Community News: Redesigning Adult & Older People’s Specialist Mental Health Services in Eastern Cheshire, South Cheshire and Vale Royal

Have your say on proposed changes to local mental health services

Tuesday 6 March – Tuesday 29 May 2018.

There are approximately 7,000 adults and older people from a population of 480,000 across Eastern Cheshire, South Cheshire and Vale Royal who receive care and support from specialist mental health services. Of these approximately 350 people per year require an inpatient stay at the Millbrook Unit in Macclesfield, meaning that 95 per cent of care is already provided in the community.

Local NHS partners are proposing a redesign of these services for a number of reasons. User and carer feedback, along with recent audit recommendations and inspections, told the partners that some things in these services work well but that other things need to change for the better.

Through the proposed redesign NHS Eastern Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), NHS South Cheshire CCG, NHS Vale Royal CCG and Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust want to:

• provide new services so that there is better access for people to help keep them well and active in the community
• provide much greater choice of services for those in, or at risk of, crisis;
• support people with dementia and those who care for them to stay in their own surroundings

Service users and their carers have shared their thoughts; describing that they “deserve to thrive, not just survive”, that they want responsive community services available 24/7 and they do not want to be admitted to hospital unless it is absolutely necessary.

For these reasons, the local NHS partners as mentioned above have developed a set of proposals that puts early intervention and prevention at the heart of adult and older people’s specialist mental health services and, if introduced, will provide:

• An improved community mental health service that helps people get better more quickly and prevents hospital admissions
• A 24-hour crisis support service for people who are acutely unwell
• A dementia outreach service that visits people in their own homes
• An improved experience for people who need hospital care.

Have Your Say

You can #JoinTheConversation and have your say on the proposals put forward by local NHS partners in many ways:

• By completing the online questionnaire available by clicking here
• By attending one of the six public events where you can have your say
• By telephoning freephone number 0808 169 1189 if you need help completing the survey or require a paper copy.

Alongside the main consultation document there are a number of supporting documents - held on the NHS Eastern Cheshire CCG website that people can read for further information about the case for change and proposals for the redesign for adult and older people's specialist mental health services.

Please call 0808 169 1189 if you require this information in another language or an alternative format such as large print, braille or audio.

Social Media – Suggested Tweets

Local NHS partners have launched their Consultation on Adult & Older People’s Mental Health Services in Cheshire. Have your say here www.easterncheshireccg.nhs.uk

#JoinTheConversation

Help our partners to improve adult and older people’s mental health services in Eastern Cheshire, South Cheshire and Vale Royal. They’re holding several events so you can have your say. Find out more here www.easterncheshireccg.nhs.uk #JoinTheConversation

If you want to tell us your views about mental health services for adults in Eastern Cheshire, South Cheshire and Vale Royal please fill out our local NHS partners’ survey or call freephone 0808 169 1189 #JoinTheConversation

Our local NHS partners have launched a public consultation on adult and older people’s specialist mental health services. To find out more about what this means for service provision in Eastern Cheshire, South Cheshire and Vale Royal visit www.easterncheshireccg.nhs.uk #JoinTheConversation

What’s most important to think about when delivering adult specialist mental health services in Cheshire? We want to know your views. Complete the survey here #JoinTheConversation

Community News: Free Tickets to Cheshire's Top Attractions - Get Yours Now!

After the success of the first release of free Resident Festival tickets to some of Cheshire and Warrington’s top attractions, hundreds more free tickets will be available to download from today (27th Feb), with another batch available on 8 March. 

The festival, taking place between 17 March – 25 March, is a way of thanking local residents for welcoming more than 62* million tourists into the county each year. The Festival coincides with VisitBritain’s English Tourism Week and is being supported by Cheshire East Council, Cheshire West & Chester Council and Warrington Borough Council.  For tickets and further information, go to visitcheshire.com/cheshireresidentsfestival.

In addition to the existing attractions, tickets are now available for the National Waterways Museum in Ellesmere Port. The museum offers interactive and virtual reality technology to help visitors experience what it would have been like to work on the waterways. The number of tickets available will vary according to the attraction and everyone applying must have either a Cheshire or Warrington postcode.

Brendan Flanagan, Head of Rural and Cultural Economy, Cheshire East Council, said: “There has been huge demand for the Resident Festival tickets and I am delighted. This is a wonderful way to celebrate the county’s tourist industry and recognise the importance of residents. Our residents make a vital contribution to what we can offer and the welcome given to visitors.

“Cheshire East has a great mix of outdoor experiences, unique events and high-quality experiences. We look forward to welcoming residents from across the county to enjoy sites like the world-famous Jodrell Bank, Nantwich Museum and the Silk Museum. Residents can also visit magnificent gardens like the Jacobean splendour of Macclesfield’s Capesthorne Hall and Gardens, the quintessentially English gardens of Arley Hall and the award-winning gardens of Tatton Park.”

“As a local resident it is sometimes easy to think that because you’ve been to an attraction some years ago, it won’t have changed.  But Our top attractions are always thinking of new ways of engaging visitors and offering new experiences. For instance, we are delighted that this January, Jodrell Bank applied for the outstanding prestigious UNESCO World Heritage Status.

