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W A L E S
THE MAGAZINE FOR MEARS GROUP PEOPLE
IN THIS ISSUE
PAGE 04Care ConferenceCare that Counts
PAGE 09The Secret of Our CQC SuccessMears Care Bristol
PAGE 19Red ThreadSay what you see survey 2017
MEARS MATTERSCONTENTS
ContentsWELCOME 03
BUSINESS NEWS 04 - 06
CIH MANCHESTER 07
MEARS HEROES 08
MEARS ARTICLES 09 - 10
APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR 10
WHAT CARE MEANS TO ME 11
FIVE-A-SIDE FOOTBALL 12
MILLION MAKERS 13
BUSINESS ARTICLES 14- 16
TRADESWOMEN 17 - 18
RED THREAD 19
WE MADE THE FINALS! 20
SOCIAL VALUES 21- 23
COMPLIMENTS 24
MEARS FOUNDATION 25 - 26
LONG SERVICE AWARDS 27
LEARNING SPOTLIGHT 28
MEARS MATTERS
Welcome
to your Mears Matters
Welcome to this edition of Mears Matters – 2017 seems to be flying by and as with all years at Mears, we have seen lots happening both on the housing and care front.
Housing has been much in the news this year both for the right and the wrong reasons.
Our focus is always on service and safety and it is a real positive to see an increasingly consistent and good level of performance across our repairs branches.
Housing Management is providing much of our growth, with Mears providing a wide range of innovative solutions providing people with a secure, well maintained home. Read more about one of these innovations on page 14.
We are always looking to recruit the very best people, and an innovative project looking at how the housing sector can attract more women into the maintenance sector concluded in August. It’s an impressive piece of work, providing unprecedented insight into the size of the problem as well as proving real help and solutions, including starting at grassroots level by educating teachers and schoolchildren – read more on pp15-16.
Care service quality is also our main driver, indeed our cover focuses on the Outstanding regulatory rating given to our service in Bristol. This is a brilliant achievement by the local team and we hope to see more branches replicate this.
Unfortunately over the last 12 months, we have had to hand back some care contracts, where it was simply not possible to pay our staff a fair rate. We now have a much more sustainable care business and we want to thank everyone who has helped us achieve this.
As well as investing in people, we are also investing in technology, with the recent introduction of our new HR system called Workday as well as continued improvement in our core operational systems. As always, we would very much welcome your feedback
We hope you enjoy this issue of Mears Matters – which you can either read on the go, or in branch. If you have any comments, or you would like to send us a story for a future edition, please contact [email protected]
The Executive TeamDavid Miles, Alan Long, Andrew Smith
WELCOME
In this edition, we cover some of the biggest stories and topics currently happening across our business.
If you have a great story to share, or just want to highlight more news and features from your area please get in touch with our Internal Communications colleagues at [email protected]
Care Conference Care that Counts!
NEWSBUSINESS
MEARS MATTERSBUSINESS NEWS
Our Care Conference held at Drayton Manor was themed on ‘Care that Counts’, underpinned by Trust, Training, Teamwork and Technology.
During the day, delegates heard from colleagues on a range of areas including:
• Review of strategy, progress updates and feedback from frontline staff, from Bernadette Walsh.
• Quality, Compliance and Inspection, from Steve Quinn
• Apprenticeships and Training, from Heather Hughes and Lara-Jo Morrison (Lifetime Partnerships)
• The Future of Rostering, from Sue Weller
• Care Recruitment – the objectives and processes, from Scott Haber
• Information Governance, from Michael Read
A few words from Bernadette Walsh, Chief Operating Officer for Care:
“Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to our very successful care conference. The input acrosss the teams and support services was an outstanding example of a one team approach to delivering on our strategic objectives and driving business improvement.
“There were a number of commitments made at our conference as set out below and it is encouraging to see positive inroads being made on all fronts. I will continue to undertake care worker surgeries and feedback, so that we can remain focused on what matters.
“I want to thank you all for your contribution and ongoing commitment to achieving our shared goals.”
The Celtic Horizons refurbishment team have recently completed a project up in Sirhowy, Tredegar constructing a Community Centre for the Local Community.
Located in the heart of Sirhowy, the new community centre on a proposed residential development by United Welsh Housing Association will accommodate Sirhowy Tenants and Residents (STAR).
The project has taken six months in total, and the STAR Building will be a valuable place for the community to come together for various events such as play groups, parties and meetings.
The team have worked tirelessly on this project, and despite a few initial setbacks, the centre looks amazing, and will benefit the local community immensely!
STAR BUILDING REFURBISHMENT
MEARS MATTERSBUSINESS NEWS
INTERIM RESULTS for the six months to 30 June 2017
methods. That initial round of branch closures was commenced and substantially completed in the second half of the 2016 financial year. We have continued to place significant emphasis on maintaining a portfolio of contracts that can provide clear and sustainable margins. Further closures have been made during the first half of 2017, predominantly in the Midlands and London region, covering a further 10% of revenues. Given these closures in the last twelve months, which account for around 30% of Care revenues, it is encouraging to note the strong progress made in securing new orders at higher fee rates such that the Care division has reported a reduction in revenues of just 10% in the period.
• The shortage of available care workers remains one of the biggest challenges in Care. Every Care branch needs to focus upon improving retention and recruitment. We continue to push various recruitment initiatives including the reward for introducing a friend to the Group.
• Whilst generating a profit is important for any business, it is more important to manage ones cash. In today’s economic environment, this is more important than ever. That is why we place so much focus on good working capital management – billing our WIP and collecting our debt. Our cash performance for the last twelve months has been one
of our poorer outcomes, converting 70% of profit into cash (2016: 91%). We will inevitably receive some criticism from investors. This will remain a key area of focus moving forward.
• The Group’s Order book now stands at £2.8 billion, reducing from £3.1 billion reported in December 2016. Our new contract bidding performance in 2017 has been really quiet. In Housing, our conversion rate for what we tendered was slightly below our historic one-in-three historic average. It was disappointing to miss out on strategic priorities such as City West and Slough. However the bid pipeline contains some exciting opportunities which gives us cause for optimism. In Care, we had a good year in both the conversion rate and the £ quantum tendered with notable successes in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire which are both ten year contracts. We remain highly selective in terms of what we bid for.
• Most importantly, we should highlight that none of the achievements of Mears over recent years could have been achieved without the continued commitment and energy from the Mears team. The success is underpinned by the quality, professionalism and loyalty displayed by the Group’s staff. We hope to report a successful second half year in six months’ time.
• We announced that the total Group turnover for the 6 months to June 2017 was £471m, an increase from £466m in 2016. This increase was entirely ‘organic growth’ which means it comes from revenues which we have tendered and won ourselves (as opposed to acquired revenues).
• The Housing numbers are fairly solid. Given the full impact of the new contracts mobilised in 2016, we reported revenue growth of around 3%. We reported an increased Housing margins to 5.2% (2016: 4.8%) reflecting the fact that we have had few mobilisations in 2017 which are typically quite costly. As in any low margin business, we still need to control costs tightly.
• The first half year has seen a number of demobilisations; our Gateshead, Tamworth, Midland Heart (response), Town & Country and Notting Hill contracts have coming to an end. We have few Housing contracts coming up for re-bid the next 24 months which gives a period of stability.
• In our half year statement, we spoke of the tragic events at Grenfell Tower. Understandably, a number of our clients’ attentions have been diverted towards reviewing the commissioning and safety practices at their properties. These unexpected events will inevitably impact the timing of our planned workloads as clients focus on ensuring their housing portfolios are safe and fully compliant. Consequently,
we have reduced our forecasts and now anticipate Housing revenues of £800m in 2017 against an original expectation of circa £830m. In fact, we are likely to report lower revenues in the second half of 2017 than we did in the first half which is unusual for Mears. This reduction in forecasts is typically viewed negatively by shareholders and it would not be surprising if we see the Mears share price fall today. However the share price on a single day is actually not that important, and the Group remains well placed in both its Housing and Care markets.
• On a positive note, the delays referred to above, are expected to be temporary given the contractual nature of the work, and the order book is not affected.
