CONTENTSPeople We Support Activities................1, 2, 3, 12New Year, New You .............4Pancake Day .......................5Pro-Active Committee ........6Valentine’s Activities ..........7STOMP Pledge ....................8Pro-Active Grant .................8Creating New Homes..........9Survey feedback .................9Journey to Outstanding ...10Co-production Themes ....11

Active Growth project takes shape!

Our allotment programme has launched and people we support and others in the local community are already getting stuck in.

Chris was delighted to move in to his forever home thanks to support from our Housing Support team who helped find his new home and smooth the transition.

Active Wellbeing staff and people we support came together in February for a Healthy Hearts discussion about exercise, nutrition and managing stress.

ProactiveNewsletterCelebrating the lives of the people Active Prospects supports

March 2018

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A wicked time was had by all!Pro-Active Committee members and people we support from across our services enjoyed a trip to see Wicked on Valentine’s Day, with costs subsidised by the grant received from The People’s Health Trust in 2017.

Pauline and Peggy get in a spinPauline went to EcoLocal Cycling Centre in Sutton with her friend Peggy and their Support Worker to enjoy some great exercise on the accessible cycles.

Celebrating the lives of the people Active Prospects supports

Kim’s CookingKim from Community Prospects made some delicious cheese biscuits with her Support Worker, Sophie.

Beech Lodge go BowlingAll the residents of Beech Lodge enjoyed a day out bowling with Support Worker, Helen. Matthew pipped everyone to the winner’s post with two strikes and four spares, and they all enjoyed a tasty meal afterwards to reward their efforts!

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Co-production - New Year, New YouJanuary’s co-production challenge saw people we support across all services get involved by trying something new, having a clear-out and declutter, and making new year’s resolutions.

Celebrating the lives of the people Active Prospects supports

Flippin’ Heck - Pancake Day funPeople we support joined in with the annual Shrove Tuesday pancake-fest, rolling up their sleeves to prepare, cook and serve pancakes with a variety of toppings. Yum!

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Pro-Active Committee Update from Chairperson, Pat Lynch

Since the last issue of the Proactive newsletter, the Committee has been discussing the following:

- The Committee discussed the Christmas party and how much they had enjoyed the whole evening, from the food to the disco and especially staying up late.

- Co-production themes were discussed and suggestions made. The final list of themes can be see on page 11.

- Trips, that will be subsidised by the grant received from The People’s Health Trust, were discussed and finalised. These include a trip to see Wicked in February and a three night holiday at the Butlins Soul Weekender in March.

- Support Worker, Helen, from Beech Lodge said that she would like to start a Cinema Club which could include trips to the cinema as well as movie nights in services.

- The Quality Checker team for 2018 was confirmed as Pat, Leanne, Justin and Elizabeth. They will visit services and check things that are important to people we support.

- The AGM has been set for 19 June 2018 at 5pm at Head Office. All Committee members were asked to attend.

- Committee members reviewed the Journey to Outstanding poster and the 20 steps identified to move us from Good to Outstanding. The Committee agreed that these should be sent out to everyone.

- The Committee talked about the head office move scheduled for 18th May, when the office will be moving from Horley to 1 Castlefield Court, Reigate. Travel times and public transport options were discussed, as well as the timings of meetings.

Reminder: Everyone is welcome to come to meetings. Minutes and future dates are available in each service, and dates are also on the website.

Pro-Active Committee Update

Valentine’s Day love and friendship!On Valentine’s Day people we support were encouraged to join activities and make new friends and have fun together at events including a coffee morning at our charity shop, local inclusive Valentine’s discos, and karaoke.

Celebrating the lives of the people Active Prospects supports

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Signed-up to STOMP!Active Prospects has proudly signed up to the STOMP pledge, designed to stop the over-medication of people with a learning disability, autism or both. STOMP is a health campaign to stop the over-use of psychotropic medication to manage people’s behaviour.

