eden eyes

eden
eyes news Winter
2014
2014 –
An Award
Winning year
p3
Bestwood
Hospital
Celebrates
National
Award
p6
Sharing Lived
Experience
Ashley Speaks at the
Autism Show p7
Proud to be
Sponsoring
Disability Rocks
for festival information see
p14
Launch of Eden
Staff Awards to
Celebrate Our
Fantastic Staff
photos and video p9 & 10
www.edenfutures.org

I am very pleased to welcome you all to this latest edition of Eden
Eyes – for the very first time it has news that covers all the areas of
our group from East Yorkshire down to Exeter.
2014 has been a great year for Eden Futures, with many areas of
our business winning awards for excellence (see page 3), and
the company continuing to grow and expand both through likeminded
organisations joining the Eden Futures Group (see Select
Living Options and Supported Homes on page 2), and through
the opening up of new services (see Bluebell court on page 6).
2015 is set to be an even more exciting year for Eden Futures
with expansion of our existing services being planned across
the company. We already have several new houses opening in
Gloucester and Lincolnshire, and 10 further properties planned
covering both Learning Disabilities and Mental Health.
Whilst all of this growth is fantastic for the company, it is my belief that we have to ensure we
maintain high standards of care as we grow. As a result our Director of Quality (Sam Wellington) is
establishing systems that will allow us to better monitor quality across all our houses as we expand.
In addition we will be introducing an on-line reporting system (ERIC) that will allow us to capture all
incidents and share learning across the company.
But whilst growth and quality systems are key parts to the company success, the most important parts
of our company remain our staff and those we care for. Without our staff, quality does not happen.
Without Quality, commissioners will not send vulnerable people to our new services. Everything stems
from us as employees and the positivity we bring to work. I hope you will read all of the great stories in
this edition of Eden Eyes, and see how that positivity is affecting the lives of those we care for.
To all colleagues, if you have any ideas on how we can make the lives of those we care for more
positive, please let a member of the management team know. I would also ask you to review the
article on Page 8 about service user holidays so we can ensure that those we support can get the
most enjoyment and benefit from breaks.
Have a very Happy Christmas
Andrew Lennox – Eden Futures CEO
1

Select Living Options and Supported Homes
join Eden Futures
We are delighted to welcome our new
colleagues and service users to Eden Futures.
During the last quarter of 2014 Eden Futures
achieved further growth. In September Select Living
Options joined the group. Operating in the West
Midlands and South West they comprise of Inclusion
Care, Assisted Living South West and Assisted Living
Solutions. Shortly after in November Supported
Homes, who are based in the North West, West
Midlands and Wales, also joined the group.
As we bring the organisations together to work as
one, it will be business as usual for our service users,
commissioners and front-line support staff. Select
Living Options & Supported Homes, like Eden Futures
offer personalised care and support for individuals in
their own homes and in community settings.
Andrew Lennox said: “It is a very exciting time to
bring the organisations together into one company.
Going forwards I expect us to become a significant
influence in the market as we look to better the
lives of our service users. There will also be great
opportunities for all staff as the company grows – the
talent of our people is key to the outcomes of our
service users.”
Over time we will all communicate as Eden Futures
to our stakeholders ensuring that everyone knows
that all our services are supported by the wider
group with a huge resource of specialist support
knowledge and experience.
Together we provide support and partnered housing
solutions for around 800 people with a range of
disabilities across England and employ over 2000
people. With services from Cumbria in the North
West, across to East Riding of Yorkshire, and all the
way down to the Cornish border, Eden Futures is truly
a national care provider. The regional infrastructure
will remain in place and the finance functions across
the group will be consolidated to our Head Office in
Newark, Nottinghamshire.
Accreditation success
Congratulations to our North West, West & Wales services who have
recently passed their annual ISO:9001 review with flying colours.
Achieving this internationally recognised award demonstrates
commitment to providing quality services and to the continuous
monitoring and improvement of standards.
ISO 9001
Registered Firm
International
Accreditation Board
Certificate No. GB2004668 Registration No. 0044/1
This group of services have also recently passed their 3 yearly review
for their Investors in People status. Providing exceptional levels of care
relies on us being able to employ the very best staff, and Investors In
People helps us to do just that.
Congratulations are also in order for our East Midlands and South
Yorkshire services who have recently had their CHAS (the national
health and safety benchmark) status renewed.
Well done and thank you to everybody involved with these
accreditations. Across the group we are standardising our external
accreditations to ensure that we
deliver consistently high quality
services in all locations and to
support us in our tenders.
2