• Care revenues for the six months were £68.7m (2016: £76.6m), a reduction of only 10% reflecting the significant progress made in rebalancing the Group’s portfolio of Care contracts so as to focus upon those which have a better mix of longevity, certainty of spend and price. As previously announced, during the second half of 2016, following a detailed contract by contract review of charge rates and care worker pay rates, the Group commenced a restructuring of the Care division. This resulted in a reduction in Care revenues of some 20%, a significant proportion of which arose within our North region, which had the lowest charge rates and traditional procurement
NEWSBUSINESS
Group Customer and Communications
TWO BECOME ONE
MEARS MATTERSBUSINESS NEWS
With Stuart Wilson (Group Head of Communications) leaving the business, we have merged the two central teams -Communications and Customer Success Teams to become one.
Gary Jackson has been appointed as Group Director of Communications and Customer Success, who will now cover Communications, Marketing, Customer Experience, Social Value and Red Thread.
To make it easy for you to contact the right person, we thought we would introduce you to the key ‘go to’ people in the team.
We are working on several exciting projects including our Brand New Website, A Mears Connect Mobile App, our Interactive Customer Journey Map, our Opti channel solution for Customer Feedback and upgrades to our Social Value Calculator and Insight Tool.
If you have any questions about any of the above, please contact the Communications and Customer Success Team on C&[email protected]
Jo, Group HR Director, talk us through some important changes with Workday – and how it will change the way we work.
“We are pleased to report a successful launch of Workday on 24 July 2017. The six month deployment was always going to be a tight window to implement a completely new HR System across the whole Group, but thanks to all your help and support, as a team, we delivered on time!
“Over the next few months we will be ‘fine tuning’ some of the data that has been loaded and beginning to help you extract information from the system.”
Important Changes:
• Payslips: One of the key changes will be electronic payslips. Paper copies will stop at the end of the year. Please make sure that, by then, you are online and accessing Workday, so that you know where to go! If you do have any queries about this, then please speak to your digital champion in the first instance.
• Holiday Booking: Hopefully, you will have already used Workday for booking your leave. From January 2018, you will be able to book holidays only through Workday.
It’s really easy, but your digital champion will be able to help if you need some guidance.
“It has been really great to see so many photos uploaded onto Workday. If you haven’t loaded yours, please do, as we need everyone’s on the system as soon as possible.
“It doesn’t stop with the pictures, you can update your own personal information at ay time.
• Get Connected! You can find out ‘who is who’ within the company, and get colleague contact information, along with their reporting structure.
• You can access Workday anywhere! Remember, you don’t have to use a company device to access Workday, just load the app onto any android or apple device, and get instant access using your login credentials.
“This year, we are going to use Workday to record all our appraisals. This will provide a great opportunity to ensure all our goals and ambitions are linked together in support of the Group. It will also offer huge improvements to capture and utilise information which will help us manage performance more effectively within the Group.
“These areas are a starting point, and there is so much more to come from Workday in the coming months. Our aim is to introduce new elements and analysis on a regular basis, but in a time frame that allows everybody to absorb the information available.
“Thank you all for your help!”
If you have any queries, or would like to know more, please contact your Digital Champion or visit the Workday Community.
Workday Updates
NEWSBUSINESS
MEARS MATTERSCIH MANCHESTER
CIH ManchesterAs the leaders in the housing sector, Mears had a major presence at Europe’s largest housing event of the year - The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) housing event in Manchester! Here is a glimpse of CIH 2017!
Mea
rs H
eroe
sMEARS MATTERSMEARS HEROES
Whilst investigating a water leak in one of our properties, one of colleagues from Redbridge, Steve Dronfield, was informed that a tenant, Mr. McCall, in a neighbouring property had started to become unwell.
He informed Steve that he was a diabetic and that he was ok. However, Mr. McCall’s condition seemed to worsen, and he was becoming more confused and disorientated.
Steve contacted one of our duty managers, Neale Richell, and they both agreed that he should call an ambulance so that the gent could receive appropriate medical care.
When the ambulance personnel arrived and assessed Mr McCall condition, they informed Steve that he did the right thing in calling them out!
Gillian Jones, Customer & Community Care Manager, Redbridge said, “Steve has worked with Mears Morrison for over 20 years, and is our main plumber here. Steve is called out to resolve many situations relating to plumbing and leaks, and has on many occasions, shown his duty of care within the borough, especially with elderly or vulnerable tenants.”
Mr McCall called in to the office, and said that he couldn’t thank Steve enough for calling the paramedics when his health took a funny turn.
We would like to thank Steve for showing a duty of care towards the tenant – he is a true Mears Hero!
STEVE DRONFIELD Sharon Ross and June Ferguson, our colleagues from Mears Care Clackmannanshire went above and beyond their call of duty to save the life of service user Mr. Dawson.
Sharon and June provide double up care to Mr John Dawson who is 69 years old, and lives at home with his wife Margaret. He is a diabetic, who has had a stroke previously, leaving him with a right sided weakness and epilepsy.
When they arrived at the Mr. Dawson’s home to attend day care, they found that he had overslept and was just getting up on their arrival which was very unlike him.
Sharon and June went straight to Mr Dawson to wake him, but he was unresponsive and found his breathing to be very laboured. They knew that the service user had really tickly feet so tried tickling them, but he continued to remain unresponsive but still breathing – they called 111 immediately.
June took instructions from operator and relayed to Sharon who was advised to get Mr. Dawson flat on his back with his head tilted and then to listen carefully to breathing and when he didn’t take a breath to immediately start compressions, and to continue to do so until told to stop. They continued to follow the instructions till the ambulance arrived.
When the paramedics arrived and took over, they said that Sharon and June had done an excellent job, and both had played a vital part in providing emergency first aid!
Mears Carer, Sharon Ross, said, “When I look back and think of our actions, I believe that the training and ongoing support from Mears has been absolutely vital in helping me deal with situations exactly like this, and the support I got after this from the management team was just so sincere and heart-warming.
“I couldn’t have done it without June Ferguson, she is such a professional and a pleasure to work alongside. The best outcome from this though is for Mr. Dawson to continue on the road to recovery and return home.”
Susan McCormack, Service Manager at Clackmannanshire, said, “I think that the most impressive thing that anyone can do in their role is to strive to continually improve and go out of their way.
“Both Sharon and June consistently demonstrate this in their roles with regular and positive feedback from both service users and their family members, so it isn’t surprising at all to hear of their recent actions and their modest reactions to this.
“I am in no doubt at all that their quick thinking and actions saved Mr Dawson’s life. Both Sharon and June are a definite asset to the Clackmannanshire team, and are so deserving of recognition for going above and beyond.”
Well done to our Mears Heroes – Sharon Ross and June Ferguson!
HEROES FROM CLACKMANNANSHIRE
MEARS ARTICLES
ARTICLESMEARS
Exceptional service“Local school children and people in the ECHS had also been involved in the ‘paint pals’ project, which involved coming to the service to complete art projects together. Other projects included a volunteer shop that was held at the service two days a week.”
The inspector noted that “the range of social and community projects available for people to become part of reflected a significant effort on the part of the registered manager, staff and people using the service. This was an exceptional aspect of the service and greatly enhanced the lives of people receiving support.”
The Bristol Care Manager, Sue Appoo, said she and team were delighted to have received this rating and had worked very hard for a number of years to go from ‘Good’ to become ‘Outstanding’.
Sus said: “We achieved this by using many methods, such as person-centred planning, but also finding that special little something that would mean the world of difference to the person and change their life for the better.”
Bristol Care’s manager Sue Appoo shares her top tips for managerial success…
Never say no 1. Never say ‘no’ to new ideas or ways of working – when colleagues, clients, service users, or anyone comes to me with ideas, I try to find a way to make it happen, even when it’s easier to say ‘no’.
2. Look for the little things that can make a big difference to someone – things that aren’t necessarily in the contract.
3. Use all the skills that your team have, not just what’s required of them – if people are pianists or artists or accountants, using their skills gives them extra job satisfaction. The same goes for service users – we have an ex-CEO who I run problems and ideas past, which is useful for me and satisfying for her.
