Hello and welcome I am delighted and very proud

to be welcoming you all to our

first edition of 'News Matters'.

It’s been a really busy and

exciting year for us since we spun out of Norfolk County

Council in November 2013

and this first edition gives you a flavour of what our fantastic

staff, customers and carers have been up to.

There are so many exciting things happening in the services we provide that we cannot possibly

capture them all in a few pages, so please keep up

to date and follow events on our website, Facebook page and through local services newsletters.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank you all

for your support over the last year and wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Sarah Stock

Managing Director, Independence Matters

Launching Independence

Matters and our new brand

Independence Matters was officially launched in

April and celebratory events were held at our

locations across the county. Over 100 people attended our Dereham Head Office event where

guests joined customers and carers to enjoy a

barbeque, ‘bake off’ competition and attend a performance by the Hub’s drama group.

The local press were on hand to report on the event and Sarah made a guest appearance on Radio

Norfolk talking about the success of the social

enterprise and the transition of services to Independence Matters.

The day was also an opportunity to announce our

new patron, wheelchair racer and paralympian Will Smith, who lives in Norfolk. We are proud to have

someone who is both high profile and inspirational

taking on this important role and we look forward to continuing to work with Will during 2015.

The launch event was also a chance to showcase

our new branding. Its distinctive magenta colour gives us a strong, yet fun identity and makes us

instantly recognisable in the marketplace.

Our photo shows Sue Whitaker (Cabinet Member for Adult

Social Care), Philip Field (Stakeholder Director and parent),

Will Smith (Patron), Sarah Stock (Managing Director) and

Lewis Maund who is a customer at the Hub.

Norfolk Care Awards 2015 Congratulations to our team at Laburnum Grove

Dementia Hub who have been shortlisted for the Promoting Dignity and Respect category at the

2015 Norfolk Care Awards.

This recognises the importance we place as an organisation on understanding our customers as

individuals and ensuring each person is supported in a way that respects their particular needs.

The nomination is a great achievement for the team

who will attend a gala evening at the Sprowston Manor Hotel on 26th February to find out if they

have been successful.

Independence Matters signs up

to ethical charter

On 10th November, Independence Matters became

the first social enterprise to formally adopt the UNISON Ethical Care Charter. The Charter

provides a baseline for the safety, quality and

dignity of care by ensuring employment conditions which do not short change customers through the

recruitment and retention of experienced staff.

Independence Matters is passionate about its staff and delivering high quality care, and signing up to

the Charter demonstrates our commitment to

providing our employees with good working terms and conditions.

Our photo (right) shows Sarah Stock with UNISON Regional

Manager, Ann Glover.

New IM Board members We’re delighted to announce the following appointments to our Board.

Davina Tanner – Chair

Davina runs the hugely successful Britannia café at Norwich prison and brings a

wealth of commercial business experience to the role.

Karen Hester – Non Executive Director

A former East of England business woman of the year,

Karen is Operations Director at Adnams, where she is also an Executive Board member.

Paul Slyfield – Finance Director

Paul joins IM following a career in accountancy where he

worked for a multinational steel producer before

switching his focus to the charity sector.

IM Board celebrates first year of

trading at AGM

Independence Matters held its first Annual General Meeting in November, recognising a full year of

trading independently following our spin out from

Norfolk County Council in 2013.

The meeting was an opportunity to reflect on the

last twelve months of trading and celebrate the successes achieved. It also confirmed the election

of members to the Board including Karen Hester,

Paul Slyfield and newly appointed Chair, Davina Tanner.

Together they bring considerable commercial

experience to the Board and their input will help us to take IM forward and grow it to benefit both

customers and staff.

£25,000 funding for garden at

Suffolk Road

Back in November we were delighted that our

Gardens Matter campaign was successful in securing Big Lottery funding through The People’s

Millions public vote. Our teams at Great Yarmouth

put in an incredible effort leafleting and talking to the press to promote our bid.