It is estimated that on an average day in England between 30,000 and 35,000 people with a learning disability, autism or both are taking prescribed psychotropic medication without appropriate clinical justification. This is medication which results in alterations to perception, mood or consciousness. Long-term use of these medicines puts people at unnecessary risk of a wide range of side effects including weight gain, organ failure and even premature death.

In response the Voluntary Organisations Disability Group (VODG), NHS England and sector stakeholders have developed the STOMP pledge for social care. This aims to improve the quality of life of people with

a learning disability, autism or both by supporting providers to ensure they only receive psychotropic medication for the right reasons and in the right amount.

The STOMP pledge provides Active Prospects with a framework to help identify the practical steps we can take to support people to reduce the amount of inappropriate psychotropic medication they take, as well as enabling us to assess our own performance, develop an action plan and measure progress in this important area.

Planned activities covered by the grant included a summer BBQ, a visit to the coast, some Christmas shopping and a Christmas party, a trip to the panto, a seaside holiday, a London theatre trip, the joint conference, a Thames boat trip, a trip to see a musical, and a day out in Windsor and to the zoo.

Pro-Active grant makes a differenceThe Pro-Active Committee were thrilled to achieve a funding grant of just over £20,000 from the People’s Health Trust Active Communities Fund.

The grant will enable the Pro-Active Committee to take forward its plans for 2018, which include a wide range of events and activities to ensure that people we support have the chance to lead more active, interesting and engaged lives.

Day trips and activities will bring members together to take part in new experiences, allow them to challenge themselves in a safe way and enable them to achieve new things and therefore grow in confidence.

The grant monies will subsidise or pay costs to ensure that people we support are not disadvantaged in accessing these opportunities.

Celebrating the lives of the people Active Prospects supports

As part of a £3.6 million NHS capital programme under Transforming Care and recycled capital grants, Active Prospects is delighted to be developing 26 new homes this year, with support from Surrey County Council and our local CCGs.

Creating new homes

The new homes are being developed as part of a two-year property strategy commenced in 2017, and are being created at a number of properties in Reigate, Redhill, Horley, Ewell and Caterham, with several new homes due to come on stream in March 2018 and others following later in the year.

The properties will provide a mixture of supported living flats for those able to live more independently, and homes with 24/7 support on-site.

As a result of close working and planning with local partners, many of the new homes are already

pre-assigned. However, if you would like to talk to us about any remaining vacancies please do not hesitate to contact our Referrals Manager at referrals@activeprospects.org.uk.

Keeping our customers satisfiedThank you to everyone who took part in our comprehensive satisfaction survey for people we support and their families/relatives last year.

Key findings from the survey include:

• 93% of people would recommend their service to friends and family – up 6% from last year.

• 98% of people thought staff were caring – up 4% from last year

• 95% felt staff supported them to do things in the community and 93% thought their home was a nice place

• 96% of relatives thought the service was very good or good – up 12% from last year.

• 96% of relatives would recommend Active Prospects to a friend – up 13% from last year.

• 100% of relatives thought staff were caring or very caring.

• 82% of relatives thought communication was very good or good – up 7% from last year.

There are some areas for improvement and we are developing action plans to take these forward.

But what a fantastic testament to the amazing work our staff do each day that makes this positive feedback happen – and brilliant to have so much improvement in the figures. Our staff should be very proud.

Our Journey to Outstanding Why Choose Us?

I have real choice in all areas of my life and am

fully supported by Active Prospects’ Active Life

Approaches

I am proud to live a fulfilling

life and can give lots of examples of

great creative and innovative care

and support

My service and I are connected

to my local community

Active Prospects and I learn

from when things don’t

go to plan

Communication is everything, everyone has a voice, is involved and kept up to date

I experience Active Prospects values

and behaviours in everything

Active Prospects adds value. I have opportunities to volunteer and work, attend clubs and events and be part of the Pro-Active and