4. Build trusting relationships with everyone and anyone – it takes time, but I’m now seen as an expert who pulls no punches, so I have clients calling for advice on all kinds of problems and ideas.
5. Deliver all you’re asked to deliver, but do everything you can to make people’s lives better – if it’s important to that person, then it’s important to me.
‘Outstanding’ CQC Rating’ for Mears Care BristolIn July, our Bristol care service received an Outstanding rating from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) – a remarkable achievement as just 2% of all adult social care services in England have received this top rating since 2014 in 33,000 inspections. So, how did our Outstanding team achieve this?
On the face of it, our care service in Bristol is unassuming. It mainly provides care to 47 people living in an extra care housing scheme (ECHS), where elderly people or those with mental or physical disabilities live in their own flats in the complex with Mears care staff on site to help them live as independently as possible. The service also provides home care services to 75 people in the local community. Both services are commissioned by Bristol City Council.
But as the CQC inspectors wrote in their report, the Bristol team “often went above and beyond their contractual obligations”. Or as one resident put it: “Coming to ECHS has changed my life”.
The inspectors were particularly impressed with how the team organised events and activities to combat loneliness and isolation, saying the scheme “had become a focal point for the local area and this enhanced the quality of life for all concerned”.
Innovative interaction The inspectors report noted how the residents “were empowered to take responsibility and make decisions about aspects of their lives within the scheme”. This included encouraging them to apply for a National Lottery grant to fund social and community projects. The application was successful and funded a community open day as well as a week of music events, including lessons in ballroom dancing.
The scheme is also taking part in an innovative project with the University of Bristol, using specially-developed apps to record memories and life histories, using audio, photos and text, as well as helping co-design engaging community spaces where older people can interact with evocative objects to aid memory and story-telling.
The inspectors said: “We saw the space that had been created within the scheme and this included memorabilia items such as old telephones, a record player and LPs. The registered manager told us the space had been used to invite local school children to come in and work with people on electronic tablets. Through this project, people had been supported to make books about themselves and their lives.
MEARS MATTERS
“Mears are setting an excellent example for how care can be delivered. I’d like to congratulate all of the staff on their Outstanding CQC rating. The CQC report highlights many areas of good practice and it is clear that Mears have shown a real commitment to going above and beyond to improve the quality of life for the people they support.”
Cllr Helen Holland, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care at Bristol City Council.
MEARS ARTICLES APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR
ARTICLESMEARS
After reading an article in a local tenant magazine, local businessman, Steve Bradwell, contacted Mears Rotherham to discuss a project that he was involved with.
This extremely adventurous project involved bringing a Grade II listed building, Wath Hall, back into use as a community heritage centre.
Following a discussion with Steve, our Customer & Community Manager, Diane Keay, visited the property along with Ellis from Mears Learning Academy to understand more about the project.
From their initial conversation, Diane decided that the project would be a good fit for the unemployed learners attending the Academy as ongoing work experience.
The students are referred through from Job Centre Plus to attend a six-week basic construction course which includes obtaining their Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card; this then allows them to apply for work on construction sites.
The working relationship has now been developed to enable each cohort of students to undertake a small project at Wath Hall over 3 – 4 days of their six week course.
Steve and his fellow directors of Wath Hall Ltd, the social enterprise company responsible for the renovation work, are thrilled to have established this partnership. Having this plan for small isolated projects around the building will allow them to bid for a wider variety of funding opportunities.
This unique opportunity provides the students with a ‘real life’ work experience rather than a staged experience in the Academy workshops. The learners will also give back to the local community, and gain skills they would not otherwise have the chance to develop.
The first cohort were visited by Rotherham Mayor, Cllr Eve Rose Keenan and her consort Patrick Keenan, who were very keen to learn about this innovative project!
MEARS MATTERS MEARS MATTERS
The Wath Hall Project
We are extremely proud to have our female trade apprentice, Chelsea Miller, recognised as one of the top 10% of Rotherham apprentices.
For the second year of this local award, we were able to put forward three of our current apprentices for this prestigious title.
This award recognises the work of our young people, and it is a testimony to their hard work and commitment towards their respective qualifications.
From an entry pool of over 160 local apprentices, we were had one of our team shortlisted to the final 16!
The award ceremony was held at the New York Stadium in Rotherham.
WELL DONE CHELSEA!
Rotherham
Apprentice of the Year
Do you find your job very challenging?
I actually don’t find my job challenging! There is nothing challenging about getting up in the morning and making a difference to people’s lives. I really love my job, helping someone that really needs its makes me want to get up and do it!
What’s the best part of your job?
Looking after people, and knowing that you have made someone’s day a little bit better. It’s important that my service users feel that they have been looked after well, that they are well fed, watered and had the best care that they can receive - especially those service users who may not have family or friends to help them.
What is it like working for Mears?
Mears have been very good to me over the past 14 years, I really love my job, and want to do it for as long as I possibly can.
I feel that I have been offered all the training that I need to do my job, and it’s really important to keep your own mind active.
I have recently completed a distance learning course in Palliative Care level 3, and Krystal (my manager) has signed me up for a distance learning Medication Course, which I will be starting shortly.
And the most important question - What does care mean to you?
It means making someone’s life a little bit better, and a little bit brighter each time I visit them. For some of my service users I am the only person that they will see all day, so its companionship, friendship, service and ensuring that they feel that they had the best care that they could possibly receive.
Her colleagues love working with Margaret. According to Deborah Riddick, Coordinator, Workington, “Margaret is a wonderful Care Worker, I honestly don’t know how she does it at 81. She has never had a day off sick in years, and she will never see her service users without care! Everyone loves her!”
Olav Ommer, Operations Manager, said, “Margaret has a wonderful sense of humour, and has the ability to make all of us smile!
We wanted to know a little bit about Margaret, her experience in care, and what makes her ‘tick’:
Hi Margaret, when did you start your career in care?
I started my career in care when I joined Key Care in January 2003 which later became Mears Care, and I have been with Mears ever since.
Why did you choose to work in care?
I have always had an interest in the care industry. When I was younger, I passed my exams to become a nurse, however I fell in love, and moved to Dubai with my husband and young family.
I worked in the hospital in Dubai for a while before relocating to Nigeria where I helped teach English in a local school.
Even through my many jobs, what I really wanted was to return to care work in some capacity. I was 67 when I applied for my job as care worker with Key Care in Cleaton Moore.
What does your day to day job look like?
Up until February 2016, I used to do between 40 – 50 hours a week on the Workington domiciliary contract caring for service users in the community.
However, in February 2016, Cumbria Council changed some of the contract zones in Cumbria, and this resulted in some of the service user being transferred to a new provider.
But I wanted to stay with Mears.
Now, I work an average of 25 – 30 hours per week, and my service users vary in age. In fact, one of my service users just turned 87 this July!
The people that I care for have dementia, and my work usually involves a mixture of sitting services, general care needs, and for the moving and handling visits, I team up with other care staff to assist the service user in and out of bed.
“ Margaret is proof that age is just a number, and that it is never too late to have a wonderful career in the care industry”
What Care Means to Me
WHAT CARE MEANS TO ME MEARS MATTERS
81 year old Margaret Norman from Mears Care Workington has worked in Care for 14 years.
FIVE-A-SIDE FOOTBALL MEARS MATTERS
We held our annual Five-A-Side football tournaments this summer!
The Southern and Central event were hosted at St George’s Park, training camp of the England national team, and the Northern game was held at the Manchester City Football Academy.
After some tough competition – we have the winners!
LEEDS ABCDE FC WERE THE WINNERS OF THE NORTHERN FIVE-A-SIDE TOURNAMENT
JOES MINIONS FROM CANTERBURY WINNERS OF THE MEARS FIVE-A-SIDE TOURNAMENT MIDLAND & SOUTH
Mears Group Five-A-Side Football Tournaments
Don’t miss the Mears Million Makers Charity Dinner at Drayton Manor this year!
