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JEWISH CARE’S MAGAZINE FOR STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS
Issue 04May 2013
MAZELTOV! WE WIN THE SKILLS FOR CARE“BEST EMPLOYER OF OVER 250 STAFF” AWARD
sn’t the time flying? Here weare with issue four of iCare,Jewish Care’s magazine for
staff and volunteers. This issue ispacked with the latest news andphotos from around the organi-sation, so we really want you toenjoy reading it.
We recently celebrated the festivalof Shavuot. We do hope you madethe most of this happy time. Perhapsyou baked cheesecakes or someother delicious dairy desserts. Onthe subject of baking, rememberthat Wednesday 26 June is TheGreat Jewish Bake Day. It’s a fantasticchance to show off your cake-mak-ing skills while raising vital funds forJewish Care. Turn to page 6 formore details. We want everyone toget involved and make it a reallysuccessful event!
Remember, unless you tell usabout the exciting things happeningwhere you work or volunteer, wewill not know about them. So keepus in the picture and we will do ourvery best to give you a mention ina future edition of iCare. You mayemail the internal communicationsteam on [email protected] or call 020 89222809.
Happy reading!
WELCOMEI
MORE STAFF SURVEY NEWSn this issue I will talk about how we arefeeling about My Manager, Leadership,Wellbeing and My team – the other
four categories in the staff survey. Since the last survey we have been working
hard on the Leadership and My Managerareas and we have recently received twoforms of national recognition. Firstly, we wonthe Skills for Care award of best employer ofover 250 people, which recognised our‘strong leadership that is evident throughour culture of openness and shared vision’.The National Skills Academy for Social Care assessed our leadershipthrough its new leadership framework and our assessor said that “JewishCare is a dynamic, forward thinking and innovative organisation.”
Your views are really important to us so that we can continually improve.During the year, our chief executive Simon Morris holds a series of teaand chat sessions where he hears staff views and ideas. We also holdnew and not so new staff lunches every quarter.
We now have wellbeing as one of our governing objectives for theorganisation for people using our services, volunteers and staff. Thismeans that we will be focusing on promoting meaningful lives for every-one. Since the last survey, managers have told us about how they havelooked to help staff have more flexibility and time for reflection. However,it is an area in which we could do even better.
There has been lots of activity on the My Team front: Diwali celebra-tions; team awards for achievement at the Celebration of Success; thismagazine where we learn about what we are doing. There have alsobeen individual team-building events.
We are always happy to hear your views and ideas. You can use AskSimon to get in touch at [email protected] or telephone 020 89222143. Our next survey will be in the autumn.
Diane Blausten, Director of Human Resources
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XXXX XXXXX XX XXXXX LET’S MEET…STAFF MEMBERPAUL ROCHE
VOLUNTEERJUDITH KASRIEL
aul Roche is the registered manager atRubens House. He has worked at the Finchleycare home for 21 years, starting off as a care
worker.Paul says: “You never know what you’re going to have
to deal with – you face a new challenge every day. Theother aspect that I particularly enjoy is the people, orotherwise I wouldn’t have been here this long! There isa lot of laughter and fun in the home. I spend more timehere than I do in my own home. For me, it’s a homeaway from home!”
or the past 18 months, Judith has been workingat Rela Goldhill Lodge with six staff supportingthem to improve their literacy skills.
She says: “It was the perfect time because I had justretired from teaching children with learning difficulties.I’m working with a very nice team. As opposed to teach-ing children, staff are so much more appreciative andso demonstrative. The basic reason I’m doing it is tohelp them with their care reports on the residents, butthe by-product is they’ve taken more of an interest inreading and writing. I feel very personally involved inthe home and it’s very rewarding.”
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VOLUNTEERS’ WEEK
– A TIME TO SAYTHANK YOU
he theme of this year’sVolunteers’ Week (1-7June) is ‘Time to say Thank
You’ and at Jewish Care wehave a lot to say thank you for.
Did you know that last year al-most 3,500 people gave time tohelp us? As well as supportingthose who use our services, vol-unteers helped professionals withdecision-making through our laycommittees and staff ‘backstage’in the offices with admin tasks.They also worked very hard tofundraise and support the workwe do.
Without these people, our workwould be much harder. If wewanted to provide all the extrasand maintain the quality of ourservices without them, we wouldneed to raise a further £9.3 million!
So, this year, let’s make sure weall say thank you to our volunteers– whether it be a personal one tothose you work with or a collec-tive one with a party or coffeemorning. It doesn’t all have tohappen during Volunteers’ Week,but it seems a good place to start.
Tour very special volunteers –runners in the 2013 VirginLondon Marathon – have
raised more than £16,000 forJewish Care. James Soames,Jonathan Zenios, Hanan Taylorand James Tarlton chose to raisemoney for us as they took part inthe event last month.
Mr Soames said: “From thepoignant 30 second silence aheadof the start to the deafening crowdson the mall, this year’s LondonMarathon was one to remember.”
Mr Tarlton said: “The experience
was so enormous and emotionalthat it still seems surreal. London issurely second to none in showingits support to those who put them-selves forward for charity causes.”
Thank you to all our runners…what an amazing bunch you are!
