networkinternal magazine for staff and volunteers

April 2017 | Issue 177

Find out more about phase one of our Listen Learn Adapt process as we develop our Hospice’s future

2 April 2017

in this issue

Welcome to network

Senior manager on-call Barbara Gale - 14 April (Good Friday) to 9am on 15 April

Sue Allison -15 April to 9am on 16 April (Easter Sunday)

Pippa Wilding 16 April (Easter Sunday) to 9am on 17 April (Easter Monday)

Rachel Spencer - 17 April (Easter Sunday) to 9am on 18 April

Kevin Clements - 18 April to 21 April

Jane Doughty - 21 April to 28 April

Pippa Wilding - 28 April to 5 May

Staff Support Counsellor Julie Dansie on 01787 228334

Hello: House Clearance Assistant, John Cook; Bank Administrators, Kathleen Bird, Gemma Reid, Hayley Hutt and Emma Reynolds; Shop Volunteers, Jessica Hyde, Emma Welman, Frances Clements, David Stamp, Margaret Bluett, Bernice Lewington and Pamela Rudge; Donation Centre Volunteers, Julie Sharman and Preston Sharman; General Day Therapy Volunteer, Joanne Sommerville; Volunteer Sylvan Ward Carer, Amy Metcalf; Volunteer Gardener, Victor Tooke; Catering Volunteers, Susan Coe and Matthew Moldon and Volunteer Receptionists Harriet Melvin-Bland and Sally Swatton.

Goodbye: Bank Hospice Care Assistant, Moira Borrett; Catering Volunteer, Colin Tribe; Hospice Neighbours, Hannah Davey, Jagdish Matharoo and Fenella Fraser; Maintenance Volunteer, Gary Whitbread; Bereavement Visitor, Rita Burrage and Shop Volunteers, Elizabeth Jenkins, Sharon Bambridge, Tracey Ferencz, Robert Ferencz and Donna Wicks.

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Our values

Starting conversations Staff and Volunteer Party

The next Network deadline is Friday, 5 May. Please email all your news to katie.anderson@stnh.org.uk

A volunteer is needed to help co-ordinate the collection of donation boxes and tins in Thetford and the surrounding area. If you could spare a few hours a month please contact Miranda.mccoy@stnh.org.uk.

Informative event The Hospice and Ashtons Legal are joining forces to promote the practical steps necessary to ensure that your wealth and wellbeing are managed according to your wishes in the later years of life. The event - practical planning for peace of mind in later life - which will take place on May 25 is for anyone with an interest in ensuring their affairs are organised, and their wishes known, ahead of later life events.The event may also be useful for anyone caring for, or likely to have to care for, elderly relatives, for leaders of groups offering support to the elderly and for financial advisers with elderly clients.The event, which will run from 9.45am to 1pm, will take place at Bury St Edmunds Golf Club, Tut Hill, Fornham All Saints, and is free to attend. Spaces are limited. If you wish to book a place please contact Nick Duncan on 01284 715559 or email nick.duncan@stnh.org.uk.

3vwww.stnicholashospicecare.org.uk

Listen Learn Adapt

In last month’s network we introduced everyone to Listen Learn Adapt, an ongoing process which we hope will enable us to make the changes needed to ensure our Hospice services continue to meet the needs of our community. We have started to explore what this process might be and would like to share with everyone some details around phase one. A timeline outlining phase one follows on the next two pages.

We will keep sharing updates with you, through this magazine as well as our weekly emails to staff and volunteers. In the meantime if you have any questions about our service redesign please get in touch. Over the coming weeks we will be putting together some frequently asked questions – so if you have something you want the answer to please let us know by emailing enquires@stnh.org.uk including Listen Learn Adapt in the subject line.

Want to know more

Get involvedYou may have already seen our introduction to Livework, the service design consultancy, who will help us complete this work. There will be three members of the Livework team who will be helping us; Liz LeBlanc, Gene Librow and Nick Manson. Throughout phase one of this project Livework will provide us with an independent view, they will work alongside us as we look at the Hospice’s services striving to create a flexible model fit for the future. At the end of March the Livework team came into the Hospice to share a little bit more about how they will be helping us to move forward with our service

redesign. Liz said: “Throughout this project we want to be part of the St Nic’s team. We will be transparent and open along the way sharing with everyone the progress we have made so everyone can see the momentum and feel involved. We are very excited to be working with all of you and looking forward to getting to know the Hospice better over the coming months.”• You can read our introduction to Liveworks at www.stnicholashospice.org.uk/listen-learn-adapt/

We want as many people as possible to be involved as phase one of Listen Learn Adapt evolves. We will be inviting a cross section of staff to participate in workshops on April 28 and May 18.Managers will be talking to their teams to select people to take part in the sessions which will focus on understanding our current services. A third workshop, on 26 May, will focus on training a few of our people so they can collect stories from our community and find out what they feel is important when considering death, dying and bereavement. You will also be able to share your views during this time too. A feedback session will follow.