The money will be used to create a specialist

sensory garden at Suffolk Road, providing a safe, outdoor space which will help build closer links

with the local community, breakdown barriers to

disability and increase understanding of dementia.

Local MP Brandon Lewis attends

Rosewood opening

Earlier this year, Rosewood Hub moved into new

premises at Suffolk Road in Gorleston where it sits

alongside our Great Yarmouth Community Hub.

The move provides more spacious, up to date

accommodation and improved facilities for those

with dementia, as well as increasing the range of opportunities and activities available to them.

The new Rosewood Hub was officially opened at a

launch event in August, attended by Brandon Lewis, MP for Great Yarmouth, who cut a ribbon to

officially welcome customers and their families.

Exciting news in Sheringham

Independence Matters will be working alongside Norfolk County Council to develop a new Community

Hub in Sheringham.

The centrally located site is at the rear of Tesco and provides easy access to all the facilities Sheringham

has to offer, including the mainline station, steam railway, swimming pool, beach and a host of small

shops and local cafes. The building will also include a ‘Changing Places’ toilet facility which will be available 24/7 to the local community.

Customers have been invited to contribute to the design of the Hub and work is due to start early in the

new year.

Changes to our services in the King’s Lynn area

After 40 years, Bryggen Road in King’s Lynn closed its doors for the final time in December. The building

has seen many changes over the years, having been an Adult Training Centre, a Day Service and finally, a Community Hub. At its peak it provided work experience to 140 people, but in recent years models of

support have changed with personal budgets and increased choice, and customer numbers had reduced to just 50.

The last of our customers have now moved to smaller hubs in Downham Market, King’s Lynn and

Terrington. Our staff have worked hard to help them retain links with each other by visiting the other hubs, meeting up for activities and arranging get-togethers.

Our customers get creative for Christmas

Back in the summer we held a competition inviting customers across

our services to design a Christmas card for Independence Matters.

We had over 70 fabulously glittery and diverse entries featuring Santas, reindeer, angels – and even a Norwich City canary! With so

many lovely images to choose from, judging the entries was a

difficult job, but eventually two designs were selected.

Congratulations go to the PAS East Art Group for their collage

snowman which features on our Christmas card (and at the end of

this newsletter), and to Alison Lethbridge from King’s Lynn, whose hand drawn snowman was selected for our festive email footer.

Thanks to everyone for entering. We look forward to running the

competition again in 2015 and may even have packs of cards to sell!

Norfolk Industries goes from

strength to strength

It’s been another great year for Norfolk

Industries, with five new products and two

additional sales outlets to shout about.

Pets Corner has 92 stores across the UK and

currently stocks four Norfolk Industries

products. Animal Dreams is an online-based wholesale company selling UK-wide and is a

supplier for Norfolk Industries ‘Snooze Tubes’

- a tube nest complete with bedding material suitable for hamsters, gerbils, mice and rats.

Norfolk Industries has also retained contracts to supply a number of major UK stores

including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons and Pets at Home, as well as exporting to Cunipic in

Spain.

The company is proud to be providing quality products at a good price, whilst employing people with

disabilities and providing placements to others with various barriers to work across Norfolk.

To find out more about Norfolk Industries visit their website at www.norfolkindustries.co.uk

Flexible Dementia Respite Service pilot a great success

In August, we launched our Flexible Dementia Respite Service (FDRS) in the Norwich area. Created as a

pilot in response to a request from Commissioners, the service provides assistance to people with dementia, and their carers, who are experiencing a crisis with their existing care arrangements. It offers

a 'pick and mix' range of respite options, from day services to crisis interventions into the home, allowing

people to choose the best fit for their individual needs.

To date, the service has prevented acute admission to hospital or residential care for 15 people and has

helped families to remain independent by giving them the opportunity to take a break and recuperate.

We are grateful to the fantastic team of staff who have taken part in the pilot and helped make it such a

success through their ability to quickly build relationships, get alongside families in times of crisis and

work with them on their dementia journey.