2014 – An award winning year
Care Innovator Award
David Whittock – Business Development Manager
“Value driven, passionate and resilient to achieve success. Dave has had to overcome significant and
overwhelming challenges in order to deliver the model of care and support, which ensures that it gets the best
out of people and that all have an equal opportunity to live a good life.” - Judges comments
Community support
provider of the year
This award recognises our innovative and committed
approach to developing services to enable people to live in
the community. It highlights the quality of the support that our
staff deliver every day and their passion for community based
solutions to meet peoples support needs.
Supporting Older People
with Learning Disabilities
A support team from our Nottingham region won
this award due to their outstanding commitment in
supporting an alder gentleman. As he gets older and
his care needs increase they have worked hard to
uphold his wish to stay in his own home rather than
moving into a nursing home.
Mental Health Hospital Provider
– Bestwood Independent Hospital
“We liked that their services are built around a very
personalised approach to individuals, with a strong
recovery ethos and prepares people for independence
after many years.” - Judges comments
Yorkshire and Humberside
Front-line Leader Award
Bev Hallowes – Support Worker
REGIONAL
WINNER
2014
Celebrating Excellence Across The Social Care Sector
“It was a real honour to win this award for something that I enjoy doing so much. I always put the people
that we support first and it’s great to have this belief recognised and valued.” - Bev Hallowes
3

Developing New Services
The Business Development Team work with local commissioners and our
operational teams to ensure that Eden Futures can meet local demands
for new services. Each team member covers a specific area.
Richard Clark
Head of Operations North West,
West Midlands and Wales
07817 430169
richard.clark@edenfutures.org
New services
Stepney Grove - Bridlington
Working in partnership with
Bespoke Supportive Tenancies
(BeST), East Riding of Yorkshire
County Council and East
Riding of Yorkshire Clinical
Commissioning Group, we have
opened ten apartments that can
support vulnerable people with a
range of needs.
Rachel Watters
Eden North East
07590 904775
rachel.watters@edenfutures.org
Sue Strain
Eden West
07788 314596
suestrain@inclusioncare.com
Claire Batsford
Eden Midlands
07788 314596
claire.batsford@edenfutures.org
The flats are spacious, with a
specialist fit-out and expert
maintenance to ensure safe
and high quality environments.
Referrals should be made to
East Riding of Yorkshire County
Council’s Adult Services on
01482 393939.
Stacie Ridley
Eden South West
07584 643703
stacie.ridley@edenfutures.org
David Whittock
Group Head of Business Development
07759 041126
david.whittock@edenfutures.org
We are pleased to announce that we have recently
been awarded a place on the following frameworks.
Plas Canol – Newtown, Powys
We have completed
expansion works making
two more supported living
placements available in
this location. This service is
expert in supporting people
with a range of Mental
Health illnesses and/or
Asperger’s Syndrome. They
have successfully supported
a number of people who
have come directly from
hospital and other long term
institutional settings.
The support team at Plas
Canol work pro-actively to
maximise each person’s
independent living skills.
To find out more about this
service contact Richard Clark:
07817430169, richard.clark@
supportedhomes.com
4

Introducing
Richard Clark
– Head of Operations North West, West Midlands and Wales
Richard set-up Supported Homes in 2006 after a successful career in mental
health nursing. Whilst working as a Care Coordinator in the Community
he became frustrated that services were not meeting people’s needs, or
responding to their aspirations. Supported Homes was born out of Richard’s
belief that the culture of care needed to put the people being supported
at the centre of the care they receive.
Now Supported Homes is part of Eden Futures, Richard’s role will be to build
upon the support model he fostered with Supported Homes, ensuring our
provision of excellent care in high quality accommodation is easily rolled out to
new services so that every individual we work with can reach their full potential.
Lisa Nicholls
– Head of Operations South
Lisa has worked in the care sector for over 20 years and has a wealth
of experience, she has particularly focused on complex services for
people who challenge traditional residential placements.
She will be focusing on enhancing quality and growth of services in the
South to support our ambition to become a leading national provider of
supported living services.
Sam Wellington
– Quality Director
Sam, a registered mental health nurse since 1986 with an MA
in leading, innovation and change, has focused her career on
managing specialist mental health and learning disability services
within the health and social care sector.
Now joining Eden, Sam is going to focus on ‘growing the great’ as she puts
it: “I am genuinely delighted to have the opportunity to join a company that
I’ve admired for a number of years for their ability to think outside of the box.”
Mel Alexander
– Clinical Lead
For the past 15 years Mel has been creating tailor-made packages for
people with very complex needs. Working for Eden Futures, Mel will look
at clinical hotspots within the organisation as well as providing input into
Bestwood Independent Hospital and the development of new services.
Speaking about her appointment Mel said: “I’ve witnessed Eden Futures
development from the start and what they have achieved is incredible;
providing individualised support for people with complex needs, enabling
them to remain in their communities.”
5

