Bob McDonald says ...

New Social Enterprise Manager

MHC Social Enterprises Exploring New Developments

The Social Enterprise wing of Mental Health Care continues to explore new ideas and opportunities in the field of social enterprise. Mark Graham, who was appointed as Social Enterprise Manager in November, is moving initiatives like Busy Bodies our Gardening and Maintenance firm forward into new areas. Mark sees integrating training and employment for people with mental health needs and other disadvantages as a key objective.

MHC Social Enterprise Ltd. is focusing on building networks which will lead to increased business for the enterprise and also new partnerships that will generate innovative new projects and project ideas. Our partnership with Enterprising Futures and Sunderland Housing Group for example, looks set to generate significant opportunities that will boost the organisations profile within the region.

Enterprising in South Tyneside -Community Fund Award

Mental Health Care has been awarded Ł70,000 revenue and Ł10,000 capital to work with local organisations in South Tyneside to develop social enterprises. A New Initiatives Coordinator is being recruited to take the project forward.

Mark Graham our Social Enterprise Manager said:

“We are delighted that the Included Communities Fund has provided us with the opportunity to build upon the talents of people living with mental ill health. By working with other agencies we hope to increase the momentum of social entrepreneurialism in ways that develop and use the creativity of people excluded from the labour market.”

Leading the Way With The Mental Health Consortium

The organisation is a key partner in the development of a regional membership - based mental health consortium. Its purpose is to assist the voluntary and community sector in developing its capacity to deliver services, influence mental health policy and ultimately benefit the service user.

Mental Health Care has attracted Ł96,000 from the Northern Rock Foundation to appoint a Consortium Coordinator. This post will be hosted by Mental Health Care which will assist us in raising our regional profile as well as benefiting from Consortium membership.

Staff Computer Training

The IT training for staff is now up and running!

The training is being provided through ITPS at their training suite in Gateshead. We have gained funding for 50% of the costs of the sessions through Business Links who also supported us with the costs of the IT systems we had installed last year.

So far staff have attended sessions on PC Awareness and Microsoft Word. Sessions in Excel and Outlook (emails) are all to come.

By the end of the training it is expected that everyone will be able to use the computers and intranet now available in the homes/projects.

People have different levels of competence and Stuart our Central Office Admin Assistant has spent time with people who have struggled a little on the course providing some extra one-to-one training.

Bob and Kerry called in on one of the PC Awareness sessions and took the liberty of taking some snaps.

We hope that everyone is finding the sessions useful and enjoyable!

Managers Away Event

On the 16th and 17th the Senior Manager Team (Bob McDonald, Kerry Robinson and Martin Moore) and the Managers Team (Joyce Eccles, Paul Satterthwaite, Lynne Kelly, Steven Harmer and Mark Graham) all headed off to Minister Acres Retreat Centre for two days of hard work (and a bit of fun!).

The event was workshop based and focused on 4 main topics which were Communication, Leadership, Roles & Responsibilities and Business Planning. All who attended participated fully in the sessions and feedback was positive. The managers are all working on business plans for each home/project to be completed by the end of April.

New Beds at Howden Burn

The last newsletter advised that building work had commenced to provide four additional beds and enhanced staff facilities . This work is now complete

Congratulations

Due to recent changes within the CSCI Howden Burn has been able to offer Michelle Winterbottom promotion, which she has accepted. Michelle has worked at Howden Burn for the past six years as an enrolled nurse, she will take up her new position of Staff Nurse from 4/4/05.

Congratulations from all of the staff.

We would also like to congratulate Rachel Swinbank who has successfully completed her NVQ Level 3. Rachel enjoyed the course and hopes to go on to do her nurse training.

Good Luck Rachel.

We would also like to congratulate Rachel who has successfully completed her N.V.Q. 3. Rachel enjoyed the course and hopes to go on to do her nurse training. Good luck Rachel.

New Board Members Appointed

Two new board members have been appointed. They are Eileen Mannion and Ian Moore.

Eileen is Head of Business at South Tyneside College and Ian is an Executive Officer with Christies Property Services

Quiz Question

The first three people to contact Bob McDonald with the correct answer at our Head Office on Friday April 29th between 9.30am and 5.00pm will win Ł25 each.

Question

Mental Health Care has a Finance Assistant based at Head Office.

What is Her Name?

If anyone wishes to explore any of the articles in this newsletter further please contact any of the senior team on the following numbers:-

Head Office : 0191 5496500 Bob McDonald : 07717 660785

Kerry Robinson : 07940789737

The organisation has had a successful year. The purchase of Benfield Hall and Benfield Villa has impacted positively on several levels both operationally and financially. We are also increasingly taking a regional role and perspective which we anticipate will assist in further developing the organisations service portfolio.

We now have a staff team of 111 and a financial turnover approaching Ł2.2million. This is in line with our business plan targets and sets us on the right course for the next financial year. This however, should not allow us to become complacent. We are still a long way off achieving our main goals.

As I said in my last newsletter at the end of the day the quality of our care is our business. Once again this makes you the staff -the deliverers of care crucial to our success.

Staff Pay and Benefits for 2005 - 2006

We have taken a prudent view of the above for the forthcoming year, aiming to get a move ‘rounded’ approach to pay and benefits rather than just a focus on pay.

1. From the 1st April 2005 all staff will receive a 2% inflationary rise. This is above the current inflationary level of circa 1.6%.

2. From 1st April 2005 all staff will benefit from a death in service package. This means that if a staff member dies their dependants will receive a financial benefit of two times the gross annual salary of the deceased person. This service is free to all staff.

3. All staff should be aware that they can join an organisational pension scheme. They will have to contribute towards the cost but Mental Health Care will pay 3% employer contributions.

4. The telephone employee assistance programme introduced last year will continue into 2005 - 06. The service is confidential and provides advice and guidance on just about everything. The telephone number is displayed in your service. This service is free to you.

5. The current car mileage allowance will increase from 28p per mile to 35p per mile from 1st April 2005.

6. Care Assistants working days at Benfield Villa will receive an increase to Ł5.26 per hour. This will bring them in line with other carers across the organisation with affect from 1st April 2005.