The fund is available to National Care Group colleagues to apply to with innovative ideas that are over and above regular maintenance requirements and would contribute to the quality of life and wellbeing of the people supported by the Group's services across England and Wales.
The communal space across the two homes at the Atlantic Way Care service is limited and this can sometimes have an impact on the wellbeing of the people supported. Many of the people living at the service have mental health diagnoses and on days when they are feeling low or anxious, they'd spend more time in their rooms due to the communal space being used by others. They really needed a space to go to with their team for some space and one-to-one emotional support.
When a proposal for expansion across its two houses was rejected by the housing association partners, service manager Stuart continued to champion the much needed additional space by applying to the Innovation Fund.
The National Care Group Board approved the funding and the people we support at Atlantic Way Care, and their support team, were overjoyed. A new outside building would provide the much-needed extra space, and it would also give everyone a new project to focus on.
Once the area was surveyed, the plans were put in place to erect the new house in a disused wooded area.
What has been special is the way in which the builders embraced the people we support by inviting them to be a part of creating their new space.
As an example, those who were able were involved in fetching and carrying the mix for the concrete base. The builders came up with a collaborative plan to create a conveyor belt system where everybody worked the line to pass along the buckets, starting with the first person, who would shovel the mix into the buckets. This created such comradery.
Quite often the people we support at Atlantic Way Care are uncertain of how to deal with other people and struggle with communication, especially with strangers. There were hesitations to get involved to begin with, but the builders were so understanding of their needs and showed great respect and empathy.
Their participation gave them confidence and they felt so involved - so much so that some want to be builders now! The impact was incredible, and they achieved so many of their personal goals before they’d even thought about it. Goals, that so often take a tremendous amount of effort and support.
The Summer House is ready to go. Team leader Kerry has added some finishing touches by decorating it with fairy lights and adding some furniture items, including a sofa she kindly donated. In pride of place is a picture of everybody during the works, as a momentum of the fun they had with the builders . A person we support said on the day the photo was taken:
“I haven’t had such a great day like this in a long time.”
It may be called Summer House but with electricity and heating, it will be a place to be enjoyed all year round.
The removal of the wooded area has created so much extra light in the garden as well. This will brighten the days and help with the new vegetable patches they’ll be creating.
The Summer House will have a grand opening at the end of August and the Atlantic Way Care family cannot wait to show off their new space.
Read more about our Atlantic Way Care Supported Living services here.