Cornerstone News Autumn/Winter 2009

Cornerstone News

We were delighted when our SQA Approved Centre was awarded the SQA Star Award for Lifelong Learning in recognition of their support to staff by delivering real and sustained learning for people of all ages.

Cornerstone has been a SQA Approved Centre since 1995, offering training for SVQ qualifications such as Children and Young People, Health and Social Care, and Leadership and Management in Care. Of our care home services, 55% of staff are now qualified to Scottish Social Services Council requirements and last year 97 staff completed SVQs.

“The team and I are very proud to have won this award in the face of quality opposition. Recognition by SQA is a great achievement. We continue to work towards building a confident, competent and qualified workforce.” Jayne Wood, SVQ Manager

Cornerstone wins 2009 SQA Star Award

I n focus

www.cornerstone.org.uk

Recently, Betty Hough, a support worker in North Glasgow, completed her HSC Level 2 SVQ award. Betty who has worked within one of our Supported Living services since 2000, said she has thoroughly enjoyed working towards her qualification and commented how surprised she was that, even with years of practical experience in the care sector, the learning programme has helped her deliver an even higher standard of care.

A special congratulations to Betty and the many employees who completed their SVQ in 2009.

Jayne Wood delighted with the award

AUTUMN WINTER 09/10

Learning for higher standards

Cornerstone is developing more flexible options for training with the introduction of E-Learning, available now through the Intranet. E-Learning will enable staff to undertake training from anywhere as they can access the Intranet at any time of day or night.

Contact your manager or our Learning and Development Team on 0141 550 7580 to find out more.

The Cycle Challenge, kindly sponsored by BG Group, kicked off in September following launch events at Duthie Park in Aberdeen and then at Kelvingrove Park in Glasgow. Once again this annual fundraising event was a great success involving over 2000 participants in 36 teams, cycling over 90,000 miles and raising an estimated £65,000 for the people we support.

At the Glasgow launch we were delighted to welcome the Scottish Paralympic cyclist Aileen McGlynn OBE who wore her two Olympic gold medals from the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Aileen helped to raise awareness of the Challenge in the West of Scotland and commented, “I was delighted to be at the launch. I really enjoyed meeting the guests who came out in support of the Challenge.”

At the official awards ceremony Talisman Energy (UK) Ltd were named the winners of the Onshore Category and Total’s Scallywags team won the Offshore Category, cycling over 13,400 miles.

5th Cornerstone Cycle Challenge

Shona McLeod and her team in North Lanarkshire organised a great night of entertainment proving that Cornerstone really does have talent.

The 200 strong crowd were entertained with Elvis and Abba tributes, the ‘Flately Lads’ and our very own Head of Marketing and Enterprise who performed a couple of songs he composed himself!

Many people we support took part including Jamie Gallagher who sang a fabulous rendition of the Proclaimer’s hit ‘500 miles’, and Ian Gifford looking fabulous in his kilt performed a Scottish medley.

Judges included our Chief Executive, Edel Harris and Karen Whitfield the local MSP, and the winners were the Airdrie Angels who danced themselves into first place.

Cornerstone’s Got Talent!

Lisette Knight of Cornerstone with members of the Granite City Racing Team

Aileen McGlynn OBE with Edel Harris, Chief Executive and Glen Thomson


Myra Howat performed an ABBA tribute

Winners! The Airdrie Angels

A wonderful £33,800 was raised at the recent Lord Provost’s Variety Show in Aberdeen.

The Lord Provost’s Charitable Trust nominated Cornerstone as its chosen charity for 2009 and beneficiary of all proceeds from the night. All the money raised will support our work providing care and support in the local community.

More than 1,000 people attended the show and were entertained by a host of North-east performers, including Scotland the What?, fiddler Paul Anderson and baritone Colin Brockie.

Curtains up for Lord Provost’s Variety Show

Our new Health and Safety campaign featuring Keep Safe Joe was launched recently with the help of top Scottish chef Lady Claire MacDonald and our sponsors Talisman Energy (UK) Ltd.

Guided by the TASK Group the campaign provides a range of clear and accessible materials helping to encourage the people we support to stay safe within their own home, while learning more about food preparation and fire prevention.

The campaign has been piloted successfully throughout our services and we hope to introduce new topics in 2010.

Keep Safe Joe Launched


Talisman’s Geoff Holmes, Willy Forbes who we support, Safety Joe and Lady Claire MacDonald.

The Lord Provost of Aberdeen Peter Stepehen, Ian McRae and Edel Harris Chief Executive.

This year is set to be a very exciting one for Cornerstone as we celebrate our 30th anniversary.

As many of you will be aware there are some great fundraising activities and events being organised to ensure staff, people we support and their families can join in the celebrations. More details of the events and how you can become involved will be available shortly.