This fantastic event organised by the Smile Makers for the Prince’s Trust will be held on Thursday 12 October which includes a Dinner Dance, and is a fantastic networking opportunity for you to meet with colleagues.
Bring your suppliers, family or invite your team along as a thank you! You can enjoy a three course dinner, followed by live music from Geoff Mullholland (X Factor finalist) and a chance to play the casino tables, then let your hair down and dance the night away with our DJ.
Tables are priced at £700 for a table of 10 guests (individual tickets are £70)
Numbers are limited so don’t hesitate to buy your tickets.
Please register your interest by sending an email to [email protected], and we will respond with all the information you require in order to secure your ticket.
Million Makers Charity Dinner YOU ARE INVITED!
MEARS MATTERSMILLION MAKERS
YOU ARE INVITED!
This week offers each of us a brilliant opportunity to raise awareness of the customer experience within our teams and offers ideas of how we can continually ‘Place the Customer at the Heart’ each day.
NCSW 2017 is a fun, uplifting and interactive week with branches setting up events across the business to celebrate National Customer Service Week at Mears.
Working in collaboration with ICS (Institute of Customer Service, we are pleased to share with you the following daily activities you could run to observe NCSW.
NCSW is a great way to engage with your teams and colleagues, motivate, inspire and recognise what great customer service looks like. It allows us to increase our knowledge of exceptional service and delight our customers, raising standards along the way.
For more details and resources, please visit the National Customer Service Community (https://apps.ce.collabserv.com/communities/service/html/communityoverview?communityUuid=2f5759da-bbda-4bf7-846a-34d9cfc058c9)
Get set for National Customer Service Week (NCSW) 2017!
MEARS MATTERSBUSINESS ARTICLES
ArticlesBringing Empty Properties back into useIncreasingly, clients are asking us to convert redundant office buildings into residential use, or to bring back high cost void properties, which can’t justify public funding . The latter can include property in a regeneration area, which without our investment, may sit empty for some time.
Mears Housing Management (MHM), use private sector investment to refurbish these homes and bring them back into use for the prevention or relief of homelessness and for use as temporary accommodation.
The benefits of using this model could include:
• Reduced cost for security
• Reduction in vandalism/anti-social behaviour
• Reduction in high cost bed and breakfast accommodation
• Council tax income generation
How does this work?
This model has been designed to bring empty properties back into use through private sector investment.
By using our existing range of rental schemes which are focussed on homeless prevention cases to recover our initial investment over time. This arrangement generates a guaranteed income stream for the Local Authorities / Registered Provider as well as providing a range of benefits for the local community and the environment.
Tenants “Drop In” to see usMears Housing Management (MHM) worked in partnership with the London Borough of Newham to hold two drop in sessions in local community centres for tenants in Canning Town and Custom House.
This was a great opportunity for tenants to meet staff from MHM and Newham and to talk about issues they have with the impending major regeneration plans Newham has for the area, as well as informing us of outstanding repairs and queries with rent statements.
Over two evenings Lisa Newton, MHM’s new Customer and Community Officer along with James Cryer, MHM Repairs Manager, and Liane James, MHM’s Portfolio Manager for the area, listened to over 30 tenants taking down as much information as possible and relaying this back to the service delivery teams to take forward.
There appeared to be recurring trends from tenants on issues such as lack of communication and follow up and repairs taking a long time to complete. As a result of this feedback, we will be developing monthly operational meetings with the local authority to ensure we are improving our service delivery along with our communication methods.
Lisa Newton said, “It’s been great to meet tenants face to face and to hear about what they are facing. Some have had some very difficult experiences and it’s therefore essential for us to show and demonstrate that we are listening to people and more importantly acting on the feedback they are giving us. Following the success of these initial drop in sessions I intend to hold weekly sessions so that we are more visible to local people and can respond more quickly to their needs. I will also be engaging in outreach with tenants to build up a picture of what else is going on in their lives and how we can best support them”.
Some of the tenants had not received any information about the regeneration in Newham for a long time and it was great that this was available to them as well as the opportunity to talk to colleagues from Newham about re-housing and finding employment.
We hope this is the start of a much closer working relationship between Mears Housing Management and the London Borough of Newham.
MEARS MATTERSBUSINESS ARTICLES
Articles
LEAF ShrewsburyMears Shropshire Home Services organised a fantastic Local Employment Advisory Forum (or LEAF) event in partnership with Shropshire Council, University Centre Shrewsbury, Shrewsbury Colleges Group, Jobcentre Plus and Marches Growth Hub.
The event, was designed to provide practical career and skills development advice for local people to support them into employment, as well as offering information and guidance to people considering their future career choices.
The Shrewsbury LEAF event was a great success with over 30 exhibitors attending, and the feedback from exhibitors and visitors was positive. It was an active and bustling event with a lots of opportunities for networking.
The event was supported, and attended by Mears Executive Director, Alan Long, and colleagues from across the business including Gareth Heslington and Jerry Lipscombe, who travelled to Shrewsbury and helped throughout the day.
John Simcox, General Manager for Mears Shropshire Home Services, said: “The LEAF events are a fantastic opportunity to receive free face-to-face advice from professional organisations and find out what employers are looking for from candidates. In the relaxed environment, people can have open and honest conversations.
“We have already received requests from the local MP’s office in Ludlow who heard about our event, and is seeking organisational advice for their event.
“The event has certainly heightened the awareness and presence of Mears and our branch throughout Shropshire and the connections gained have given us the opportunity for potential future working projects.”
What they said…
Bob Blackman MP, Sponsor of the Homelessness Reduction Bill, said:
“There is an acute shortage of suitable housing and far too many people ending up in situations which can lead to them becoming homeless. That is why I have been working to significantly reform England’s homelessness legislation through the Homelessness Reduction Bill.
“This Government is committed to helping families and the most vulnerable when they become homeless and with temporary emergency accommodation in such short supply interim schemes such as Marston Court in Ealing are providing a much needed lifeline for many.”
Councillor Jasbir Anand, cabinet member for housing at Ealing Council, said:
“Like all London boroughs, Ealing is facing a massive housing crisis and we believe that some radical thinking is needed. The Marston Court development is just one of a number of projects that we are undertaking to repurpose underused brownfield sites and transform them into assets that benefit our local community in as cost-effective way as possible.”
Offering innovative emergency accommodationHomelessness remains a problem for many thousands of people across the UK, as local authorities struggle with a lack of available housing.
Increasingly, local authorities find they have no alternative but to house people without homes in unsuitable accommodation – figures show that at the in 2016, each night over 75,500 households stayed in temporary accommodation and 6,900 families in B&Bs.
So what’s the answer?
One solution now being offered by Housing Management is the use of prefabricated, re-purposed shipping containers.
The first such project finished in April in Ealing, west London, on a site previously occupied by largely disused 1970s garage blocks, which attracted fly tipping and anti-social activity.
After just 14 weeks, a new development of 34 fully-furnished apartments – 10 studios, 16 one-bed and 8 two-bed apartments – was ready to house 72 tenants in desperate need of a safe, clean and comfortable home.
The use of temporary modular accommodation – to give it its proper name – is an innovative approach to development and land use, particularly useful in cramped urban settings, and features moveable and re-usable parts.
The Marston Court development is a joint project between Ealing Council and Mears Housing Management, with QED Sustainable Urban Developments and CargoTek.
BUSINESS ARTICLES
THE SCHOOLS TOOLKITIn 2016, Mears secured funding from CITB to support the continued work and further develop the Tradeswomen’s ideas. A Schools Toolkit was developed which the Ambassadors deliver in a classroom environment to children and young people, supporting Key stages 2, 3 and 4.
The Schools Toolkit:
• Is linked to the National Curriculum
• Enhances career talks by engaging learners in trade inspired activities
• Gives girls and young women information, advice and guidance on careers in Social Housing Building Maintenance.
• Includes images which show women working in the trades to gain the interest of girls
• Can readily be used with boys and young men.
The Toolkit is delivered in schools and communities as part of the Mears Social Value Strategy.