Bestwood Independent Hospital:
Two reasons to celebrate
Service News
This year the Bestwood team
won the highly respected Laing
Buisson Independent Healthcare
Award for Mental Health Hospital
Provider of the Year. The win
serves as a great recognition
of the staff’s commitment and
passion to developing and
delivering this unique hospital
service.
To mark this incredible
achievement the hospital
invited North Nottingham MP
Graham Allen to unveil a plaque
commemorating their success
during a celebration event for
staff and the people who are
supported there.
“I am proud of the vital work
the hospital does in my patch.
Winning this award means
a great deal to all of those
involved.” - Graham Allen MP
The award was presented by Jenny Edwards CEO Mental Health
Foundation and TV presenter Huw Edwards
Graham Allen MP for Nottingham North unveils the award plaque at
Bestwood Independent Hospital
Graham commented: “It’s
fantastic that the hospital has
been recognised with this
award. Giving some of the most
vulnerable in our community their
own living space and putting them
closer to their
families will bring
comfort to them
as they are able
to visit often.
“I am proud of
the vital work the
hospital does in
my patch. Winning
this award means
a great deal to all
of those involved.
I thoroughly enjoyed hearing their
stories first hand and seeing some
of the great work they do”.
This new service recently made its
first discharge. The individual had
made fantastic progress within a
short period of time; his stay was
less than 18 months which is well
within the national average for
this stage of the care pathway. As
well as supporting him towards his
recovery, the team also worked
hard to make his transition to his
new home successful.
For further information about this
unique hospital service click here:
Bestwood Independent Hospital
Top praise for Bluebell Court
Dr Glen Mason Director of
People, Communities and
Local Government, visited our
supported living service at
Bluebell Court, Heanor in June.
Glen’s visit was arranged by
the Great British Care Awards/
National Learning Disabilities
Awards as part of a day looking
first hand at examples of best practice at work.
After meeting the staff team at Bluebell Court, Glen
said: “I was delighted to visit Eden Futures supported
living unit in Derbyshire. I was particularly impressed
by the commitment, skill and passion of the staff to
deliver a high quality personalised service.
“The people who used the service had a high
degree of need and without such a well-run
community facility, they could well have been
placed in less personalised and more restrictive
services.”
Thank you to all staff that supported Glen’s visit to
Heanor and enabled him to experience great social
care in action.
6

