grape vine - brunelcare
TRANSCRIPT
grapevine
January 2014
Photo taken by the late John Crew of
Cote Paddock 18/6/1954 – 10/7/2013
“John Crew a gentle man who loved nature".
Inside this issue:
Christmas and New
Years celebrations!
News from Tenants Voice
New Chair of Trustees
and much, much more.
Housing and
Tenant’s Numbers
Housing Team:
01179 144 257
Emergency
Maintenance
Freephone
(8.30am - 4.30pm)
0800 072 6308
Brunelcare Head Office
Saffron Gardens,
Prospect Place,
Whitehall, Bristol
BS5 9FF
T: 0117 914 4200
F: 0117 954 3881
www.brunelcare.org.uk
Registered as a charity
(201555) and at the
Homes and
Communities Agency
(LH0269)
Grapevine is also
available in larger print
and other languages.
For a copy please
telephone:
Kirsty Hirst on
0117 914 4232
grapevine January 2014 3 2 grapevine January 2014
TENANTS VOICEWe can make a difference!
A WORD FROM
Starting a New Year is very much
like starting a new exercise book at
the beginning of the new term at
school, plenty of room to write up
new ideas, so it is with Brunelcare.
We are again going to hold a Photo
Competition with 4 categories, and also
introducing a new competition for “Unsung
Heroes” on our sites; this will have 2
categories, one for tenants and one for staff
who go above and beyond to help. Check
these out in the Tenant Voice minutes when
they are put on your notice boards or look out
for the article in this edition of grapevine for
more information.
This year we have an Action Plan of targets in
various areas, which the Tenant Voice as a
group will work towards achieving, again
more details on this in the TV minutes.
The Question of the Months are still being
asked to find out tenant views on different
subjects. January’s question of the month is
on the computers in the communal lounge,
trying to find out how they are being used or
not, and seeing if training would make a
difference.
Once again please take time to read the
minutes of Tenant Voice meetings to see
what’s being done on tenants behalf, and
don't hesitate to ask your representative to
bring questions to the meetings.
If as yet you do not have a Tenant Rep on
your site now is the time to appoint
somebody. We can make a difference.
Joanna Fryer
Chair of Tenants Voice
At the end of 2013 James Magness
stepped down after four years as the
Chair of Trustees:
I first became a Trustees in 1998 and then again
in 2008 and chaired the Board from mid-2009.
My reason for becoming involved in Brunelcare
was that whilst I have a love of animals, I love
people more and for the past twenty years
since retiring have found the needs of the
elderly to be compelling.
Over the past five years Brunelcare has
successfully achieved a number of important
goals. The opening of the Waverley Gardens
VSH scheme, the redevelopment of Saffron
Gardens Care Home to include flats and a new
Head Office, improvements at Robinson Care
Home, continued substantial investment in the
housing stock, year on year expansion of the
number of hours provided in Community Care
and the purchase of Woodland Court retirement
flats. In addition the staff have embraced new
ways of working that result not only in savings
but also improvements to the services provided.
All of this has been achieved as Brunelcare, like
many other charities providing care for the
elderly, have had to face continuing cuts in
funding by national and local government.
In addition the Board itself has embraced
changes that have improved the governance of
the charity.
It has been both a privilege and a pleasure to
have served Brunelcare and I leave knowing
that the Board of Trustees comprises a group of
people who have not only the professional skills
required to do the job but also individually the
necessary commitment, concern and common
sense to ensure that hand in hand with the full
time staff Brunelcare will succeed in achieving
its aim to help vulnerable individuals make the
most of each day.
In James’s place we have welcomed
Steve Boardman as our new Chair of
Trustees. Steve is a management
consultant with over 20 years’ health
care expertise, having worked in and
consulted with the NHS, the private
sector and health care businesses.
I am very proud to have
been asked to take over as
the next Chair of Brunelcare.
I want to pay tribute to the
work done by my
predecessor, James
Magness, as both a Trustee
and as Chair. He has
worked tirelessly for
Brunelcare over many years
and provided calm and wise
advice to the Board.
The next few years will undoubtedly be an
enormous challenge. Our aim is to help meet
the needs of an ever increasing elderly
population. However, we are working in the
context of an austerity policy which imposes
significant cuts in the public sector finances that
pay for our services and in the benefits system
which supports many of our tenants, residents
and clients. Fortunately, we have an excellent
management team and wonderful, committed,
caring staff. I am confident that we can uphold
the tradition and values of Brunelcare to
provide top quality care for elderly people in
Bristol, South Gloucestershire and Somerset.
All change with the Chair of Trustees
Come andjoin us!
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Chestnut Close is a very active site
and have many and varied activities
each week, but we recently added to
that our latest Fish and Chip supper.
We have about three a year as they are so
popular and only last Saturday (5th October),
we had a very successful Table Top sale in
the community room.