April 10 April 17 April 24 May 1 May 8 May 15 May 22 May 29 June 5 June 12 June 19 June 26 July 3

Week commencing

Workshopone

Workshoptwo

Workshopthree

Presentation and

feedback

Understanding the current service by listening to staff and volunteers

Trainingstaff to be

able to observe

Fieldworkobservation groups

Analysis and results

Phase one timeline

Gene Librow Liz LeBlanc Nick Manson

Your facilitators

“I’m a designer raised by engineers, with a love of data and charts, and an obsession with storytelling. I love the way design requires a pendulum swing between tiny details and the holistic, over-arching goals.”

“As a Service Design Consultant, I connect clients with their customer’s needs, and help create compelling service solutions by designing for human values, organisational capabilities, and business priorities.”

“I have been a senior strategist and manager in health services in the UK and internationally, working in all milieus from operational to national bodies. I am a Director of Change through Partnership (CTP) and excited to develop an association with Livework.”

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Collecting stories and feedback from staff, volunteers and the public

4 April 2017

New group

Hospice in the community

Hospice support in the community will increase as new Open House sessions are set to start in Sudbury.The sessions, which begin on Monday, 8 May, will offer a friendly environment where people can drop in for tea or coffee, and can often act as an introduction to our Hospice services.Open House Sudbury will take place in theStephenson Centre in Great Cornard every Monday from 10am to midday.

Open House

Extra support for those diagnosed with dementia and their loved ones is on offer thanks to a new four-week joint initiative.

The Hospice and West Suffolk Hospital are working together to offer the course which will offer four weekly sessions for those with dementia, as well as their carers and loved ones. The sessions, which started on Tuesday, 11 April and run to Tuesday, 2 May, are being led by Gill Austin and Maggie Woodhouse from West Suffolk Hospital. Gill said: “Once someone is diagnosed with dementia there is often, not readily available, any further information regarding advice and support after diagnosis and people are unsure where they can go for help.“Dementia services and support are changing all the time and we think this group could help with information and then signposting to other organisations who can offer support in the future. “We want to create an environment that is calm and friendly, where people feel they can come for professional advice and

practical and emotional support.”The course will follow the same format as the Hospice’s other popular positive living groups. Courses are free to attend and will start with a light lunch allowing people to meet each other, and then over the four weeks each session will focus on a different topic. These will include “What is dementia”, the art of communicating and living with dementia, planning for the future and what support is available. The sessions, which will run from 1pm to 4pm, will also be attended by a representative from Suffolk Community Healthcare’s Memory Assessment Clinic as they will also be supporting the initiative.

•The Hospice has also taken over the running of a dementia support group in Haverhill. On Thursday, 6 April the Burton Centre took over the running of the dementia support group previously offered by the Alzheimer’s Society, Suffolk. Running every first and third Thursday of the month, from 2pm to 4pm, the support sessions will be run by staff and volunteers.

Dementia support in the community

Extra emotional support will be on offer for women in Haverhill as the Burton Centre launches a new Women’s Group.The group’s first session will take place on Monday, 15 May and will run from 2pm to 3.30pm at the centre.The group, which is for women who are receiving care as well as families, carers and those who have been bereaved, aims to offer emotional support as well as the chance to speak to others who are experiencing similar situations. It will continue to run fortnightly.

5vwww.stnicholashospicecare.org.uk

Our Values GraveTalk: starting to talk

Starting conversations and sharing thoughts Creating a space where questions can be shared, discussed and considered is behind one of our Hospice’s educational courses.

For those with questions about death and dying having someone to talk to can often be invaluable – but how do you start those conversations? At the Hospice a multidisciplinary team are helping to get people talking about these topics by facilitating GraveTalk. Led by representatives from our Chaplaincy Team, Education Team, and Independent Living Team the sessions last for an hour and 15 minutes and can be held at the Hospice, the Burton Centre or another community venue. At the start of the last session Sharon Connell, our Chaplain and Spiritual Care Co-ordinator explained: “GraveTalk is an opportunity for learning from one another in a safe environment where questions can be shared and discussed. We hope we have created a relaxed environment where people feel they are able to express themselves.”Starting off in small groups, the conversation is helped

along by conversation cards – 52 questions covering five key areas:

• Life• Society• Death • Funerals• Grief

The questions are there to get people thinking and to stimulate conversation, there are no right or wrong answers and the relaxed environment of the session means there is never any pressure to say anything you don’t want or feel able to. The cards are designed to start conversations it doesn’t matter if a group only concentrates on one question or works their way through all of the cards – the purpose of GraveTalk is to talk and listen. Some of the questions included:

• Do we recover from grief?• What would you like your lasting legacy to be?