Wellbeing Committees

I have supportive friendships

and loving relationships

Active Prospects develops my skills and supports me to reach my potential

Active Prospects

learns from best practice

elsewhere and tries out

new things

Active Prospects

Managers offer leadership and

deliver a clear vision for my service

I and others important to me are involved in support

planning, risk taking and reviewing my support

My support workers are adventurous,

resourceful and support me to make things happen

I am involved in co-production and my skills are seen as

assets by Active Prospects

Active Prospects ensures

professionals effectively

support my specific needs

I choose my staff and they are developed and supported to give me the best support

I am supported to be in control of my life at home and within my community. This includes good health outcomes, end of life care and emotional support

I have come far and know the next steps I need to take to achieve my goals

Active Prospects goes

the extra mile for me and

others

The people around me and I give my service compliments and feedback which is acted upon

Aspiring Caring Trusting Including Valuing Enabling

Proactive

Journey to OutstandingAs we start our 2018 Journey to being an Outstanding organisation, the Pro-Active Committee have come up with 20 clear steps to what outstanding means for them and what we can measure ourselves against to ensure that everything we do supports our values and strapline of People Leading Aspiring Lives.

All staff have been asked to review and discuss what these steps mean to them as a team, and how they can contribute to achieving an outstanding rating.

Teams will be working with our Director of Care to collect evidence when they have met the steps and to map out how we can articulate our journey to outstanding to Care Quality Commission inspectors and other interested parties.

Celebrating the lives of the people Active Prospects supports

Co-production themes for 2018Month Co-production Theme Ideas

January New Year New You Trying something new, Having a clear out, Starting a new year’s resolution.

February New relationships and making friends

Opportunities to find love, Meet new friends in the community, Try new groups, Attend a new coffee morning, Join a friendship or buddy group, Go to a Valentine’s disco.

March Embracing Spring Visit a farm (Lambing), Country walks/country centres, Visit a National Trust park/garden.

April Arts and Drama See a play or musical, Visit an art gallery, Try a painting class, Try pottery making.

May Gardening Make up some pots, Indoor plants, Clear the garden, Visit a nursery, Go to an open garden in the community, Plant some vegetables and herbs.

June Seaside/water theme Go on a boat trip, Visit the seaside for fish and chips, Collect pebbles and do pebble painting, Try out fishing.

July Picnic outside games and festivals

Organise a picnic, Garden party with games, Join a local or national picnic, Go Camping, Go to a Music Festival.

August Outdoor cooking/Summer Organise a BBQ, Go to a food festival or a street food market (eg Borough or Camden Markets), Make recipes from a BBQ book, Have a summer party.

September Celebrating fruit and vegetables Healthy eating, Making pickles or jams, Trying vegan or vegetarian recipes, Challenge no meat for a week, Volunteering on the allotment.

October Learning about cultures Trying new foods, Learning a new language, Visiting a mosque or church, Attending a cultural event, Watching a Bollywood film at the cinema, Getting a staff member to teach others about their culture, A celebration meal of different foods from around the world.

November Saving the environment Set up a recycling scheme in the service, Do some zero waste, Walk instead of car, Learning about electricity use and turning off lights, Litter pick in local area, Go to the beach and help clear up and waste, Find out about local recycling schemes, Set up compost heap.

December Giving back to the community Collect for a food bank, Reverse advert calendar for charity, Help out a homeless charity, Be a volunteer, Invite neighbours around for tea and cake party, Donate a present to a children’s charity.

Proactive

01293 825824 www.activeprospects.org.uk info@activeprospects.org.uk

A Community Benefit Society (26618R) with charitable status

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Indoor PlantingAlison brightened up a rainy afternoon planting the spring bulbs she received at Christmas.

The final piece...Gaby, Community Prospects, was proud to finish her cat jigsaw recently.

Justin cooks dinnerPeople we support at Millview had a delicious shepherd’s pie thanks to Justin’s cooking efforts.

Date for your diary!

Celebrate your St. Patrick’s Day at MyTime Reigate’s inclusive disco!

See their poster (right) for more information.