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ochelle Scholar has been working as an intern inthe volunteers department. Here are her thoughtson the role:
“When I told an ex-colleague I was considering taking an internship, herfirst words were, ‘you’re too old!’ But I am not easily put off! My managementbackground is in community learning and further education so here wasan opportunity to work in a different sector.
“I came across the intern vacancy on a Resource newsletter. So what werethe benefits? I have gained an understanding of the importance of volun-teering from a personal and organisational point of view and have some-thing else for my CV. And, even better, I am now working, paid, for one daya week on the ASDAN volunteering qualification.”
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WHAT A WAY TOVOLUNTEER!
A NEW ROLE
HAPPY YOM HA’ATZMAUT!More than 300 people attended a gala show to celebrate Israel’sIndependence Day at Redbridge JCC in April. Take a look at theseamazing photos of the fantastic event!
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Charity Reg No. 802559
Remember to bake adifference by hosting abake sale at your home,school or synagogue, in aidof Jewish Care onWEDNESDAY 26 JUNE 2013.Whether you’re a championcheesecake maker or thequeen of cupcakes, it’s agreat opportunity to showoff your skills and raise vitalfunds for Jewish Care.Make every crumb count! Call 020 8922 2810, [email protected] or visitjewishcare.org/bakeday tofind out more.
THE GREAT JEWISH BAKE DAYWEDNESDAY 26 JUNE 2013
newspaper • magazines • online • events • websites
www.thejngroup.com
Sponsored by
MIND YOUR LANGUAGE!ewish Care is really proud thatwe have such a diverse staffgroup, with so many national-
ities across our teams deliveringexcellent services. We knowthough, that for some of our staffwhere English is not their firstlanguage, communicating im-portant information, either writ-ten or verbally, can be achallenge. Help is at hand.
Two years ago we developed ascheme where a group of skilled
volunteers have trained and nowwork one-to-one with staff to helpimprove their English literacy. Par-ticipants have found this very usefuland some fantastic relationshipshave been built between the vol-unteers and staff. Last year, the vol-unteers won an award for theirwork (see photo).
One of our volunteers has al-ready told us: “I love the team, lovethe carers and the manager, andderive much satisfaction and enjoy-
ment from teaching such apprecia-tive, hard-working students.”
We are now looking for morepeople to volunteer for this amaz-ing project. If you would like to findout more please contact DharmiMehta, our learning and develop-ment advisor on 020 8922 2454 oremail her at [email protected].
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TRAINING FOR YOU YOUR WORKPLACEPENSION IS COMING!
rom October, Jewish Carewill be offering all staff aworkplace pension. This
means that hundreds of us willbe enrolled, and better still,when we pay in, Jewish Carepays in too.
You don’t have to do anythingright now. There will be moreinformation from Jewish Care onits way over the next few months,and that will tell you more.
TIME TO CELEBRATE!ewish Care’s annual Celebra-tion of Success will be fea-tured with a selection of
photographs from the eveningin the next issue of iCare.
The special awards ceremonyfor our wonderful volunteers willfollow in July, so there will be lotsto shout about soon!
So remember, keep an eye outfor the next issue of iCare!
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he way we are running our induction days has changed. At ourlast induction day, we chose a different format to reflect thechanging needs of the organisation and to include something
on volunteering. We were very fortunate to recruit a volunteer,Michele Benton, who has a degree in Jewish Studies and helped usplan the day. She also helped train a number of staff and volunteersto deliver the session.
In future, training will take place in Woodside Park Synagogue to enableparticipants to see inside a synagogue and see at close hand the Torahscrolls and other ritual objects. They will also get a chance to meet the rabbi!
The first of the new sessions was delivered in April by Sonia Douek andMichele Benton and feedback was very positive. “I found the training veryinspiring and it made me understand a lot more about my job role”, “It wasthe first time ever that I had visited a synagogue and was very impressed”and “I was not aware of Jewish culture before, and during the training Igained a lot of knowledge” were just three of the comments made by peopleafter taking the training.
We hope to be able to deliver additional training to follow up the inductionday in the near future.
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he Holocaust Survivors’Centre held a “treasuredmoments” tea for its mem-
bers in March. Dropping in forquick cuppa and a biscuit (prob-ably a Duchy Original) was HerMajesty, taking a well-deservedbreak from her more tiresomeroyal duties.
On closer inspection, you’ll seethat it isn’t the real Queen, but shecomes pretty close! Pictured fromthe left are HSC staff membersHelen Kaye, Rachelle Lazarus,Melanie Gotlieb, Her Majesty (orMary Reynolds from the Style LookAlikes Agency) and Ann Sugarman.
ONE IS MOST AMUSED…T
IT’S IN THE BAG!ndy Long, Sainsbury’s Golders Green store managertogether with Azhar Iqbal, deputy store manager andRonnie Lutalo, customer assistant presented Ben Mor-
rison (second from right), our assistant director of fundraisingand marketing with a cheque.
The money will enable Selig Court residents to buy items fortheir coffee mornings.
Mr Long said: “Our store is at the heart of the local communityand it is important that we do as much as we can to support it.When we heard about Jewish Care we were really pleased to beable to help out.”
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