The pilot has generated a huge amount of interest and we plan to build on its success by rolling out FDRS

across the county during 2015.

Karin enjoys tea at the House of Lords

We are delighted to have assisted Karin Seeley, a customer

at Great Yarmouth Community Hub, with her visit to the

House of Lords for afternoon tea.

Karin attended as a special guest of pioneering psychologist,

Dr Janet Carr and hostess Professor Dame Sheila Hollins.

Dr Carr (pictured right with Karin) has recently completed the world’s longest-running research project into people

with Down’s syndrome, and Karin was one of a select

number of people invited to share the celebrations.

Karin’s escort for the day was support worker Irene Houston,

who travelled from Caister to London with her and made

sure she was dressed for the occasion. We were also able to help by providing care for Karin’s 92 year old mother while

she was away.

Developments to watch out for in 2015

N-able collaboration

During 2014 we’ve been working with N-able to make it easier for customers to purchase assistive

technology and care equipment items. Providing a

retail outlet at hubs has demonstrated real benefits to customers, including:

• Direct access to product information, costs and suitability for purpose.

• Help with the ordering process.

• Access to N-able demonstration sessions at our

Hubs.

Following a successful trial, the service launched at the Vauxhall Centre in December and will be

promoted in early 2015. Independence Matters

makes a small amount of money from each purchase and this will used to provide community

grants to individuals who need equipment.

Care Navigator Pilot

We are excited to have jointly won this bid, worth £60,000, and will be working with Age UK

Norfolk to set up the Care Navigator Service in

the Western Locality. This is a one-year pilot, working alongside GP practices, with the aim of

helping people over 75 to self-manage their

situations by accessing health and social care support services in the community.

Reablement Project (Western Locality)

This is a joint project working in partnership with

Norfolk County Council, the District Council and

Integrated Commissioners. It aims to identify the causes of social isolation and find possible

solutions. We have provided a questionnaire for distribution to older people in the west by

Norfolk First Support and other providers.

Recognition for Holt Community Hub

The team at Holt Community Hub has received official

recognition from North Norfolk MP Norman Lamb, for their

work at Holt Country Park.

A group from the Hub, including customers and staff, have

been assisting rangers at the park where they have also helped to create a sensory garden (pictured right).

Team Leader Caroline Walton said: “The team are very much

respected for the work they do, so to receive this letter was brilliant for the group.“

Update on our Stakeholder Board and Local Stakeholder Groups

A meeting was held in October to discuss the development of the Stakeholder Board with our existing stakeholders. It was agreed that our priority should be to first embed the Local Stakeholder Groups,

ensuring these provided a fair representation of Independence Matters customers across the county.

With a Local Stakeholder Group already working well at Dereham, the focus will now be to develop two further groups operating out of Sprowston and Ipswich Road Community Hubs.

The Sprowston Stakeholder Group met in early December and the Ipswich Road Stakeholder Group

will meet in January. Once these are up and running they will provide additional representation and bring us a step closer to creation of the county-wide Stakeholder Board.

If anyone is interested in joining a Stakeholder Group then please contact Shaun Wilson-Gotobed on

07771 978807 or email shaun.wilson-gotobed@independencematters.org.uk

Independence Matters Stakeholder Board

Made up of people who represent their Local Stakeholder

Group. It represents the views of our customers and carers

across the organisation, with two stakeholders sitting as Directors on the IM Board so they have a voice and can

contribute to the decisions we make as a company.

Local Stakeholder Groups

Made up of customers, family carers

or volunteers who represent each of

our services at local level. Each group has a representative on the

Stakeholder Board.

We’d love to hear from you

So much has gone on across our services in 2014 that it would be impossible to cover it all here. There’s

been an amazing amount happening from skydiving fundraisers to the Special Olympics.

Don’t forget you can always keep up to date via our website and Facebook page. And if you’ve enjoyed

our newsletter, or have suggestions for future editions, please get in touch.

Send your feedback and news stories to us at: IMComms@independencematters.org.uk