Elsewhere, attractions that are opening their doors to Cheshire residents include industrial gems like the ‘Cathedral of the Canals’, the Anderton Boat Lift; Port Sunlight Museum, Congleton Museum; Tarporley’s Cotebrook Shire Horse Centre and Sandbach’s fully working pottery, the Potters Barn.

Katrina Michel, chief executive of Marketing Cheshire, said: “This is a great chance for Cheshire residents to have a great free day out and celebrate the amazing tourist attractions on our doorstep. We hope as many residents as possible join in the fun.” 

For further information contact:  Fiona Young at 01244 851867 or at f.young@marketingcheshire.co.uk

*VisitBritain/VisitEngland plays a unique role in building England’s tourism product, raising Britain’s profile worldwide, increasing the volume and value of tourism exports and developing England and Britain’s visitor economy.

Working with a wide range of partners in both the UK and overseas, its mission is to grow the volume and value of inbound tourism across the nations and regions of Britain and to develop world-class English tourism product to support our growth aspirations.

Tourism is currently worth £127 billion to Britain’s economy and as Britain’s seventh largest export industry, inbound tourism’s economic contribution is currently valued at £26.2 billion.

Community News: Dance and Dementia project hosts monthly tea dances

Residents at Pickmere Extra Care in Crewe are enjoying monthly tea dances led by Cheshire Dance therapist Shirley Brocklehurst. At the last dance in December, residents donned their finest outfits and Santa and Mrs Claus also took time out of their busy schedule to pay them a visit.

Some residents are reviving their dancing skills whilst others are learning new moves. A couple of residents have even been out and bought new dancing shoes. The residents are benefiting from the dances through exercising and also by having fun and socialising.

The daughter of a couple who recently moved to Pickmere and have attended all the tea dances asked staff at the last tea dance “What have you done with my parents? We couldn’t get them out of the house before but since they moved here we can’t keep them in!”

For more information, call Shirley on 07760 428 554 or email her shirley@cheshiredance.org.  More details can be found on her website cheshiredance.org
.

Community News: Invitation to Consultation Event - Transport for the North, Strategic Transport Plan

Earlier this month, Cheshire East Council launched its draft Strategic Transport Plan, which sets out how they want to drive economic growth and create a more successful North through improving transport connections.

For the first time, the North is speaking with one voice on what is a transformational vision for the region. To ensure that the Plan continues to meet the needs of everyone across the North, there will now be a 13-week public consultation.

Members of the local community are invited to a consultation event in Crewe on Monday 19 February where you can find out more about the recommendations and provide feedback that will influence the final Plan before it is submitted to Government later this year.

Strategic Transport Plan Consultation event – Crewe
(Crewe Alexandra Stadium)

February 19 @ 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Crewe Alexandra Stadium, Gresty Road, Crewe, CW2 6EB

For more information about the event and to register visit the consultation event website.

A full list of events and more information on the consultation are available here. Please do register your details via the website to be kept up-to-date.  If you have any questions, please do get in touch.

Community News: Jo from JG Creative Shows How to do a Brand Review

A lot of people have a new financial year on the horizon so it’s a good time to look at your brand and
ensure it’s communicating the right message. Remember your brand isn’t just your logo, it goes
much deeper than that to include who you are and what you do. Think of it like your organisation’s
personality.

Lets breakdown B-R- A-N- D as a prompt for each stage…

B is for BRAINSTORM
Take some time to think about what’s changed recently:

• What has happened over the last 12 months which might mean that you need to change or clarify who you are and what you do?
• Have new competitors or changes to technology brought any threats or opportunities?
• Has everyone else in your sector moved on or started offering something as standard and you’re getting left behind? Ensure you don’t stand out for the wrong reason.

Another thing to be aware of is brand creep. What’s that? We see this a lot in the Charity sector,
especially where an organisation has changed what they do in order to give them the best
opportunity to win a funding bid or to support a new group of beneficiaries. 

When they review they may find out that actually what they’re doing and who they’re supporting is different from what they initially set out to do. A bit of re-alignment might be needed in this case.

Also have your objectives close to hand. Can your brand deliver your objectives as it is? For
example, are you aiming your message at a professional audience with a relaxed and informal look
and feel?

R is for REVIEW
If your brainstorm has revealed areas that need addressing then set aside some time to
review:

What did you do in the last year that worked and what didn’t? This might be a new product or
service, a marketing activity, an event, a new fundraising challenge, a networking group you joined
or even a different social media channel. Now is the time to review and decide if it’s worth pursuing
or should be stopped.

You can find lots of sources of data to analyse, if that appeals to you (I love a bit of data myself)!

Look at your website analytics (and set them up if you don’t have them), email stats, social media
engagement, event participation, number of inbound phone calls etc. 

Also look at all you profit from the last 12 months and where it came from. Who were your most profitable clients and how did they find you?

A is for ASK
This is the tough one. You’ve got to talk to people.