It was well attended by our residents and
their relatives, with lots of interesting things
on sale, supplemented with tea, coffee and
cake!
We made nearly £350 which will be
distributed to various charities in due course.
We have donated to some charities already
this year e.g. Hearing Dogs for the Deaf and
the Red Nose Day fund, as well as a very
successful ‘Blooming Great Tea Party’ held in
aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care. So you see
we have been busy.
Mrs Amelia Evans celebrated her 90th
birthday at the end of September, joining
several other non-agerians on site. Amelia
particularly likes her fish and chips so is
always pleased when we have a fish and chip
supper.
We have had our share of sadness with some
of our residents going into nursing homes,
and we sadly said farewell to long-term
resident Mr Dennis James who passed away
suddenly in June.
Dennis was the Treasurer for our Residents
Association for many years, and on the
committee for about 10 years. He was a
helpful person on site and is sadly missed.
He leaves behind Flo, his wife children and
grandchildren. Flo is the lady who has
organised our monthly outings for a number
of years, our thoughts and prayers are with
her and the family at this difficult time.
We also have had several new residents
recently, and we hope they will settle into
their new environment and be happy with us.
And now we are coming up to Christmas and
all that this blesses time of year means.
Where has the year gone? So it just remains
to wish everyone at Brunelcare a very Happy
Christmas and a peaceful, prosperous and
healthy 2014.
Chestnut CloseActivities at Marie Curie Tea Party
We had a Chestnut Close ‘A Blooming Great Tea Party’on 31st July for Marie Curie.We raised £150.
Social Evening One of our Social Eveningswith music and dancing –a very good evening and agood time had by all.
Coach trip and steam train One of our summer coach trips fromChestnut, arranged by Flo James. We went by coach to Bishops Lydeard then by Steam train to Minehead on the18th July, it was very hot. We had a great day and a good time hadby all.
St George’s Day Tea party held toraise funds forcharity
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Janet Anderson of LongmeadCroft, cooks a Sunday Roast forthe tenants in the CommunityLounge.
It is a welcome treat and brings a lot of
people of out of their flats for a couple of
hours to enjoy the company and chat
(and the wine!!).
GOODBYE ANDTHANK YOUAs you may already be aware Ann
Irving (Housing Director) left
Brunelcare on the 31st December to
follow a dream of running a family
business. The article below is from
Ann to say goodbye and thank you.
”I would like to take this chance to say
good bye to everyone and thank you for a
fantastic 6 years. I have worked with some
amazing people and have felt very
honoured to be part of Brunelcare.
We have achieved so much and I am very
grateful for all the hard work, dedication
and commitment from the staff.
Housing has gone from strength to strength
and some of the highlights that have been
achieved include:
• Overall improvement in customer
satisfaction levels
• Improved tenant involvement on all
levels from individual consultations
about kitchens and bathrooms
through to Tenants Voice
• Improved service from the repairs team
• Improved our Extra Care services
• Improved our Support services
• Maintained good reputation with our
inspectors
So that just leaves me to say a huge thank
you to everyone for making my 6 years so
enjoyable and I wish you all the very best
for the future“.
ACTIVITIES AT CHESTNUT CLOSE
Mr Tape
As always the residents of Chestnut Close
enjoyed their Christmas meal held at the
Blue Bowl West Harptree.
A good time was had by one and all. Dress
sense was optional. Well done Ron for
getting into the Christmas Spirit.
FLOWER SHOW AT CHESTNUT
Mrs Hawkins
We were not lucky in the Brunelcare in Bloom,
but pleased to say Chestnut tenants did well
once again in the Stockwood Amateur
Gardening Association Horticultural Show.
We took 1st, 2nd and 3rd Prizes, also a silver
cup for most points awarded in several classes
including 1st for knitting, 3rd for card making
and 1st for a photo of a rose. Entries from
Yvonne, Madge, Monica of Chestnut Close.
BIRD STORY
Mrs Hawkins, Chestnut Close
This little bird flew into our entrance hall of the
flats at Chestnut Close.
We found him on the door mat rather stunned
and was able to photograph him before my
sister-in-law and myself helped him to hop down
the stairs. He did go into another flat so we
helped him back out, he then was able to fly out
to the garden seat then fly up into the trees.
He did leave his calling card in several places.
LongmeadActivities at
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Flexi at Maple CloseWe have had a verybusy few weeks withmany activities &events so thought wewould share some ofthem with you...
Activities at Maple Close
Bob and Marion Kelson
Maple Close and Macmillan Nurses
Landscape Gardening & Our Christmas Tree
Tenants of Maple Close celebrated 2 years of Flexi class in
style with afternoon tea accompanied by Tenants from
Eglin Croft who joined them for the celebration.
