East of England & London – #stayhomeandstaysafe stories
During these difficult times our teams are doing all they can to support the people within our services in innovative, caring and thoughtful ways. Read more about how our support teams in the East of England and London are achieving this.
Kingston House – Leigh-on-Sea
During the global Covid-19 pandemic the individuals at Kingston House were supported to join in in many different activities to keep them fit and active. Where it was harder to get out and about like normal, the support team thought of an innovative way to get the supported individuals on their feet and active. Each morning songs were put on so the individuals could have a ‘dance’ and get their steps in, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all.
Lots of Birthdays also happened at Kingston House during the lock-down period, but the support team ensured that everyone still joined in on making whoever’s birthday it was feel special. One of the supported individuals turned 88 years old and as he is such a John Wayne fanatic the team ensured his birthday was cowboy themed.
Blakeney House – Westcliff-on-Sea
The support team at Blakeney ensured that the supported individuals during this stressful time were kept occupied and tried to keep life as normal as possible for them. They were busied with cupcake making, producing art masterpieces and pampering themselves with facemasks and pedicures. The support team even became innovative with the choice in activities, coming up with the much loved ‘international cooking night’ which took place every Saturday.
“We have a very multicultural team so everyone cooked dishes from their respective countries which everyone enjoyed.” – Amanda, Service Manager
When the guys were also unable to attend their usual Thursday drama night, the team took it upon themselves to create their own drama nights in the garden. This took place every Thursday to give the supported individuals a bit of routine and structure.
During the pandemic, our wonderful team of Quality Checkers came up with ways in which they could connect with the individuals in the services and support them with any concerns they may have. This also included coming up with ways for the other services within Consensus to meet each other ‘virtually’ and create friendships. John, a supported individual at Blakeney House, thoroughly enjoyed the weekly Skype calls and became friendly with some of the services. Since the lock-down has eased and the services are beginning to explore the outside once more safely, Blakeney House have met up with individuals from other services including Southwold and Norwich Road, who they became friendly with during lock-down.
46 The Grove – London Borough of Hounslow
All this lovely weather we have been having is a reminder that there’s nothing better than sitting in the sunshine in a pub beer garden with your favourite tipple.
With everything currently shut the team at 46 The Grove have found a creative way to bring the pub to them every week with the launch of ‘The Grover’s Pub’ – an exclusive member’s only pub with VIP’s in attendance. 😊 The pub boasts snacks that will accommodate any connoisseur’s palate as well as an array of the finest non-alcoholic beer and soft drinks!
Harvey Lane – Norfolk
The team at Harvey Lane decided to take advantage of the lovely weather to throw a picnic in the garden. Everyone got involved in the garden games and ‘N’ has now become pen pals with the neighbours. Below is a lovely photo of her with a beautiful card that she received from them.
Oban Street – Suffolk
The individuals at Oban Street love getting out and about in the community, especially shopping so to help them adjust, the team had the brilliant idea of opening a store in the garden. Staff encouraged people to donate a range of goodies including things that the individuals particularly love like CD’s of 90’s music. The individuals are enjoying making regular visits to the shop every afternoon.
Deansbrook – Essex
The Deansbrook team have been really inventive using an empty space within the service to create a library and a coffee shop for the guys they support to visit. This is really important particularly to ‘V’ who relies on his visits to the library in town. He now gets up, puts his shoes on and visits the library in house to choose a new book or DVD’s.
To see all the amazing support our teams are providing, Tik Tok Challenges, our ‘Sing a Rainbow’ challenge in Makaton, together with a whole host of activity ideas, easy read guides and other stories from around the regions, see here.