Out and about
British Institute of Learning
Disability Annual Conference –
From Good to Great; support that
helps make great lives’ for people
with learning disabilities and their
families.
Our award winning team from
Nottingham were asked to take part
in this conference in November to
share their expertise. They ran an
interactive group discussion around
the main areas of support for older
people within the community such
as rights, choice, capacity and
partnership working.
Representing the team were
Katherine Newton, Bridget Boggan
and Lynsey Clarke; winners of
the National Learning Disability
Supporting Older People with
Learning Disabilities award.
Finalists announced
for the Independent
Specialist Care Awards
We are proud to be finalists in two
categories:
• Care Pathways – Eden Futures
• Supported Living – Greenways
Service Gloucester
We are also pleased to announce
that Pam Mellor, Commissioning
Officer – Winterbourne at NE
Lincolnshire County Council, is a
finalist for Best Commissioner. We
nominated her due to her innovative
approach to commissioning and
her collaborative approach to
working with providers.
Speaking at the Autism Show by Ashley Phillips
When offered the chance to go
to the Autism Event in Manchester
and to do a presentation about
my experience and time living
in Eden, I said yes without a
second’s hesitation because it
is something very
close to my heart
and I’m so glad I
did because I loved
every second of it.
My Presentation
Lorna Durant (Eden
Futures Service
Manager) started
off the presentation
explaining
everything about
supported living and
Eden. I could feel
my heart bumping,
my legs going to
jelly and my hands
were shaking, but I
was determined to
do my bit.
So I started off by introducing
myself, and then I tried my best
to explain my experiences of
living in a shared house, and
the challenges and difficulties I
faced with that, and how I, and
my brilliant Keyworker Richard,
Laing Buisson – Northern Long Term Care Conference
Our CEO Andrew Lennox & Head of Business Development David
Whittock presented at the Northern Care Conference. The presentation
was titled - ‘Innovation in Supported Living - Collaboration is the Key’
They discussed the
changes in the
sector and how
true partnership
working between all
agencies, with the
person at the centre
of the discussion,
will lead to support
and housing
solutions that best
meet local needs
and individuals
preferences.
managed to work hard to get
me into my own single dwelling
bungalow within Eden. I then
moved onto how much happier
I am living on my own, explained
that there were teething problems
but nothing
that a bit of
communication
and understanding
of my needs
couldn’t sort out.
Being Involved
It was my first time
public speaking,
and I think I’ve
come along way,
because if you
asked me just 3 or
4 years ago I would
not have had the
confidence or
belief in myself to
do that.
I am proud to have Asperger’s
and do think it has helped make
me the person I am today. When
I was younger as a kid I didn’t
accept it, I was in denial. But now
I’ve accepted it I am confident
with the person I am, but still willing
to learn and improve, and never
stand still or go backwards. We
never stop learning after all.
7

Involvement Strategy update:
Holiday policy review
Eden Futures want the people who are supported by the
organisation to be involved in all aspects of what we do. One
way in which we hope to achieve this is by asking people we
support, their friends and family and the workers who deliver
their day-to-day support to contribute to the review and
updating of the Policies and Procedures that form the basis of
the work undertaken by Eden Futures.
The Quality Team is currently looking at the Service User Holiday
Policy with a view to updating it and ensuring that it works for
service users, staff who accompany service users on holiday and
the Commissioning bodies. We are especially keen to include the
views of service users in the process. We want to know what people
think should be included in the policy. It will be helpful to hear
the experiences of people who have been supported on holiday.
• What does the policy need to include about how holidays
are planned?
• Are the financial arrangements for support workers’ expenses
good enough? How can problems with finance be avoided?
• What are the expectations of support workers behaviour, e.g.
drinking alcohol, smoking, engaging in activities, whilst they
are supporting service users on holiday?
If you would like to be involved in developing the new Service
User Holiday Policy please contact Lara Cowen, Quality Officer:
lara.cowen@edenfutures.org or 01522 683857
Great British Care Awards 2014
– Our great care champions
A huge well done to all our finalists it is a fantastic achievement to
make it to the final stages of these awards.
This year we had the following finalists:
North West – Care Team Award; Cumbria Care Team
West Midlands – Best Care Newcomer; Ryan Pleavin
South Yorkshire & Humber – Frontline Leader Award; Bev Hallowes
East Midlands – Housing with Care Award; Bluebell Court Tea
Good Nurse Award – Nomsa Kumire
Dignity In Care Award – Debra Harbottle
Congratulations to Bev Hallowes who won the Yorkshire & Humber
Frontline Leader Award and will attend the national finals in 2015.
REGIONAL
WINNER
2014
Celebrating Excellence Across The Social Care Sector
Ceri Lennon, Head of HR ,comments “As an organisation we
really value these awards as they enable front-line workers to be
recognised and celebrated for the fantastic work that they do; work
that often goes unnoticed.”
The awards received support from across the social care sector,
including the Department of Health, the Association of Directors
of Adult Social Services (ADASS), United Kingdom Home Care
Association (UKHCA), Care England, the Social Care Institute for
Excellence (SCIE), the National Skills Academy and Skills for Care.
Tech Support Corner by
Ben Solomon
We are working
towards a better,
faster and more
reliable IT system.
Staff Update
The first innovation
is ‘People Planner’:
a modern digital
rota that considers
the past and suggests rota patterns.
This is greatly beneficial for those
service users who prefer to have
familiar faces, and creates a sense of
consistency in shifts. As well as making
rota writing much more efficient it will
keep staff up-to-date with training
and alert the team of refresher
courses, ensuring we offer the best
service we can.
We are also upgrading our
communication across the whole
company by moving to a new
mobile network supplier, one that has
significantly more network coverage.
We understand how important oncall
phones are to staff members
and the need for easy and reliable
communication.
Printers will also be getting upgraded,
and to improve data confidentiality a
PIN number system be introduced.
Since the last Eden Eyes, we have
added lots of new advice and
instructions on our forums page:
support.edenfutures.org
Thanks to everyone who has put
forward suggestions for topics. We will
continue adding more content, so
check it out if you have an IT issue.
We are also connecting Tewkesbury
in Gloucestershire to our network and
would like to invite them to start using
support.edenfutures.org as their go
to site for IT support.
Finally a special thanks to the
Gloucestershire team for being so
cooperating and helpful.
8