Mears’ Tradeswomen attended a second event in early 2017 where they were updated on the progress of the project and the development of their ideas as well as being introduced to the Schools Toolkit. The Tradeswomen enjoyed two days practicing presentation skills and exploring strategies on supporting learners
Mears Ambassador, Victoria Naylor (Electrician): “I am keen to get involved in using the Schools Toolkit and hopefully inspire girls in particular to choose a career in maintenance”.
Jane Nelson, Group Executive Director of Mears: “It isn’t enough for companies to send tradeswomen into schools to talk to girls about a career in the trades. We have to equip our tradeswomen with the skills to get the message across and give them the tools to use that will capture the interest and imagination of girls and all pupils and students – and then we need to go back to the same schools and do it again, year after year.”
Top Tip: Don’t assume that all tradeswomen are confident and comfortable going into schools to act as a role model - some will need support. It is hard to keep the attention of a class of schoolchildren and get key messages across - help tradeswomen to do this by providing presentation skills and confidence building techniques - and use the Mears Tool Kit.
Mears Group have worked collaboratively on this project with:
The Guinness Partnership, Sovereign, CIH, NHMF, Nottingham City Homes, United Welsh, Construction Youth Trust, National Federation of ALMOs, Women into Construction, WISH, NHF.
MEARS MATTERS
Articles
Only 1% of the construction trade workforce in the UK are women. Less than 2% of trade apprentices are female. We want to do better than that at Mears and we want to support the social housing sector to do better, too.
We believe that it is important to build a diverse workforce which represents the communities we serve.
Mears’ Tradeswomen into Maintenance Project is a CITB supported project which aims to increase the number of female trade operatives and apprentices in Mears and throughout the Social Housing Building Maintenance sector.
The Project will produce: A Research Report, Online Schools Toolkit, Taster Courses, Best Practice Guide, Resources Booklet and Legal Guidance.
We have made sound progress on researching the barriers women face when entering and sustaining employment within the sector and built case studies on how women have achieved and progressed into higher level positions.
Our Schools Toolkit was launched at the NHMF Maintenance Conference this year and was met with great interest. The Schools Toolkit will be used in Schools by our Ambassador Tradeswomen to raise awareness of opportunities within the Social Housing Building Maintenance sector. The Toolkit includes trade inspired activities in Plumbing, Electrical, Carpentry and Painting and Decorating supporting Key Stages 2, 3 and 4 and is referenced to the National Curriculum covering Maths, English, Science and Design Technology.
Tradeswomen will also share with students their experience of working in trades and reasons why they entered into this non-traditional area of work.
Mears’ Tradeswomen said:
“I wanted a job where I wasn’t in the same place every day and love seeing an end product to my work”.
Heather Newton, Electrician
“Being an Electrician is not a stereotypical job for females but it is certainly one that women can do and there are plenty of routes for progression”.
Victoria Dempsey, Electrician
“It is something different and interesting and enables me to be out and about meeting new people”.
Michaela Walsh, Heating Engineer
Thirty of our Tradeswomen Ambassadors, colleagues and external partners attended a two day Ambassador Training event which successfully introduced them to the Schools Toolkit and how to present this in a classroom environment. The benefits of using the Schools Toolkit not only supports recruitment and raising awareness of the industry but also includes delivering the Mears Social Value Strategy.
In April 2017, we continued our development opportunity for Tradeswomen with the introduction of a Mentor Programme. The first seven Tradeswomen have completed a Level 3 Award in Teaching and Training delivered by Mears Learning. The course aims to develop skills in leading and mentoring other tradeswomen when working with schools and supporting Mears Apprentices.
Mears Learning will continue to offer further courses throughout the year to ensure that Mears Tradeswomen across the country receive the opportunity for personal development.
The project has delivered six Taster Courses across the country giving women a chance to learn trade skills and give them an insight into employment and training opportunities in Social Housing Building Maintenance.
We have worked with several organisations to deliver taster courses ncluding:
November 2016 – Celtic Horizons / United Welsh HA
November 2016 – Nottingham City Homes
February 2017 – Southwark Council
March 2017 – Be Wise Dover,
April 2017 - The Pankhurst Trust, Manchester Women’s Aid, The Guinness Partnership
April 2017 – Wandle Housing Association
The Tradeswomen into Maintenance Project #WIMProject
Construction Youth Trust have led on the delivery of the Taster Days introducing women to trade activities such as plumbing, electrical, carpentry, plastering, painting and decorating. The women attending the Taster Day also came together to build benches which have been donated to women’s charities. Women into Construction have supported attendees in identifying training and employment opportunities on completion of the course.
Wendy Heller, Training, Development and Curriculum Manager at Construction Youth Trust said:
“The women attending the workshops have come with little to no experience of the building repairs and maintenance sector. After participating in various workshops, many have now confirmed they would happily consider a career in the sector. Clearly, knowledge is the key here; knowledge of the industry itself, knowledge of potential opportunities, skills knowledge and the assurance that given these opportunities, women can enjoy a long, productive and successful career in the building repairs maintenance sector.”
Andrew Millross of Anthony Collins Solicitors has kindly contributed his time to draft the Legal Guidance. This includes clauses and questions for social housing procurers to include in tender documents to encourage bidders to put some weight behind recruiting more tradeswomen into the sector. The Guidance is well underway and will be published by July 2017. It will form a standard part of the NHF Form of Contract going forward.
Work continues on creating other publications which will be available in hard copy and on line:
• A Best Practice Guide that shares best practice from maintenance companies and social housing providers along with providing some practical training tips.
• A Resource Booklet, which provides careers information highlighting links between the Maintenance sector and schools, colleges and youth groups; as well as sign-posting for women who are currently unemployed or in low-skilled unstable employment to accredited training and sustainable roles within the sector.
Our sector leading work in this area has been made possible thanks to the guidance of a voluntary, national steering group and we thank all those who give their time to making a difference to this important aspect of diversity and inclusion, including:
The Guinness Partnership, United Welsh, Nottingham City Homes, Sovereign Housing Association, WISH, the Chartered Institute of Housing, the National Federation of ALMOs, the National Housing Federation and the National Housing Maintenance Forum as well as the Construction Youth Trust and Women into Construction.
Gainor Keeton, Project Manager, said, “We are extremely proud of what we have achieved with the Tradeswomen into Maintenance project. Mears is determined to recruit and retain a diverse workforce. We have some fantastic tradeswomen who are keen to be mentors for the next generation.
“Only 1% of construction trade operatives in the construction sector are female. We are determined to do better than this and to increase the number of tradeswomen across the social housing building maintenance sector. We also support other organisations to get the message out that there are good careers for women to be had in social housing maintenance. This is not only the right thing to do but we know that the best workforce is one which reflects the communities in which we serve.”
The Tradeswomen into Maintenance Project #WIMProject
MEARS MATTERSTRADESWOMEN
We are all part of the Mears Red ThreadThe Mears Red Thread defines our culture, it’s the way we do things around here.
Whether you’re working in care, looking after vulnerable people, or in one of our housing teams, as part of our repairs and maintenance service, everyone has a role to play in our success. Red Thread can help us achieve more as individuals, as a team and as one Mears.
Why Red Thread matters• It helps to create a great place to work
• It supports our common purpose – to make people smile
• Our customers receive exceptional service
• It helps unite our brand
Our people are our greatest asset, and being part of the Red Thread is essential to the continued commercial success of our business.
Doing things that little bit better every time, can positively affect the bottom line.
Why ‘Say What you See’ is so important:The Say What You See (SWYS) survey gives everyone a voice and a chance to make a positive difference. Your feedback helps us understand what’s good and what we can do better.
How does this work?
• Branches are measured against our six strand and given a Five Star rating
• Each branch is rated between one and five stars – five being the best
This creates confidence that colleagues are listened to and strives to improve engagement, awareness and understanding, which in turn creates trust and an environment of openness and continuous improvement.
MEARS MATTERSRED THREAD
The UK Customer Experience Awards is the biggest and most compelling CX event in the world, is judged by panels of independent businessmen and women.
The awards finals was held on the 28th of September.
MEARS MATTERSWE MADE THE FINALS
Mears Customer Success Team have been shortlisted for the UK Customer Experience Awards.