GraveTalk was originally launched by the Church of England. It is designed for everyone, not just those facing the immediate prospect of death or who have a relative who is dying. You don’t need to have a particular or any religious belief to attend.

The next GraveTalk session will take place at the Burton Centre, Haverhill on Wednesday, 28 June from 7pm to 8.15pm. Refreshments will be served. For more information please contact Alison Peacock or Genella Kingham, Education Administrators on 01284 766133 or education@stnh.org.uk

6 April 2017

Walk with us Fundraising news

Girls Night Out 2017 has launched, and we are aiming for more walkers than ever before to take part.So, we are calling for all women to join us on Saturday, 9 September for what promises to be the biggest and best Girls Night Out yet. We hope more than 2,000 women will take part in the event which is sponsored by JM Finn & Co, so please talk to your aunties, cousins, nieces, sisters, daughters and mothers to help us to reach that goal. And if you are a man, please do not feel left out – we need you too! You might not be able to walk with us on the 11.2 or six-mile routes around Bury St Edmunds, but you could help us by volunteering as a marshal or behind the scenes.

Don’t forget you can sign up for the walk at the early-bird discounted rate of £10 until May 31.

www.girlsnightoutwalk.co.uk

Gallant fundraisers proved their strength as they conquered our Battle of the Knights challenge and raised £12,000. The new obstacle challenge event, which was sponsored by Abbeycroft Leisure and The Playground, saw more than 200 participants complete a 4km run before conquering a 25-strong obstacle course. A huge thank you to all of the volunteers who kindly gave up their time to make sure the event went without a hitch. And well done to all of our staff and supporters who took part in the event.

Victorious knights raised thousands for us

7vwww.stnicholashospicecare.org.uk

General news

Fabulous fashions on show Our Sudbury and Long Melford shops will unite on Friday, 12 May to bring fabulous fashions to Long Melford Village Hall. Tickets for the fashion show, which will raise funds for the Hospice, cost £10 and include canapés on arrival. Tickets will be available on the door, and from the shops.

Beers, Bands and Beat It! The event will return on Saturday, 13 May.This year the event, which will take place in Porters Barn, Old Methwold Road, Feltwell, will have a focus on folk music, featuring a full line-up of music, as well as a licensed bar, auction and raffle.Tickets cost £10 and can be purchased by contacting Miranda.mccoy@stnh.org.uk

Straw-studded fundraiserLawshall Scarecrow Festival which takes place on May 27 and 28 will raise funds for us. Scarecrows will be on show throughout the village on both days from 10am to 4pm. Programmes, as well as refreshments and cakes will also be available from All Saints Church during these times. The best scarecrows will be crowned at a prize-giving event on the Sunday at the Swan Inn from 5pm.For more information contact Emma Clements from the Fundraising Team.

What’s on Support team Bed Heads challenge

Staff will be flexing their muscles as they aim to raise as much as they can with a sponsored bed push.Team Bed Heads, made up of doctors, nurses, nursing assistants, physiotherapists, staff from Orchard Day Centre, the Clinical Admin Team, Sue Allison, Sharon

Connell, Vicky Barber and George Chilvers from the Fundraising Team will undertake their challenge on Saturday, 29 April. The challenge will see the team push an old hospital bed, kindly donated by West Suffolk Hospital, around the athletics track at Abbeycroft Leisure Centre. After (hopefully 10) laps of the track the team will be at the Arc shopping centre with collection buckets. Roy from our Facilities Team is kindly helping with transporting the bed.

In last month’s edition of network we asked everyone to think about their answer to the following question: If St Nicholas Hospice Care was a person what would you expect them to be like and what values would you expect them to have? Many of you have already shared your thoughts with us by writing on the boards which have been placed in Bradbury Green at the Hospice and the Haven Cafe at the Burton Centre.

If you haven’t already please let us know what you think. You need to do this before Tuesday, 18 April. Once we have collected everyone’s ideas together they will be shared with our Board of Trustees who will work to refine the Hospice’s core values when they meet on Thursday, 27 April. As well as writing on the boards you can share your thoughts by emailing enquiries@stnh.org.uk or by filling in our online form at www.stnicholashospice.org.uk/values.

Still time to have your say on values

8 April 2017

Sunday 4 June 1-4pm

Join us to celebrate your wonderful work!

Come and enjoy summer refreshments with your friends and colleagues in the Hospice garden.

If you would like to come along please let your Manager know no

later than Friday 5 May.If you would like to make a £3 donation towards

refreshments please do so on the day. Partners, children and guests are welcome.

SummerGarden Party

For more information please contactKirsty Penny, HR Administrator 01284 715573

kirsty.penny@stnh.org.uk

Our people