Staff Awards 2014
On Tuesday 2nd September nearly 200 colleagues and service users got
together to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Eden Futures by recognising
and highlighting the great support that staff give every day.
There were 10 categories | Over 200 people nominated | 44 Finalists | 10 Winners
The winners are:
• Best Listener - Bev Rodgers – Mansfield
• Most Helpful - Tracy Cumberland – Newark
• Most Fun - Steve Hudson – Rotherham
• Best Team Player - Audrey Drummond – Newark
• Unsung Hero - Haydn Young – Head Office
• Role Model - David Draper – Mansfield
• New Comer - Vicky Kay – Lincoln
• Significant Achievement - Mel Proctor – Nuneaton / Coventry
• The Kevin Dixon – Team Awards - Kevin Dixon Team – Tuxford
• Best Support Worker - Hannah Owens – Mansfield
Sam Wellington, Quality Director, said: “It
was a privilege to join colleagues from
across the organisation in celebrating the
differences everyone makes to people’s
lives – on a daily basis. It was a particular
joy to share the celebration with people
who use our services. It is my hope that
we continue to publicly praise all that our
people achieve with similar events over
the coming years.”
There are more photos
to see on our Facebook
page and website.
Have you seen the video?
Find it on edenfutures.org
and our YouTube channel.
All the winners of this year’s Staff Awards
Many thanks to our VIP
hosts Giselle Parkin & Claire
Batsford and Lorna Durrant & Sharon
Walker. And also to bingo callers Colin
Hanson and Lara Cowen.
A big thank you from the
Involvement Strategy Group and to
all who visited expressed an interest
in the groups. See page 8 for the
latest Involvement Group news.
Andrew Lennox, CEO and Sam Wellington, Quality Director
present the Best Support Worker to Hannah Owens - Mansfield.
9

A BIG thank you to everyone involved
in making this event happen; by sorting
rotas, booking transport organising staff and
service users and all the other tasks that were
needed to enable the event to happen.
Would you like to help with next year’s event? To get involved
contact Ruth Stallwood, Marketing Manager.
Don’t forget to
watch the video
CLICK HERE
10

Eden People
Charity head shave
Anne-Marie Harris from our North
Nottinghamshire region donated
her hair to charity after her
grandfather began to lose his
due to chemotherapy.
Ann-Marie
made the
decision
to cut her
long hair
off and
donate 13
inches of it
to the Little
Princess
Trust which
makes wigs
for sick children
who
have lost
their own
hair.
Her parents Diane and Trevor
were very proud of her, Trevor
said: “She is very close to her
Granddad and goes to see
him every weekend when she is
home. When he started to lose
his hair she said she had plenty
spare and decided to donate it
to charity.”
Volunteering at Rhubarb Farm with Kia
Rhubarb Farm began in 2011
to involve people from the local
community in setting up a social
enterprise whereby volunteers
can be actively involved with
the development and running of
horticultural production.
Volunteers with a range of
long-term needs work at the
Farm, ranging from people with
mental ill health and learning
disabilities to ex-offenders and
people recovering from drug
and alcohol misuse. Their Buddies
Project works with people with
mental health support needs and
learning disabilities, as Volunteer
Co-ordinator Debbie Reynolds
explains: “The aim of Buddies is to
support people to learn new skills
and build confidence. We work
with each volunteer to determine
the type of support they require
and tailor a programme suited
to their individual abilities and
desires.”
Being a working farm most
activities centre around
horticulture and the Farm sells veg
boxes and eggs to regular weekly
customers. During the winter
months other activities take place
such as making Christmas wreaths
to sell to the local community.
Kia attends Rhubarb once a
week and also volunteers at the
Langworth Show held on grounds
adjacent to the farm. At first Kia
came with his support, but now
visits on his own, he said: “I’ve
been coming since 2013. I like
doing everything here, weeding
and planting. Today we made
Christmas wreaths and we also
have food baskets and eggs for
sale. It’s really good here.”
Rhubarb Farm is always looking
at developing opportunities that
will help people move forward.
Debbie added, “Currently we are
looking at providing accredited
training courses on-site, so that
people who might not access
training in more traditional settings,
but feel comfortable coming here,
can gain qualifications that might
lead them on to something else.”
For volunteering referrals and
enquiries, please contact:
debbie@rhubarbfarm.co.uk
Tel. 01623 741 210
www.rhubarbfarm.co.uk
Kia and Debbie Reynolds at Rhubarb Farm
11