WE MADE THE FINALS!
• Mears Tradeswomen Into Maintenance Project has been shortlisted for the Most Effective Project In Improving the Lives of Women or Communities Award
• Mears Executive Director, Jane Nelson, has been shortlisted for Landmark Achievement Award
The award finals will be held on 2nd November in Manchester.
Mears has been shortlisted for two awards at the 2017 Women in Housing Awards!
WE MADE THE FINALS!
VALUESSOCIAL
HOW TO REGISTER:
• Each team costs £80 to register
• Each team will need to commit to fundraising £500 to support disadvantaged young people
• Each team consists of four individuals
• The team captain will be the driving force who is responsible for recruiting the other three members of their team
• Link to register : www.princes-trust.org.uk/therace
JOIN #TEAMPRINCESTRUST AND RECEIVE:
• Access to Virgin Active Clubs on the day
• A unique and inspirational event experience including special guests
• A Prince’s Trust t-shirt
• Training plans and advice
• A fundraising pack, full of ideas to help you and your team smash your sponsorship pledge
• Dedicated support and expert fundraising advice from The Prince’s Trust event team
THE CHALLENGE: The Race is a brand new indoor bike challenge taking part in various UK locations on Thursday 23rd November that sees teams of four race to glory against other teams across the UK.
As part of a team of four, each member of the team cycles for one hour led by the amazing Virgin Active instructors to see how far they can go.
See how your team rates against the UK and take on the challenge to be winners of The Race 2017.
Each team must fundraise at least £500 which will go directly to support disadvantaged young people across the UK, who are in need of vital help to get back into education, find employment or gain further training.
LOCATIONS:
Our hosts for the day are Virgin Active, who are opening their Clubs to The Race participants across the UK.
Choose from the following Virgin Active Club locations:
• Leeds
• London – Aldersgate
• London – Mansion House
• Salford
• Solihull
Get involved and support The Princes Trust to make a difference to young persons’ life today
Enter the Race Challenge We are delighted to continue working with The Princes Trust through our corporate partnership with the Prince’s Trust.
We believe that every young person should have the chance to succeed. So, we help 11 to 30 year-olds who are unemployed or struggling at school to transform their lives.
The Prince’s Trust is well known for opening doors to young people, to increase their skills, confidence, and help them realise their potential. Many of the young people we help are in, or leaving, care, facing issues such as homelessness or mental health problems, or have been in trouble with the law.
We give vulnerable young people the practical and financial support needed to stabilise their lives, helping develop self-esteem and skills for work.
THEY NEED YOUR SUPPORT!
As a charity, their work wouldn’t be possible without the amazing support of partners and supporters, so please consider joining The Race Challenge.
For more information please visit the www.princes-trust.org.uk/therace or email [email protected]
Please confirm your team with [email protected], so we can track all the teams across the Mears Group.
MEARS MATTERSSOCIAL VALUES
Trinity School Project Our colleagues at Celtic Horizons are working with Trinity School in an ongoing social value project.
The school is a state of the art school that caters for children ages between 3 and 16 that have a range of disabilities and learning difficulties.
Following a very successful Easter egg hunt earlier in the year, the team agreed to help the school regenerate an area of the yard that has been neglected over the last few years.
With the help and generosity of donations from local businesses and volunteers from across the business we have cleared the area of overgrown weeds, built a chicken coup and are now looking to clear the pond area in order to encourage wildlife back to the area.
The children rely on a lot of sensory equipment to try and stimulate and communicate and by re-generating this area with a colourful array of plants, shrubs and wildlife this will see the children flourish!
Raising funds for the Forget Me Not Hospice
‘Opportunity Knocks’
Mears Leeds raised a fantastic £941.33 to support of their colleague Richard Cawood for the Forget Me Not Childrens Hospice. The Hospice supports children with life shortening conditions and their families across West Yorkshire.
Richard and his partner had a daughter who was born with DiGeorge syndrome. They had initially prepared for the worst, however, she seemed to be making some progress, until sadly as a result of complications, she tragically passed away at only a few weeks old.
Throughout the illness, Richard and his family were supported by the Forget Me Not hospice, and following this tragic event, he took real pleasure in being able to give something back which everyone in Leeds was proud to support.
Craig Simpson, General Manager from Leeds, said, “Richard and his family went through a tragic event and one which will stay with them forever. The support, generosity and efforts from everyone within the branch was truly humbling and something the Leeds team should be extremely proud of.
“The way people came forward to support Richard and the Forget Me Not Hospice showed real solidarity and hopefully the funds raised will provide much needed support and care for other families affected in similar ways.
If you would like to make a donation to this brilliant cause, visit:
http://www.forgetmenotchild.co.uk/about-us
Mears Richmond hosted their ‘Opportunity Knocks’ event at one of their largest estates. The event was delivered to create an open space for their customers to come along and meet the team and learn more about what support services are on offer. Our client (RHP) supported the event by coming down to discuss housing, employment and training and universal credit with the local residents.
We also had our local neighbourhood PC Smith come along to talk to residents about anti-social behaviour within the estate.
The Mears team involved put on a DIY workshop for the occasion to teach customers simple repairs. We gave tips about mould and condensation and demonstrated how to unblock your kitchen sink. We also had a face painter and gave out balloons for the children.
Sarah Pinnock (Customer Care Manager) said, “We wanted to put on a fun day for the residents living at Edgar Road to engage them in the support services available to them. Our client offer a varied amount of support services from employment advice to money management. We saw this as an opportunity to bring to the residents all the support that they can utilise.”
MEARS MATTERSSOCIAL VALUES
VALUESSOCIAL
Mears Student Life donates Mattresses for charity
Cupcake Day! Tackling Social Isolation
Mears Student Life generously donated 20 single mattresses to the Help for Kids Charity!
The team had some spare mattresses after refurbishing student accommodation in Dundee and had some spare. They generously donated the charity who have helped over 15 families so far.
Help for Kids is a local children charity based in the heart of Dundee. The charity supports children who are disadvantaged through social and economic circumstances, or through health and disability.
Dementia is the number one cause of death in England and Wales. It doesn’t discriminate and currently there’s no cure.
Last year, dedicated Cupcakers around the country united to raise a mighty £330,000 against dementia. That’s more than enough to fund 11 PhD researchers for a year, giving them the opportunity to undertake vital, potentially lifesaving work.
This year we wanted to help in the cause to raise even more by joining together for Cupcake Day 2017 to help create a better world for people affected by dementia today, but also to find a cure for tomorrow.
Mears Customer Success Team were one of the teams taking part in the Cupcake Day to support and raise funds for Alzheimer’s awareness.
The team raised a fantastic £383!
Well done to all involved!
Mears Care Peterborough organised an event to help raise awareness for tackling the problem of social isolation.
Our colleagues and service users kindly donated several wonderful items for the raffle and a table top sale. Our care colleagues Hayley Allaway and Ednith Harry made some delicious cakes and cookies, and even homemade soaps!
The event was very successful and the team raised a fantastic £125.55 which will be donated to Alzheimer’s Society.
Well done to Team Peterborough for a successful event bringing people together.
MEARS MATTERSSOCIAL VALUES
VALUESSOCIAL
MEARS MATTERSCOMPLIMENTS
ROB AND LYNDON
CELTIC HORIZONSRob and Lyndon have both received compliments from our tenant in Brynmawr. They recently fitted a kitchen for the tenant, who said, “The workmen were very polite and helpful. They did a fantastic job of my kitchen, the work was outstanding. They put dust sheets down every day and kept the mess to a minimum. I can’t fault them at all, their work standards are excellent. We are very happy with the end result.”
Rachel Jones, Planned Works Supervisor for Celtic Horizons, said that Rob and Lyndon deserved a mention as their work is always of high standard, they work very hard and get great feedback from tenants.
EMMA BISHOP AND ANNMARIE CHILDS MEARS ABERCYNONThe service user and her family were very complimentary about MEARS as a care provider and the carers who attend the calls. She said that the carers “are brilliant” and would do anything for her. The service user has difficulty in building a relationship with, as she is very reluctant to accept support, however the carers have taken time to get to know her, listen to her, and she is now receptive to all care, as she says that she trusts the carers and feels comfortable around them.