Get Involved

Alex Salmond MSP opens Berrybank

Alex Salmond MSP meets Ronald Troup one of the Berrybank residents

West of Scotland Review Hits the Right Note

We had a brilliant turn out for the annual West of Scotland Review, which was held in November. The event allows us to celebrate Cornerstone’s achievements over the past year with the people we support, family members and staff.

The Deputy Lord Provost of Glasgow, Baillie Allan Stewart, and Jackie Baillie MSP attended on the night to present SVQ and Project Scotland volunteer certificates, 10 Year Service Awards as well as two new accolades - Exceptional Achievement Award to someone Cornerstone supports and an Outstanding Contribution Award to a Support Worker.

Guests also had the opportunity to watch Cornerstone’s new DVD, and were entertained by the Theatre Nemo Choir and Taiko Drums before enjoying some light refreshments, including a celebratory cake!


I n focusThe Exceptional Achievement Award went to Allan McLelland. He originated and helped to organise a local conference to highlight the importance of creative self expression for people with learning disabilities, and the need for more ramps and lifts for wheelchair users in public places.

Mauren McCann won the Outstanding Contribution Award for her fundraising efforts which included a sponsored walk and charity football match, raising £3,500 for Cornerstone’s Clydebank Short Breaks Service. This money ensured the Children’s Playscheme ran over the summer.

Staff and people we support enjoyed a great day when Banff & Buchan MSP Alex Salmond visited and officially opened our Berrybank service in Maud, Aberdeenshire. Mr Salmond enjoyed a tour of the facilities and spent time with the people who live there before planting a commemorative tree in the grounds outside. Friends, families and many of the people involved in developing this great new service enjoyed refreshments with Mr Salmond.

On leaving Mr Salmond said “I very much enjoyed meeting the people Cornerstone supports, their families, friends and staff and officially open this fantastic new facility.”


Helen and Richard with their support workers George Adams and Jean McKay

Olympic Champions!A special well done to Richard Sweeney and Helen Mason from the Springhill Gardens service in Dundee, who took part in the UK Special Olympics in Leicester this July.

Richard competed in the swimming races and won an amazing two gold medals and one silver medal. Richard made another splash as he received a runners up award for the Jenny Allan Wood Trophy at the Sports Dundee 2009 awards, where he was nominated due to his success at the Special Olympics.

Helen competed in Boccia, which involves throwing leather balls as close to a target ball as possible, and added to the winning streak by bringing home a bronze medal.

Congratulations once again and we are sure both Richard and Helen will be in serious training for next years event. Richard with his award

In September First Minister Alex Salmond made the exciting announcement that we had been awarded £1 million from the Scottish Investment Fund.

This funding will assist us in creating further services across Scotland, and will help us achieve our aim of enabling the people we support to enjoy a valued life.

JACKPOT!!

West Lothian SuccessThrough the hard work and determination of many staff, we are delighted to announce that we have been successful in securing a five year contract from West Lothian Council for the delivery and management of a new flagship service The Uphall Physical Disability Unit. It is a very exciting time for Cornerstone opening our first service in the East of Scotland and we will keep you posted on progress for the official opening in the summer.

Doors OpenAfter many months of hard work from the team at Urquhart Road in Aberdeen they finally welcomed their first resident on Monday 23rd November 2009.

Cornerstone’s new DVD: Personalising Social Care is now available from our regional offices.

DVD

Volunteering ServiceOur congratulations go to the following volunteers who have all achieved their 200hr certificates through the MV award scheme. This is an award given to young people in recognition of their time given to volunteering. The recipients were Euan Gillies, Jenna MacGregor, Grace Brodie, Mark Dalgarno and Emma Taylor.

They contributed an amazing 2,500 hours which benefitted services and various teams throughout the organisation.

What a Difference a Day Makes

This year several of our corporate partners have taken part in community giving days, benefiting services in Aberdeen and Moray.

Twenty five employees from Marathon Oil spent a weekend in November decorating one of our services in Garthdee, and because of a fantastic fundraising effort by the Team, they were able to pay for all the materials and lots of extras such as a Nintendo wii. Their efforts far exceeded anyone’s expectations.

Three other services have had garden makeovers as a result of teams from Exxon Mobil, BibbyOffshore and Lloyds TSB, all generously giving a day of their time to benefit four local services.

A new weekly Arts and Crafts Group has been set up in the North Lanarkshire area thanks to a number of volunteers. Interest in the classes was so great that we had to create a second block of sessions to accommodate everyone.

It’s proving to be a great success and through this project the people we support are being given an outlet for their creative abilities, and the volunteers are gaining valuable experience which will benefit them on their future career paths.