Jamie is a winning volunteer
Jamie receiving his award.
In June Jamie Quinn who is
supported by our Rotherham
service won the ‘Volunteer of the
Year’ award at the South Yorkshire
Police and Partners Together
Awards. The Rotherham actor
Dean Andrews (pictured) well
known for his parts in Life on Mars,
Ashes to Ashes and Last Tango in
Halifax was there to present the
awards.
Jamie was nominated due to the
positive impact he has had in
police training. He helps officers
hone their techniques with role
Learning to dance with GDance
play work at the South Yorkshire
Police’s Training Centre so that
they can learn to communicate
well with people on the Autism
Spectrum as they encounter them
in their work in our communities
Speaking about winning the award
Jamie said: “I felt really proud and
honoured to win the award.”
He added: “I really enjoy the
training course, and enjoy meeting
all the top ‘brass’. I have learnt a
lot since I’ve been volunteering
and I find it really interesting”.
Judging the Yorkshire
& Humber Care Awards
Dave Whittock, our Group Head
of Business Development, was
thrilled to be asked to join the
judging panel for the Yorkshire
& Humber region of the Great
British Care Awards. On the 3rd
October he judged The Care
Home Activity Organiser and The
Care Team Awards.
Tayla and Debbie took part
in GDance’s 20th anniversary
celebrations. GDance is a
Gloucester organisation which
brings together people of all
abilities to produce professional
and inclusive shows.
In November they celebrated this
landmark anniversary by holding
a performance event. Tayla and
Debbie performed with others
in an interactive piece that was
performed to music from Lord of
the Flies, which got the audience
dancing too!
This was a new experience for
Debbie who joined the company
in September. Tayla has been
with the company for three years
and has been involved in many
performances. She says that she
loves to perform and has even
choreographed routines in the past.
She had previously been awarded
a fellowship by GDance so that
she could develop her leadership
and choreography skills, she said:
“This support meant that I could
gain more understanding of the
role of a choreographer and the
task involved. Also, it meant that I
could gain other peoples point of
view and opinion. It was great to
get some dancers into the studio to
start developing creative work on a
theme that I’m interested in.”
Interested in joining a dance
group? Gloucester area: GDance
run an inclusive performance group
that meet Mondays 5.30-7pm at
Milestone School and Saturdays
2-5pm at Cityworks in Gloucester.
For more information about either of
these courses, please contact Ailsa
Lane ailsa@gdance.co.uk or call
01452 550431.
Nationwide: To find out about
other dance and disability art
organisations in your local area visit:
www.disabilityartsonline.org.uk or
www.communitydance.org.uk
Dave commented: “It was an
honour to have been asked to sit
on the judging panel for the Great
British Care Awards. The standard
of finalists was very high and it was
an absolute pleasure to meet the
them and hear about the great
support that they give every day”
Dave won his own award for Care
Innovator of the year at the national
Great British Care Awards 2014.
12