This was quite a complex case initially, as the lady was refusing all support, so the carers have done well to build such a good relationship over a short period of time.
The service user’s family have mentioned that they have a good line of communication with MEARS, and are kept informed of what is going on as they live some distance away.
MEARS CARE TEAM ABERCYNONThe daughter and family of one our service users sends their thanks ‘To all the team at Mears Healthcare’
“I want to thank you, from the bottom of my heart for the dedication, care and companionship your team and organisation gave to my late mother. I will always be eternally grateful for this support you gave to my late mam and to me in our time of great need.”
Keeley, Rhiannon, Hannah and Stacey were her most regular carers, and became my mother’s friends as well as her carers, she thought the world of you all. Thank you.”
A big Thank you to: Keely, Rhiannon, Hannah, Alysha, Kelly, Kelsey, Kate, Stacey, Beth, Donna, Sara, Laura and Leah.
Shane Lawrence and Martin Brickell, Celtic Horizons
Tenant from Caerphilly, complimented Shane and Martin were praised for the work they did on fitting new windows. The tenant said, “Thank you for sending the workmen out. The work needed doing and it was done well.”
MARIA WEBSTER RECEPTIONIST, CELTIC HORIZONSMaria has been complimented for handling an incident at Plas Hyfrd, where she needed to call the paramedics. She coordinated with the paramedics, and handled the situation calmly and efficiently.
Compliments Wales
MEARS MATTERSMEARS FOUNDATION
THE MEARS FOUNDATION DONATES £250 TO THE RED LIPSTICK FOUNDATION
KPI & Performance Manager, Alison Pennicott donated £250 on behalf of the Mears Foundation to the Red Lipstick Foundation, based in Lowford, Southampton.
Jax Missen who received the cheque on behalf of Red Lipstick was grateful for the donation.
The charity offer services to families in Hampshire who have been bereaved by suicide.
They provide a fantastic range of services such as counselling, befriending, practical and emotional support, holistic therapies, and emergency financial assistance.
Alison and the team are also hoping to provide some Social Value hours to help with the charity’s new premises. We look forward to hearing about any future developments for this brilliant cause.
For more details, you can visit http://www.theredlipstickfoundation.org
FUNDING FOR CAM EVERLANDS SCHOOL
The Foundation received a request from the Cam Evelands School for funding towards their outdoor area for the children.
The children and their families are part of the community that Mears provide maintenance services for with Stroud District Council being our client in the area.
The children would really benefit their well-being with an outdoor learning area.
Our colleagues from the Stoud branch will be meeting with the school soon to start putting together a project plan.
We look forward to more updates about this excellent project!
PENNIES IN HEAVEN
Also, colleagues are encouraged to support The Foundation, by supporting the Pennies from Heaven scheme.
Did you know you can support our efforts to tackle loneliness and social isolation simply by donating the loose pennies in your monthly salary?
Our Pennies from Heaven campaign encourages colleagues to donate each month the pennies from their net pay to the Mears Foundation’s Tackling Loneliness Fund. The most you will pay per month is 99p, which will go to help branch events and projects across the Group. Every time you are paid, your net pay is rounded down to the nearest £, with the odd payslip pennies donated to The Mears Foundation.
Mears, along with the Foundation is committed to tackling this serious and growing social issue.
MEN IN SHEDS PROJECT
After applying to the Mears Foundation for funding for a ‘Men in Shed’s’, project, Mears Customer & Community Manager, Debbie Kerr, presented a cheque to Chairman Tom Brownlee.
The project is based in South Tyneside and will help with combatting loneliness and isolation
A few projects which have benefitted from the support of the Mears Foundation…
With every branch making a yearly social value pledge to provide help and support to the communities served across the UK, the opportunities to collaborate with the Mears Foundation are plenty.
Please get in touch with any of the board members if you think your next big social value project would benefit from some funding. You never know, we may well be able to help
Mears Foundation Together We Can Make a Positive Difference!
After a fantastic funday event at the M & Ds Theme Park in Scotland – Mears Foundation has raised £856.15!
Thank you to all for your generous donations!
MEARS FOUNDATION AUTUMN WALK As thoughts begin to turn to autumn, we are delighted to announce the date for the Mears Foundation autumn walk.
Autumn is a time of wonder when the natural world turns a kaleidoscope of colour and landscapes come alive.
SAVE THE DATE … FRIDAY 10TH NOVEMBER 2017!By popular demand - Kew Bridge to Vauxhall Thames Path. The River Thames was once a major location for import and export and as it gets into London the river’s banks were originally lined with many warehouses and wharfs.
You will pass many historic landmarks and raise money for a good cause.
More details to follow soon.
ISLE OF WIGHT CHALLENGE A TEAM OF 10!Ten of our colleagues are taking on the Isle of Wight Challenge for the Mears Foundation.
The Challenge is to walk 106Km around the island continuously starting at 9am on the 5th May 2018 through the day and night and finishing 24hrs later on the 6th of May.
All fundraising goes to the Mears Foundation to support local charities and vulnerable people around the UK and you can donate at https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/kevinmorrow1
The Mears team - Kevin Morrow, Steve Osborne, Dave Pearce, Martin Gaffney, Andy Derry, Ryan Nicholson and Simon Bloodworth
DO YOU HAVE AN UNWANTED KINDLE TO SEND TO SOUTH AFRICA? You can support Bob Holt’s initiative to improve basic reading skills of children in rural areas!
Please send your kindle donations to Diana Green
Where: Mears Group PLC 1390, Montpellier Court, Brockworth, Gloucester GL3 4AH
If you would like to know more -please contact Bob Holt at [email protected].
MEARS MATTERSMEARS FOUNDATION
RAISING FUNDS WITH THE FOUNDATION WALKS Every year Mears colleagues are invited to volunteer to join our Chairman Bob Holt on one in the series of Foundation’s annual fundraising walks this year? You can raise money for the Mears Foundation or for a charity of your choice.
The walks, which are all between 10 and 12 miles long, are great fun and as well as raising money, it’s a good opportunity to get together with colleagues from other Mears operations in the area.
We have had 140 walkers, we have raised £7000 so far across 15 different charities!
MEARS FOUNDATION SUFFOLK WALK The Stetchworth, near Newmarket, Suffolk Mears Foundation walk, was a great day had by all. Weather was fantastic and all walkers seemed to enjoy the scenic walk.
The atmosphere was lively with plenty of banter along the way!
All are looking forward to the walk next year.MEARS FOUNDATION MINCHINHAMPTON WALKThe final leg of the Mears Foundation walks was a great success with 22 walkers completing the 10miles, although some (Bob) questioned the “mostly flat” description of the walk!
We had stunning views and met quite a lot of the local animals, including cows, horses and some donkeys.
The team had great fun running through a field of wheat, had a lovely lunch at the Ragged Cot and then finished off the day with a stop-off at Winstones Ice-cream Factory.
Mears Foundation Together We Can Make a Positive Difference!
UPCOMING FOUNDATION EVENTS
MEARS MATTERSLONG SERVICE AWARDS
Long service awards: Congratulations to our long service achievers!