“It’s brilliant and it’s just so lovely to see all the participants enjoying themselves and it makes me feel good to know that I’m part of something that adds to their lives in a positive way”. Lisa Irvine, Activity Enabler

Lets get crafty

At a recent award ceremony in Edinburgh Jenna MacGregor was shortlisted for a Project Scotland award in the Children and Young People category for volunteering with Cornerstone. Jenna spent three months with the Star Carers Team based in Aberdeen and did a magnificent job organising the summer play scheme for children with disabilities. Well done Jenna and thanks for all your hard work.

Arts and Craft Group show off their handywork.


Jenna McGregor accepting her 200 hour MV Award

Corporate Volunteershard at work.

At a recent Award ceremony in Edinburgh Jenna MacGre-gor was shortlisted for a Project Scotland award for her volunteering in the Children and Young People category. Jenna spent 3 months with the Star Carers Team based in Aberdeen and did a magnificent job organising the Sum-mer play scheme for children who have disabilities.

Well done Jenna and out thanks for all your hard work.

Cornerstone is aiming to achieve the Healthy Working Lives (HWL) bronze award this spring and we have set out four themes for 2010: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity, Wellbeing and Mental Health Awareness.

We have already held “Fruity Fridays” around the country to encourage staff to eat their 5 a day and 59 people participated in our Healthy Eating course which will soon be available via E-learning.

The Cornerstone Cycle Challenge enabled our staff to raise money for Cornerstone whilst keeping fit! The Big Fun Runs in Aberdeen and Dundee provided a similar opportunity, with a number of people taking to the running track for the first time ever- and really enjoying it!

Another event held recently was a walk over the Tay Bridge followed by healthy muffins and tea at the Dundee office, 20 people took part including staff, their families and the people we support. Other initiatives promoted last year include the Halfords Cycle2work Scheme and corporate gym membership with Glasgow City Council.

Cornerstone held its first Wellbeing Week in November in Dundee, Airdrie, Elgin and Aberdeen. The well being events included taster sessions in a range of alternative therapies, beauty treatments and information on a range of health issues.

We are keen to hear from our staff and volunteers ideas on how to take forward the Mental Health Awareness theme. If you have any ideas please contact your HWL local champion.

Remember – Healthy Working Lives is for you - get involved!

We know it is not always easy when your work is totally focused around the people we support - but why not involve them in your healthy acitivities? For example walk instead of getting a bus, do something physical in place of a sedentary activity or cook something healthy and wholesome.

There is a fruity prize on offer to the ten most creative team activities. Let your local champion know what your doing before the end of February.

More information on HWL can be found on the Intranet or by contacting the HWL champion in your area. If there are any local events you feel your colleagues may be interested in please forward details to your local health champion who will do their best to promote them.

Our HWL champions are: Valerie Kovarikova for the West Region, based in Airdrie on 0123671105Hilary Bennison for the Central Region, based in Fife on 01592780759Rosy Adams for the North Region, based in Aberdeen on 01224 256026Clare Lai is the organisational co-ordinator, based in Aberdeen on 01224256021.


Keep up to date with Cornerstone News on our website www.cornerstone.org.uk, or join us on Facebook and Bebo and receive regular updates, from news and events to the latest photo uploads.

We have recently launched our new DVD which can now be viewed on our YouTube channel CornerstoneScotland.

Keep in Touch


Our second Phones for Funds Campaign is underway following the success of last year, where we raised over £1,500 for the people we support!

The campaign encourages you to donate your old mobile phone to help improve the lives of adults, children and young people with disabilities and other support needs.

If you have an old handset lying around we are appealing for you to donate it to our fund. Phones can be handed in to any of our regional offices.

A new addition to Corners Turned Ltd is a gift shop and craft workshop in Stonehaven which will operate as part of our Employment Service.

‘Gift Corner’ will be officially opened in February selling a variety of gift items and hand embroidered products that have been produced in the workshop, Embroidery Corner.

There are currently 18 people supported through both the workshop and retail unit and our aim is to increase the number of people involved and to help them progress towards mainstream employment. We are on the look out for other social enterprise opportunities in other parts of the country. Please let us know if you have an idea or spot anopportunity.

Gift CornerCoffee Corner

Coffee Corner, Cornerstone’s first supported employment café in the Towerlands Community Centre was officially opened in June in partnership with Bourtreehill and Broomlands Community Centre and James Watt College.

The cafe provides work opportunities to 16 people and has proved a great success, helping those with disabilities to gain independence by teaching them new skills and integrating them into their local community.

Staff at Coffee Corner

Cornerstone News Autumn/Winter 2009

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Transcript of Cornerstone News Autumn/Winter 2009