MB News May 23

No.1
MB NEWS
Celebrating all that's brilliant about The Mulberry Bush May 2023
Roll up, roll up...First Edition!
Building Bridges
Welcome to the first edition of MB
News. This is a brand new
newsletter designed to keep
everybody informed of the amazing
work that is being done across the
whole of the Charity.
It's been a month of fundraising
launches, sculptures, training,
international outreach and
renovations - amongst many other
things. We've even had a celebrity
endorsement!
A big thanks to everybody who has
contributed with their stories and
we hope you enjoy reading.
Remember, we rely on you to tell
us all the great work you're doing,
so please keep the stories coming.
On Tuesday 23rd May the wider Charity (
non-school teams) took part in the
inaugural Charity Study Day. Some
participants opted to engage in experiential
learning; in this case bridge building to
manage an evacuation across a river in a
storm (using only newspaper, sellotape,
string and their imaginations!) and others
attended a session on understanding
statistics and graphs.
All members of the Charity were tasked
with completing online Equality, Diversity
and Inclusion Training with small groups
using this as an opportunity to spark
thoughtful discussions on where we are now
and where we’d like to get to in the future in
relation to this important issue.
A huge thank you to everyone who
worked so hard to make this day a
success.
News and Blog section is now live
on the website. Keep up to date
with all the goings on at MB!

The Sharpest Tools!
The Maintenance Team work tirelessly in the
background keeping everything ticking along
and legally compliant but it’s easy to forget all of
the other bits & pieces that have happened
thanks to their input.
Here's a list of some of the highlights from the
last 12 months the majority of which have been
completed within the limited window of school
holidays!
Installation of new school gates.
The School Council requested a flagpole & this
is now in place
The Sports Hall has had a major upgrade, new
led lighting a top to toe lick of paint and sound
absorbing panels
Pegasus, Sunset, Jigsaw & Rainbow all had new double glazed windows
The Reception courtyard has been stripped of old straggly vegetation and a
wild meadow sown whilst we establish a proper planting scheme
The Upstairs Meeting Room has been painted & equipped with a widescreen tv
& video conferencing
The Burrow car park has been re-gravelled and the rotten fence posts replaced
The kitchen roof has been replaced
It's nice to be appreciated...
This beautiful hamper was a gift to
FdA tutors from our finishing students
who will graduate this July.
The 2021/22 Charity Impact Report is
now available to view at
mulberrybush.org.uk/charity-impact
and hard copies are available at L&RC,
MB3 and the School.
'Inclusivitree' steals the show
A beautiful art piece, produced by our
children, was proudly displayed at
'Sculpture at Kingham Lodge'.
It was created with the help of artist
Emma Cox and was a real stand-out
amongst the wide array of sculptures
on show.

Busy, Busy, Busy!
Laura is starting a project with
Solihull Council. The Inclusion
Department have reached out to The
Mulberry Bush for some support
regarding their graduated response
to social, emotional and mental
health needs.
Twelve visitors from a Therapeutic
Education Centre “Aplink” based in
Vilnius, Lithuania came to MB3 for a
two day visit.
The visit was to help the
organisation build on their practice,
experience the ‘feeling’ of being
within another therapeutic
organisation and to build a working
relationship with the Mulberry Bush
Outreach and Consultancy services.
During the visit they had input from
the Outreach Team regarding
models of practice and the group
was able to visit either the Mulberry
Bush School or Hillcrest Steps.
Order restored
Debs and Gareth have been doing
some amazing work transforming
the Archive at MB3.
Once a set of dingy rooms linked by
equally dingy passageways, as those
who have had an opportunity to visit
will know, have recently been
transformed into a bright and more
pleasant and safer working
environment for our Archivists and
those who use this facility.
Morwenna and Ray have been
facilitating a series of training
presentations for a group of around 45
childcare professionals (including
psychologists) from across Ukraine,
organised by the Ukrainian Education
Platform. We have presented sessions
on 'Making Sense of Behaviour',
'Attachment Informed Practice' and
'Brain Development and the Impact of
Trauma'.
We have our final session on 'Working
Together' in early June. The sessions
have been well received, and with the
support of a very accommodating,
supportive and most of all skilled
translator we have even managed to
have some helpful interactions and
brief discussions with participants!
We've also been generously supported
by a Ukrainian contact of Morwenna's,
who has translated key phrases for
some of our slides!
It is a privilege to work with
professionals who are dedicated to
supporting children and young people,
who are also likely to be personally
experiencing traumatic events, and
we've been humbled by their
expressions of gratitude for our work
with them.
Congratulations to Dr Dave Roberts and
Dawn Davidson who've had their paper
'Raising standards of training, a
therapeutic approach' published.
You can access the paper HERE!

Get 'Hands On' for MB!
Our new fundraising campaign 'Hands On for The Mulberry Bush' had it's
launch event at Oxford Downs Cricket Club on Wednesday 24th May. Guests
were treated to coffee and cake or soup and sandwiches.
We are asking our amazing supporters to arrange their own
fundraising event whether it is afternoon tea, a picnic in the
park or walking 7.5 miles with your friends, the world is your
oyster and we are here to help.
We were thrilled that the fabulous Dame Prue Leith, DME so
kindly shared with us one of her very own recipes; her
Normandy Apple Tart. She also said, "I am always happy to
help a charity as important as the Mulberry Bush".
Keeping finances in check
Our Finance Team,
especially Helen, have
been doing a superb job
making sure that we are
paid on time.
Our aged debtors (those
organisations that owe us
money) is the lowest they
have EVER been.
In the current climate,
this is a huge help for the
Charity.
Carry on camping
Camping Week for our children ran from 22nd - 25th
May and was an excellent success.
There were four venues where the children set up
camp; Hardwick Park (Witney), MB3
(Gloucestershire), Burnbake (Dorset) and on-site at the
School.
On returning, there was a BBQ at the school where all
the Charity were invited. Food was cooked by John T
and thankfully there were no cases of food poisoning!
Celebrity author visits Archives
Our Archives
Team, at MB3,
were delighted to
welcome novelist
Bethan Roberts,
author of My
Policeman!
My Policeman was
recently made into
a feature film,
starring none other
than Harry Styles!

Hellos
Katrina Haig
Therapeutic
Trainer &
Outreach
Practitioner
Luke Hearn
Marketing &
Communications
Manager
Jayne James
Housekeeper –
Jigsaw
Kate Ellery
Speech &
Language
Therapist
Upcoming events
June Reading Group,
Wednesday 21st June
@7.45am
Family Open Day, Friday 30th
June
75th Anniversary Lunch,
Saturday 1st July
Fools Delight Circus presents -
The Green, Wednesday 26th
July @ 7pm
Goodbyes
Lucy Lowe will be leaving
the Mulberry Bush as our
HR Administrator in June.
Lucy has worked with the
Charity for over 7 years and
we'd like thank Lucy for all
her hard work and
commitment to the Charity
over the time she has been
with us and wish her all the
best for the future.
WORKOUT
Are you looking to get fit?!
Exclusive offer to The Mulberry Bush staff:
Circuit training - FIRST SESSION FREE!
CONTACT: Gareth Jones, School
Maintainance Manager, on
gjones@mulberrybush.org.uk or 07812
071417
Current Vacancies
HR Manager
Deputy Head of Care- Children
Deputy Behaviour and Play Specialist
Fundraiser - Trusts and Foundations
Digital Marketing Executive
Children's Residential Support Worker
Household Manager
Earn up to £550 with
our 'Refer a Friend'
scheme!