Talk to your audience / clients / supporters. Find out what they like about you and why they use you.
Ask them how they heard about you and if they’d recommend you. 

You can get a lot of really useful information from them if you’re brave enough to ask and prepared that you’ll probably get some constructive criticism too. But it’s better to know right? Then you can do something about it.  If I’m honest this is a real ‘Do as I say, not as I do’ action. Note to self, be more brave!

N is for NEW
Anything to add?

What aren’t you doing that you should be? 

Has your brainstorming, review and question asking thrown up some great ideas or reinforced some ideas you already had? 

Is your visual brand (your logo alongside your look & feel) communicating the organisation that you are effectively to the audience you want to attract? If not are there any new elements that you need to bring in to fill the gaps or do you need to refresh what you have? 

Does your ‘Who we are’ description need updating?

D is for DO, or DON’T
Now you know all this information it’s time to do something with it.

You’ve got the facts at your fingertips now so it should be easy to see what you need to do. If it will
take some investment then budget for it when you’re planning for the next year. 

Decide how you’ll introduce any new things you want to do, and IMPORTANTLY decide how to stop doing anything which isn’t making you money or is at odds with your brand. 

Your time is precious so you want to be spending it on the activity that will work hardest for you. Your brand needs to work hard for you too, you only get one chance to make a good impression!

Then put a reminder in your diary to review it again next year…

Talk to us about ensuring your brand is a true reflection of who you are. Call us on 01270 626624 or email jo@jg-creative.co.uk.

Community News: High Sheriff Launches Fund for Cheshire Charities

L-R:Zoe Sheppard, CCF CEO; Upcoming High Sheriff Alexis Redmond MBE;
Malcolm Ling, Organiser ofCheshire and Shropshire classic car events;
Sarah Callander Beckett, High Sheriff of Cheshire

A fund has been launched by the High Sheriff of Cheshire to benefit a number of charities that provide services to people living in rural areas.

High Sheriff, Sarah Callander Beckett, has set up the fund with Cheshire Community Foundation, of which she has recently been appointed a Trustee. Cheshire Community Foundation matches charitable donors with the causes that matter most in Cheshire and Warrington.

The High Sheriff’s fund will support two charities operating in rural areas - Overwater Wheelybus and Friends for Leisure.

Overwater Wheelybus – a charity in its last phase of fundraising - aims to improve the social experience and quality of life for local people with mobility issues by purchasing a bus that provides wheelchair transport to Audlem.

It will invite on board people from; care homes, private homes, schools catering for children with special needs and anyone else with accessible transport needs who would not usually have the opportunity to experience a trip on the water. The bus will give the occupants the ability to go shopping or meet up with friends and will also work with the Audlem Medical Practice to meet the needs of people who require accessible transport to attend medical appointments.

Friends for Leisure meanwhile, works to address the social isolation and loneliness often experienced by disabled children and young people, by providing inclusive leisure activities from which they are often excluded. The charity provides their own regular group activities, which rely heavily on volunteers, so that they can take part in community activities whilst also building strong relationships. The team will use the funds raised to expand their existing services and cater for those on their waiting list.

Both charities will benefit from the proceeds of a fundraising raffle during the annual High Sheriff Awards for Enterprise, which will take place on 22^ndMarch.

The High Sheriff Awards for Enterprise, held in partnership with the University of Chester, will this year be held at Chester Racecourse. It will host Cheshire’s leading entrepreneurs and business leaders and be a celebration of outstanding business achievement across private sector organisations of all shapes and sizes.

Sarah said: “Members of our community living in rural Cheshire can often find themselves disadvantaged due to the lack of services available locally.

“Poor internet connectivity, limited public transport, reduced access to sports and recreation and smaller numbers of support groups can lead to people across generations living in isolation, with limited options to improve their quality of life.

“We wanted to work with these people to give them a better quality of life and provide them with services they wouldn’t have otherwise had access to.”

Zoe Sheppard, Chief Executive of Cheshire Community Foundation, said: “We are very much looking forward to working with Sarah to build on the early successes of the Cheshire Community Foundation and change many more lives for the better.”

The Office of the High Sheriff, which is more than 1,000 years old, is an independent non-political Royal appointment for a single year.

For more information on The High Sheriff Awards for Enterprise, please visit: https://www.chester.ac.uk/hs/about

Ever Thought of Volunteering for Charity?

Now's your chance to make a difference by volunteering for St Luke's Hospice's new shop in Nantwich

St Luke’s Hospice couldn’t exist without its amazing team of volunteers who help raise funds to provide quality care and services for patients and their families in Mid and South Cheshire.  

They are currently looking for people who can assist in their new Nantwich shop on Pepper Street, serving customers, sorting donations and helping with displays.

If you have a few hours to spare and would like to make a difference in your local community, whilst meeting new people and making new friends please get in touch.  

For more information pop into the shop or visit our website

stlukes-hospice.co.uk/ways-to-support-us/volunteer or contact Pam Ford, Volunteer Support Coordinator at Pamela_Ford@stlukes-hospice.co.uk or by calling 01606 555690.