Eden People
Grimsby people get together
Our Grimsby region raised £80 for the Macmillan
Coffee Morning on Friday 26th September, by selling
cakes and biscuits they had baked.
People we support from Grimsby chose to take a trip to York. They visited
the The Shambles and The National Railway Museum. Everyone had a fabulous
day out and will be visiting again soon.
Reindeer Winner
Well done to Tom from the Telford region who recently
won first prize in a reindeer making competition. The
competition was held at Attingham Park where he
volunteers once a week to help out with the park
grounds’ maintenance. He was presented with a
certificate, a bottle of wine and a beautiful wooden
carving of a saw made from Attingham trees.
First-time Festival Fun
This summer Music lover Rebecca from the South West decided that she
would like to start attending concerts and festivals. Rebecca, her support
team, family and care manager got together to make a plan to enable
this to happen for her.
Achieving her goal was split into three stages. Firstly this summer she went to
the Bicton Festival in East Devon, a local two day festival where she could
travel back home after each day. Next summer she plans to go to a festival
further away and join in with the camping. Rebecca’s ultimate goal is to
go to the UK’s biggest and most famous festival Glastonbury.
Rebecca has started off her festival journey on a high – she was thrilled
to meet Luke Friend from X-Factor. We look forward to sharing Rebecca’s
adventures over the coming years.
Turkey and Tinsel trip
They say ‘word of mouth’ is the best kind of marketing and it certainly worked at our Nuneaton services.
What started out as a few friends making plans for a pre-christmas getaway turned into 30 people
deciding that they wanted to join in on the trip. Collectively they chose to spend a week in Brighton.
Jody Cashmore, Support Worker, said: “it was a great trip, everyone loved it. Groups of friends chose to do
different activities, and there was plenty to see and do.”
Having a Christmas dance
Ready for lift-off
Down on the Pier
Skates at the ready
13

Happy House Warming
in the South West
Bernadette from our Devon region is
set to move into her new apartment.
She was living in a 24 hour service but
had set a personal goal to move into
a more independent setting.
Bernadette, her care coordinator and
Eden Futures’ staff have all worked
together to plan out the steps that
Bernadette needed to take to be
able to move into independent
living. Bernadette has developed
her independent living skills which
has reduced the number of hours of
support she requires and this coupled
with assisted technology has enabled
her to feel ready to move on.
Bernadette had looked at several
properties before finding the perfect
one to call home. She has picked
the flats colour scheme and given
the decorators their instructions!
Bernadette is now busy planning for
her moving date and for her house
warming party. Congratulations to
Bernadette on her new home.
Disability Rocks!
We are thrilled to announce that we are sponsoring the Disability
Rocks festivals - summer 2015.
Eden Futures are the main sponsor for the Midlands event being held
in Derbyshire, and we are really looking forward to being part of this
great adventure.
This summer four friends from Telford
spent a few days in Weston-super-Mare.
Darrell, Andrew, Kerri-Louise and Chris had
a mid-week break together and also visited
Brean and Cheddar Gorge. Kerri-Louise
especially enjoyed the cheese tasting at
Cheddar Gorge and highly recommends
the smoked cheddar.
Disability Rocks organise accessible festivals for people with disabilities,
their friends and families. The events have the same essential
ingredients as any other festival; great music, performance, workshops,
food, crafts and more.
If you’d like to find out more about the festivals or would like to get
involved as a volunteer you can contact them directly at
disabilityrocks.org or speak to our communications Team:
0115 9603 264 / 07976 461 811.
14

Working Together, more than the sum of our parts...
Eden Futures is made up of several organisations that are expert in providing
personalised support.
Each organisation was born out of the belief that people have the right to live how they
want in their own community, not hidden away from it. The shared desire to give people
a voice in society and the dignity and respect they deserve is at the core of Eden
Futures’ values. Support Enablement and Independence is at the heart of our work.
We provide support for people who have:
• a learning disability
• Autistic Spectrum Conditions
• an Acquired Brain Injury
• a physical disability
• enduring mental health support needs
• been detained under the Mental Health Act
• complex and challenging support needs
Our services offer a diverse range of quality,
community-based support options, including:
• supported living services
• complex supported living
• outreach and community support
• domiciliary care
• independent hospital service
• residential care homes
• single-person residential care homes
• support through personal budgets
We’d love to hear your news. If you have any ideas or suggestions for the Newsletter
please contact the Communications Team: comms@edenfutures.org / 01159 603 264
Communications Manager - ruth.stallwood@edenfutures.org / 07976 461 811
Communications Assistant – pete.morris@edenfutures.org / 01159 603 264
Deadline for content for the next issue is 1st March 2014.
Eden Futures Head Offce. Friary Housee, 17a Friary Road, Newark, N24 11E.
Info@edenfutures.org
01636 676 054
Find us on online
www.edenfutures.org
www.inclusioncare.com
www.supportedhomes.com
For all the latest news, photographs and other media
from across the organisation follow Eden Futures on your
favourite social media platforms.