Also in attendance was Matthew Firstbrook from Management. Flexi
Class is run by Site Officer, Karen Hulton at several sites. The party was
well attended and enjoyed by all including Maples’ oldest resident
who enjoys the weekly class at the age of 96.
During 2013 tenants of Maple Close have enjoyed many good celebrations
for many occasions.
For this we say a Big Thank You to organisers of these events, without them it wouldn’t
happen. A Big Well Done to Maureen for her Fund Raising day for Macmillan – a good result.
May 2014 be the same for all of us.
On the 5th September we celebrated our 60th anniversary.
We want to say a Big “Thank you so much” for all your cards and gifts, you helped us to enjoy our two
days of celebrating with you and our family. Thank you everyone. Bob and Marion of Maple Close
Brunelcare would like to thank Landscape Services for donating a Christmas
Tree to our Head Office and Saffron Gardens Care Home.
Landscape Services have for several years maintained our gardens across all our sites and
were only too pleased to help bring some festive cheer to Saffron Gardens. Pictured are a few
residents of the care home along with our Care Manager Lin Fiest and Martin Lomax from
Landscape Services.
On September 17th, Maple Close arranged a coffee morning in aid of
MacMillan Nurses.
We raised the grand total of £537, all the helpers were delighted, Maureen Ricketts, Bett
Creed, Rene Davis, “Little Bett”, Anne Taylor, Jan Laird and Angela Solomon. Thank you for all
your help and support.
Flexercise atMaple Close
FundraisersMaureen and Betty
Our magnificentChristmas tree!
Bob & Marion’s60th Anniversary
MacmillanFundraiser
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Chestnut Celebrates New Year’s in StyleThe tenants at Chestnut had a celebration to bid farewell to 2013 and had a
fabulous evening having a sing song. We all had a good time with our New
Years’ party and with good food.
Chestnut Get-togethers During 2013The tenants at Chestnut Close regularly get together. Here are some of the
highlights:-
Bristol budget consultation –
YOU HAD YOUR SAY!
“
“In November a consultation period
started in Bristol, with local residents
being asked to comment on the
proposed budget cuts to cover the
£90m shortfall projected by 2017.
The proposed cuts covered a variety of
services and issues around the city, and one
of the main concerns that were raised
amongst you was the change that will result
in a fee for the pull cords that are fitted in
your flats.
On the final day of the Bristol Budget
consultation, two tenants hand delivered 350
responses directly to the Council House on
College Green. We also understand that a
further 150 responses from Brunelcare
tenants were logged online.
As a result of this response, we have learnt
that five of the 15 proposals that have been
removed or reviewed from the consultation,
were as a result of your feedback. They are:
1. Review of housing related support
provided to independent sector
sheltered housing scheme for older
people
2. Ceasing older people’s warden and
alarm services within independent older
people housing schemes
3. Introduce charges for Older People’s
Housing Alarms in sheltered schemes
4. Reduce Older People Extra Care
Housing Warden
5. Cease funding for a specialist floating
support service for older people
The feedback on the updated budget for all
of these proposals was:
Whilst we are committed to reviewing these
services for older People in 2014, this saving
will be removed from the 14/15 budget so
that the review is not driven by delivering
specific monetary savings. Public
consultation and the cumulative equalities
impact assessment have raised concerns
about the impact on older people of reducing
preventative housing related support. Six of
the top seven proposals with most
disagreement fall into this category and all
have been removed so they can be reviewed
to find the best way of providing the service.
The Housing Team will of course keep you up
to date on any further developments to come
from the budget consultation. They would
like to send a big thank you to everyone who
took the time to input their views into the
consultation and it goes to show what we can
achieve when we all have a say.
Staff, tenants and residents from across the business came together to
celebrate at the Brunelcare Christmas Carol Service on Tuesday 17th
December.
The event took place at a new venue in Stockwood and we welcomed children from
Waycroft Academy school to sing with us.
It was lovely to see so many people celebrating together and enjoying themselves – we
hope it helped everyone to feel festive!
BRUNELCARE’S CHRISTMAS
CAROL SERVICE 2013
grapevine January 2014 1312 grapevine January 2014
Christmas as St Barnabas was
celebrated in style with the
additional celebration of
Norman Tayor’s birthday.
A huge thanks to Norman and Pearl
who paid for the meal for all the
tenants personally. A great time was
had by everyone. Marilyn, Jackie and
Barry did most of the cooking so a
huge thanks to them as well!
Christmas at St Barnabas
ROOM HEATERSUSING SUPPLEMENTARY HEATING
Room heaters are a convenient way to
provide focused and localised heat which is
particularly suitable in a room for people,
but beware they can be expensive to run.
They use a lot of electricity when used to
heat a room quickly; it is much cheaper to
heat a room using a central heating system.
Ideally room heaters should only be used as
a secondary or supplementary source of
heating and even then it’s important to use
the right heater.