40 YEARS:Paul Baker Homes for Islington
Jim Kenny Homes for Islington
Danny Ewens Homes for Islington
John Mannion Northwards Housing
John Moran Northwards Housing
David Laws East Durham Homes
Philip Jackson Leeds
Neil Ollivant Leeds
David Cheshire Manchester Working
David Wood Manchester Working
Harry Lunn Manchester Working
Barry Cocksey Manchester Working
Philip Rutter Manchester Working
Cliff Simmonds Heathrow
David Rea North Lanarkshire
John Thomson North Lanarkshire
30 YEARS:David Wise Peterborough
Frank Readings Welwyn Lump Sum
Richard Clayton Sedgefield
John White Tower Hamlets
Joe Grima Tower Hamlets
Jonathan Felstead Thurrock
Fitz Cooper Lambeth South
Jhangir Abbas Northwards Housing
Trevor King East Durham Homes
Lee Liddle East Durham Homes
John Dodd Home Group NE
Frank Jackson Home Group NE
Allan Woodward Rotherham (MFS)
Richard Evans Rotherham (MFS)
Allen Hibbert Leeds
Patrick Hassett Leeds
Simon Jackson Manchester Working
Davie Gallacher Scotland
Alan Forsyth North Lanarkshire
Edward Davis North Lanarkshire
Edward Devine North Lanarkshire
Thomas Gilchrist North Lanarkshire
Dougie Hepburn North Lanarkshire
Mark Allen North Lanarkshire
Thomas Campbell North Lanarkshire
Paul Robertson North Lanarkshire
20 YEARS:Gary Rose IT
Paul Welsby Wigan
Sean Fleming Wigan
Iain Campbell Sedgefield
Philip Pierre Tower Hamlets
Caroline Percival Milton Keynes
Simon Davies JL Wardley
Craig Thompson Rotherham (MFS)
Craig Walton Rotherham (MFS)
Daniel Gawthorpe Rotherham (MFS)
Michael Lunn Rotherham (MFS)
Chris Bryson Terraquest - Applications Processing
Sylvia Osbourne Melksham
Janet Melling St Neots
Janet Taylor Stowmarket
Michelle Burridge Stowmarket
Patrick Bamrick North Lanarkshire
Richie Reynolds North Lanarkshire
Robert Anthony North Lanarkshire
David Denholm North Lanarkshire
Billy Erwin North Lanarkshire
John Dunbar North Lanarkshire
James Whitelaw North Lanarkshire
Elaine Muir East Kilbride
10 YEARS:Ann Marie O’Connor Health & Safety Department
Peter Woods Central Finance
Bob Hiller Broadstairs
Stuart Walton IT
Darren White IT
Paul Lucas IT
Kim Watson Peterborough
Gary Cater Peterborough
Ian Cater Peterborough
Steve Cater Peterborough
Andrew Spelman Peterborough
Spridge Spridgeon Peterborough
Shane Mawby Peterborough
Kevin Aubrey Compliance
Mark Lovett Southern Housing
Mick Birchall Wigan
Dan Fagg Task Team
Finbar O’Sullivan Octavia
Karen Johnson Welwyn Lump Sum
Pete Gritton Sedgefield
Peter McKinnon McGuire Moat Housing
Col Young Moat Housing
Scott Williams Moat Housing
James Taylor Brighton (MEA)
Lynn Kerry Medway
Jeremy Farnham Eastbourne Homes
Teresa Steggles 3C Mars
Gwen Williams Milton Keynes
Siji Oworu Barnet
Katie Holman Energy Insurance Services Limited (EISL)
Joseph Pigrem Thurrock
Jason Kelleher Hyde
Christopher Burgess Northwards Housing
Kevin Jones Northwards Housing
Daniel Lewis Northwards Housing
Kieran McKnight Northwards Housing
Aisha Sultana Northwards Housing
Donald Berry JL Wardley
Craig Freeman Home Group NE
Thomas Blair Home Group NE
Lewis Shiels Home Group NE
Jamie Lee Home Group NE
Debra Roberts Home Group NE
Lyndsey Mastin Rotherham (MFS)
Laura Miller Rotherham (MFS)
Victoria Naylor Rotherham (MFS)
Emma Pryce Rotherham (MFS)
Kaylee Devonport Leeds
Colin Wake Leeds
Paul Freeman Leeds
Karl Newsome Leeds
Martin Holmes Leeds
Peter Godwin Manchester Working
Caroline Gerrie Manchester Working
Samantha Skelton Manchester Working
Nigel Bell Riverside SE (MFS)
Llyod Downer Riverside SE (MFS)
Les Harris Riverside SE (MFS)
Piotr Laczny Terraquest - Other Overheads
Anwarul Hoque Chiswick London Ctr
Susan Cable Kings Lynn
Amanda Mulhall Peterborough SC
Oluwatoyin Shodipe Chiswick - Hammersmith
Mary Omotayo Chiswick - Hammersmith
Bridget Barclay Chiswick - Hammersmith
Douglas Shaw Stoke
Paula Postlethwaite Melksham
Fenella Seward Fisher Hove HI
Toby Clemenson Terraquest - PPQ Other Overheads
Tracey Frost Waterbeach
Chris Antony Waterbeach
Martin Vosika Old Stratford
Paula Cooke Rotherham
Janet Hobson Rotherham
Ivy Nyashanu Stowmarket
Maria Best Stowmarket
Karen Archer Nottingham
Claire Davies Torbay
Rattan Johal Derby MC
Parmod Chhabra Derby MC
Lee Millington Scion TSL - Oxford CC
Richard Bradbeer Scion TSL - Ferndown
Lynn Rixson Omega Lettings
Zuhre Uregul Omega Lettings
Sheila Clay Coventry
Fatou Bayo London Central
Paul Finnigan Fleetwood
Rasheedat Yusoof Ipswich
Rosalee Simpson London West
Edna Mathema Hammersmith ECS
Sandy Fraser North Lanarkshire
Margaret Elliott North Lanarkshire
Kevin Lyall Highland Schools (PFI)
Petya Stoyanova Russell Highland Schools (PFI)
Doreen Webster Aberdeen
Grace Mcskimming East Kilbride
Annmarie Gaffney East Kilbride
Donna Watson East Kilbride
Gail Baxter East Kilbride
Moyra Pirie Aberdeenshire SL
Grace Nimmo Prestwick
Cheryl Porteous Troon
Karen Kinnaird Clackmannanshire MC
Tracy Paton Clackmannanshire MC
Andrew Harkness Stirling SL
Diane Young Stirling SL
Brenda Henderson Stirling SL
Lynne Welsh Edinburgh CAH
Angela Drummond Edinburgh CAH
MEARS MATTERSLEARNING SPOTLIGHT
TELL US ABOUT YOUR CAREER SO FAR
When I was young I thought about becoming a nurse as that is the job my mum does. However, going to university wasn’t right for me and I joined Mears Care as a care worker in 2012. I’ve been here ever since and have now progressed to care co-ordinator.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO DO AN APPRENTICESHIP?
I wanted to further my career and expand my knowledge around the care industry. An apprenticeship will allow me to gain a qualification whilst I work full time and earn a wage.
WHY DO YOU THINK IT IS IMPORTANT FOR CARERS TO GAIN QUALIFICATIONS?
When you are doing full time caring it is really important that you get the recognition for the job that you do. Caring is a really important job and I would like to see carers have more recognition for their role. The job is really demanding and there is always new pressures and challenges, particularly liaising with medical staff for example. Qualifications support recognition of a difficult job well done.
WHAT SUPPORT HAS MEARS OFFERED YOU TO DO YOUR APPRENTICESHIP?
My manager allows me to complete Lifetime visits and work when needed. We are a flexible branch when it comes to learning.
HOW IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR TRAINER, HOW DO THEY SUPPORT YOU?
Becki is really good and understands my commitments out with work. She let me submit work through digital voice recording to save me having to type everything. It is really important to me that the people who talk to me about my job have experience of the care industry and know the problems that we face.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE SOMEONE THINKING ABOUT AN APPRENTICESHIP?
DO IT! But be prepared to invest time into the qualification.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU, WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE AMBITIONS?
I would like to progress within the company and develop my skills and career opportunities. One day I would like to see myself in the branch managers’ role.
If you are already studying with Lifetime Training, and have any concerns or challenges, please speak to your Regional Trainer as soon as possible. Alternatively, you can send an email to: [email protected]
Lifetime Training promote a collaborative approach to learning. Using a learn, share, apply, dig deeper method our goal is to support your learning and enable you to achieve a nationally recognised qualification whilst working at Mears.
Sasha Read has been working with Mears Care for over 5 years and enrolled on her Health and Social Care Level 3 in April 2017 with Lifetime Training.
We caught up with her where she works in the Norwich branch to find out about her and her apprenticeship with Mears.
Learning Spotlight Mears Carer - Sasha Read
