, a Resource Centre run by the Alzheimer’s Society and a fully equipped staff training room. Humphry Repton House has a large attractive garden designed to allow residents the opportunity to enjoy it in safety. It contains interesting items of memorabilia such as a telephone box, a Seaside square with a painted mural of Weston super Mare and a Bus Stop. To all this, the new centre has added a wooded walk area and a dedicated day care garden.

Congratulations to Beth Hendry, Home Manager at Wyvern Lodge, Weston super Mare, for winning the Ted Gully Young Manager Award which was presented at the Care Learning Conference at BAWA on 29th June 2006.

Beth underwent a thorough and rigorous interview which involved a presentation and impressed the interview panel with examples of how she has managed change within the home which engaged and involved both service users and staff. Her

excellent management skills include a vision for the future, leading by example, ensuring that staff feel valued and the development of those staff through learning and development. Beth has team building days and mentors staff and students who come to the home for work placements.

The interview panel consisted of Nick Thorne, Chair of Care Learning, John Nash, Regional Development Manager of Skills for Care SW, Annie Sinnott, past winner of the Training Accolade Awards and Bernard Wildsmith, Development Manager at Care Learning.

Beth was presented with a commemorative plate and £500 towards a training course of her choice by John Nash the Regional Development Manager for Skills for Care South West.

The Trustees, the Senior Management Team and everyone at the Trust would like to congratulate Beth on her success. Well done!