Types of heaters
These prices will vary as electricity prices
change.
It is far better to heat your home using the
night storage heaters, if you are unsure of
how to get the best out of your heaters
please ask a member of staff for help.
THE CALLSYSTEM ANDCENTRAThe call system installed in your
home is not just there for
emergencies, although it is the
quickest way of raising an alarm.
It is also there as a communication
method for you to report things like:
• Property faults.
• Contacting staff when they are
on site.
• If you have lost your keys and can’t
get in, you can ask a neighbour to
pull their cord.
• Issues with strangers on your site.
The call system is monitored by Centra
who are there 24 hours a day, 365 days a
year waiting to help you.
You can test your system anytime you like,
just pull the cord and when Centra answer
just let them know you are only testing
the system, they won’t mind, they would
prefer you test the system regularly rather
than waiting until you need it and then
find a problem.
Don’t forget we also have an out of hour’s
maintenance team and tenancy team
available to assist you should you need it,
and the best way to contact them is pull
the cord.
Radiant bar fire Oil-filled radiator
Convector Heater
Fan Heater
Type of heater Average cost to run
Radiant bar fire 36.5p per hour
Convector heater 24.2p per hour
Fan heater 24.2p per hour
Oil-filled radiator 12.2p per hour
Brunelcare in BloomIn 2013 we celebrated a decade of
beautiful blooms and the incredible
dedication and hard work that you
commit to making the gardens
around you beautiful.
The dates for the 2014 competition are as
follows:
✿ Entry packs to be sent out by the end of
February
✿ Entries to be received by 28th March
✿ Judging to take place in mid-July
The competition will have the three
categories for you to enter as a site, which
are Community Garden, Container Garden
and Edible Garden. Good luck!
2013 saw the introduction of our first
annual Tenant Photography Competition
and thank you to everyone who entered.
We set the challenge of four categories to capture
life as a Tenant at Brunelcare, and we were not
disappointed. With a total of 70 photographs
entered the judges were put through their paces
to select the winners, who were:
A Day in the Life - Eric Ellis, Eglin Croft
Garden Life - Dawn Rowswell, Cote Paddock
Room with a View - Robert Harris, Emmanual
Court
Home Sweet Home - Malcolm McNamara,
Westminstere Court
The bar has been set high in 2013 but we look
forward to seeing what the Tenant Photography
Competition will bring us in 2014, further details
on which can be found on page 14.
Quotes:
“Photography has been a passion of mine for many
years with fond memories of the early 50s where
my Box Brownie was always close to hand.”
Eric Ellis, Eglin Croft – winner
“This was the first time I’ve entered a competition,
so it was a nice surprise to win.”
Dawn Rowswell, Cote Paddock – winner
“I’m very surprised I won as my camera is quite old.
This challenged me though as I had to work out
how to put the picture onto the CD to send it off,
and now I know!"
Malcom McNamara, Westminstere Court – winner
grapevine January 2014 1514 grapevine January 2014
Tenant PhotographyCompetition2013 also saw the introduction of a new
competition to encourage you to get out and
get creative with your camera!
We received 70 entries to the inaugural
Tenant Photography Competition which was
a fantastic result, so in 2014 we will be
running the competition again.
We have decided to change a couple of the
categories so this year they are:
• Garden Life (Capturing the flora and
fauna in your garden)
• Day in the Life (Capturing the day to day
activities around your site)
• Wildlife (Capturing bugs to bees or
finches to foxes in your garden)
• Coming Together (Capturing events with
neighbours, family and friends on your
site)
Please keep a look out on your noticeboards
for information on the competition, but some
key points of information for you are:
Opening date: 1st February
Closing date: 29th August
Email entries to:
[email protected] (Please
include the category in the title of the picture)
Postal entries (either prints or digital files on
CD or USB) to: Caroline Flynn, Photography
Competition, Brunelcare, Saffron Gardens,
Prospect Place, Bristol BS5 9FF. Please include
an entry form.
Ask your site officer for an entry form or email
request one.
TENANT’S COMPETITIONS AND AWARDS
Tenant CommunityAwardsThis year we are introducing a new set of
awards to highlight the community spirited
work carried out by neighbours and
members of staff. The categories are:
Outstanding Neighbour
Outstanding Staff Member
To nominate someone for these awards
please ask your site officer for an entry form
or email
to request one. Entries can then be emailed
back or posted to: Caroline Flynn, Tenant
Community Awards, Brunelcare, Saffron
Gardens, Prospect Place, Bristol BS5 9FF.
The closing date for nominations is August
29th, and please look out on your notice
boards for further information.
BUDDING DAVID
BAILEY’S PUT THEIR
SKILLS TO THE TEST
A Day inthe Life
GardenLife
Roomwith aView
HomeSweetHome